All reader reviews by Anonymous

Mimino

Mimino, which means sparrow-hawk in Georgian, is one man's quest to introduce Georgia to the UK. Zauri Goreli, the owner, has a business card which says "Bringing Georgia to Kensington" on the back, and "You don't need to be Georgian to feel at home here."

And if our experience on a raucous Friday night was anything to go by he is succeeding on all counts. In marked contrast to the negative comments which focused on service, Zauri shepherded us personally through an introduction of wines (we got to sample all of the wines on offer before ordering...when was that last time THAT happened in a restaurant?), throwing in some added historical colour (for instance Stalin, Georgia's most famous son, took time out during the vigours of WWII to allocate resources to getting the sugar content just right on one of the sweet wines in the 1942 vintage). He then went through the menu in detail, helping us choose an assortment of starters (my favourites were badrijani or aubergine in a piquant walnut sauce....(walnuts featuring prominantly in almost every dish, in the background as part of the sauce), espanakhi (a spinach mousse) and adjaruli ,a buttered bread fillied with cheese. My favourite main was dead simple, a spatchcocked young chicken with matchstick fried potatoes call tsiplyonok tabaka....(try saying THAT fast three times), but we also had lamb shashlik and pork, both of which came with a spicy dipping sauce. Pomegranate seeds also feature a lot.

Overall, good hearty fare, with no frills, and clean plates afterwards, always a good test.

But what distinguished Mimino was the sheer enthusiasm brought by Zauri to his venture, and the unique atmosphere. At an L-shaped table were 30 or so wrestlers, boxers, and weight lifters from Armenia, Ossetia, Kazakhstan and elsewhere, quaffing food and drink in equal measure and toasting each other in Russian, the reluctant common language. After our main, Zauri enquired if we would mind moving tables (our was prominently in the middle) as the lads wanted to dance. And so they did (mostly the men, though there were 4 ladies). To the pleasure and amusement of us all (except perhaps the sullen Russian couple next to us) we watched these hugely muscled athletes strut their stuff. Not your average Friday night out entertainment.

In short, Mimino, is a warm, earthy outpost of Georgian warmth and hospitality in the island of cool Britannia which is Kensington.

And oh yes, for those of you for whom "the facilities" are a good measure of a restaurant beside the food...they were spotless.

A big Madloba* to Zauri and Mimino.

*Georgian for thank you...if you have got the time and the curiosity, with Zauri's help you can increase your knowledge of this far off land which was the southern outpost of the old USSR with the Black Sea to the West and Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan to the south, by 5000%. And why not? Got a better idea to bring on the weekend?

Sunday, March 30, 2008
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9