Armenian cuisine. Even though we fell in love with Georgian cuisine and its flavours before, we didn’t expect much from Armenian cooking. In our guide, we read that Armenian cuisine includes dishes known from other world cuisines such as Georgian, Turkish and Greek. You can try dolmas, lahmacuns, Georgian khachapuris and khinkalis. Hummus and tabbouleh are also quite popular. When we got there we found out that there are also some links with Polish cuisine.
Finding a place to eat on the streets of Yerevan is easy. There’s lots of restaurants and other food spots. Local, Italian, sometimes Chinese, Japanese or even sushi bars. We went for the local stuff, but thanks to Maks’ likes (noodles!) we also paid a visit to an Italian establishment once. There’s even more coffee and ice cream places! Tasty ice-cream shops in the centre of Yerevan, especially on Northern Avenue and Abovian’s street look really tempting. When it comes to desserts we didn’t stick to traditional stuff and often indulged ourselves with hot pastries from Cinnabon chain! Heard of it?:)
one of the coolest places in the centre of Yerevan – Dolmama
The prices in the restaurants vary. In some places PLN 40-50 is enough for 3 persons to eat dinner, in other a couple can eat for PLN 60 but wine inluded. But there are also places that will charge you 20000 – 3000 drams for lunch which makes PLN 150-200. And these are also worth visiting from time to time. What we found most amusing was the length of the menus in pretty much all the restaurants we visited. Seems like they haven’t heard about the revolution that is already present in Poland because it takes quite some time to get through the menu that often includes 20 salads to start with. And we’re not talking about salad bars. We’ll tell you more about some places worth visiting in our “Practical Armenia” entry that we plan to prepare after we get back. A kind of a summary of our trip.
Finding a place to eat outside Yerevan is not that easy. Usually there’s nowhere to eat around the monuments. Not even street food. In Gegard you can stuff yourself with fruit and nut churchele. The only restaurant we came upon was close to Sevanavank monastery by Lake Sevan.
What is there to try when it comes to Armenian cuisine??
1) LAVASH
bread and necessary lavash
Lavash is one of the first foods you’ll see when you arrive in Armenia. That’s because it’s usually served before the meal, in a basket accompanied with bread. Before you order you will hear the necessary question: “Bread? Lavash?”. Lavash looks a bit like tortilla or a pancake that’s used in wrapped kebab. Here, lavash is served solo or with meat/grilled cheese. It goes well with hummus and aubergines. You can put anything in it: meat, fish, cheese. It does not have a lot of flavour, and the texture isn’t anything special either. Looks like a piece of paper. Dipped in something it becomes a tasty side.
2) DOLMA
dolma – traditional version wrapped in vine leaves
Looking at the menus here and there you’ll notice that Armenian cuisine is indeed a mixture of ingredients and dishes coming from various countries. It also includes dolma – meat and rice wrapped in vine leaves, a meal quite popular in Greece. Dolma is available in most of the restaurants, sometimes with a garlic sauce called tzatzik – the name rings a bell, doesn’t it?, sometimes solo. It’s very cheap. 10 dolmas usually cost approx. 1000-1500 drams which is PLN 7-11. A perfect starter for 2-3 persons.
3) SUMMER DOLMA
Armenian cabbage rolls
The menu often includes a few types of dolma e.g. summer dolma in which the meat with rice is wrapped in cabbage leaves. Just like our Polish cabbage rolls! Maybe a bit less tomato, with different spices, but very similar to our traditional dish.
4) SUMMER SALAD
Summer salad is an essential side dish/starter during ever meal in Armenia. Cheap and simple (500-1000 drams – PLN 3.5-7) consists of cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, sometimes green capsicum and loads of fresh herbs such as coriander or parsley. For me there was too mush parsley and I missed the Georgian version of the salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and walnuts. You know what they say: you don’t always get what you want.
every meal comes with a summer salad
5) LAHMACUN
traditional lahmacun on our way to Zwartnots
Heard about it? Lahmacun is a Turkish twist in Armenian cuisine and you can easily find it in Turkish places in Warsaw. Thin, crispy pastry with delicate minced meat layer on top. You can eat it like a pizza or fold it in half. Armenians call it lahmajun and serve it with lemon. The restaurants also offer advanced versions, e.g. with cheese – really looks like a pizza! In a road bar, you can eat a lahmacum for 200 drams (approx. PLN 1.5). Two lahmajuns for PLN 3 and you’re set for breakfast (small lunch?). Even if you’re an always hungry male :).
6) STUFFED VEGETABLES
Stuffed vegetables such as aubergines or capsicums are an Armenian type of dolma. Usually stuffed with meat and rice, baked and sprinkled with parsley and coriander. We really liked them in Dolmama on Pushkin’s street in Yerevan.
stuffed vegetables
7) AUBERGINES
Aubergines in Georgia and Armenia are my absolute number one! It wouldn’t be anything unusual but… I don’t like vegetables! I mean, I’ll eat tomatoes and cucumbers on a sandwich, a Caprese, Greek salad and any other well prepared one with lots of ingredients. But cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and loads of other vegetables are an absolute no-no. But I loved aubergines in Georgia and they turned out to be great in Armenia too. Soft, stewed with capsicum or tomatoes. Ideal as a starter on a hot day. In Yerevan you can sometimes find my favourite Georgian ones with walnut paste.
delicious aubergines in At Gayane’s
8) MEAT, MEAT, MEAT!
Meat is everywhere here! Tonnes of! Beef, poultry and lamb. Grilles, fried and stewed. Sometimes really tasty, sometimes not so good. The meateaters will definitely find something for them in Armenia. Maks fell in love with chicken kebab for instance. Contrary to the popular belief about kebab, in Armenia it’s minced meet grilled on a skewer. Delicate and soft – with rice or spaghetti (a commons side dish) – ideal for a child.
Maks’ favourite chicken kebab
9) CRAYFISH!
Crayfish is a popular snack (e.g. to go with the beer). It’s boiled with a bit of vinegar and allspice. Sometimes you will notice aquariums full of crayfish in shops and restaurants. As Maks said: “You know daddy, when I bought the sausage in a shop, they had so many cravs, that you like so much!” (Maks still thinks that crayfish is the same as crabs which he calls cravs). In stores you can also find crayfish in whole, marinated in jars. Łukasz, a fan of everything that comes from water, tested crayfish by Lake Sevan. Quite tasty, but too small. To get a decent meal, he had to order 20 of them!
crayfish by Lake Sevan
10) PAKLAVA / PACHLAVA
We had our dinner – time for a dessert. Again it’s something that we know from other countries, but it’s called different. As you can see, baklava is also popular in Armenia. A layered cake with a lot of honey and nuts, served hot or cold, sometimes with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. A great finale of a lunch or dinner.
paklava for dessert – served hot or cold
11) CHURCHELE OR FRUIT LAVASH
A specialty that we already know from Georgia. Nuts, usually walnuts, put on a string and dipped in thick fruit jelly – usually grape flavour. Apart from churchele, you can also get a fruit lavash, a thin “layer” made from fruit juice. Cherry, apricot, raspberry or grape. Sometimes it’s rolled with bits of walnuts inside/ In one of the restaurants we found a delicious dessert based on lavash. This time it was also rolled with loads of figs, nuts and honey inside. Served with Greek yoghurt – delicious!
I’ll leave you with that specialty! Have a tasty day! 🙂
lavash and dried fruits in front of Gegard monastery close to Yerevan
fig roll with a fruit lavash – Dolmama, Yerevan
*the entry was written in cooperation with:
0 Comments