Cheeses of Tbilisi
Georgia's capital, where market halls stack sulguni, guda and tenili and every bakery turns out cheese-filled khachapuri.
Made, aged and sold here
Best time: May to June and September to October.
Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia, a country with dozens of cheeses and a bread, khachapuri, built around them. The city's markets bring cheese from every region: sulguni from Samegrelo, guda from Tusheti, tenili from Meskheti and imeruli from Imereti. Bakeries open early and sell hot khachapuri all day, and cheese with herbs and bread is part of every supra.
The cheeses of Georgia
Sulguni is a brined, springy cheese made by stretching young curds, sold fresh or smoked. Imeruli is a young, salty curd cheese used in most khachapuri. Guda is a sharp sheep's milk cheese aged in sheepskin bags by Tushetian shepherds. Tenili, from Meskheti, is pulled into fine threads and packed into pots with butter. Nadughi, a soft whey cheese with mint, is rolled into sulguni.
Markets and bakeries
The Dezerter Bazaar near the old railway station is the city's big food market, with a cheese section where sellers offer tastes. Smaller markets serve each district. Khachapuri comes in regional shapes: the round Imeretian kind, the boat-shaped Adjarian kind with an egg on top, and the Megrelian kind with cheese on top as well as inside.
A trail idea for Tbilisi
- Dezerter Bazaar Taste sulguni, guda and imeruli in the market's cheese section.
- Old Tbilisi Walk the sulphur bath quarter and the lanes below Narikala.
- A bakery Buy hot Imeretian khachapuri from a neighbourhood bakery oven.
- A supra Eat at a Georgian table, where cheese and herbs come first.
Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Tbilisi" on Wikipedia. Opening hours, markets, caves and tours change; check locally before travelling. If something is wrong, tell us.
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