I don’t think I have ever had Georgian food until I visited Oda House in the East Village a few months back.
Oda House has a ton of vegetarian offerings and I enjoyed everything that we ordered. The food we ordered - which was partially from the lunch menu and partially from the dinner menu, which we persuaded them to offer us on a Sunday afternoon - tasted fresh, nuanced and fairly light (except for one notable dish).
Our lunch included the vegetarian Khinkali, which are large, somewhat doughy steamed dumplings. We asked for one of the each vegetarian Khinkali, which consisted of one potato, one cheese and one mushroom filled dumpling. The three Khinkalis were each tasty, though I think the sampling of three different Khinkali was the way to go because three of one type may not have been interesting enough to carry one entire dish.
We also ordered the Mtsvane Lobio, the stewed green beans, which was served with a hearty cut of bread. I really enjoyed the flavor of the warm beans because of the balance of a lot of different spices and herbs, in addition to the tomatoes and onions in the dish.
Finally (though it was our first course to arrive), we ordered the Adjaruli, a Georgian bread baked with two kinds of cheese, served with a poached egg on top. Before we ate the bread, our waiter stirred the poached egg into the cheese on to the top of the bread. This hearty bread dish was fantastic - the bread was perfectly crunchy on the outside and chewy in the interior, and the cheeses/egg added a rich saltiness to the bread. Although this was easily the least healthy option of the dishes we ordered, it was definitely one of our favorites.
I can definitely see us returning to Oda House in the future for simple, fresh Georgian food that has a lot of vegetarian options.
76 Avenue B
East Village, Manhattan
Approx. 5 - 10 minute walk from F train at 2nd Avenue, or a longer 10 - 15 minute walk from the 6 train at Astor Place or the L train at 1st Avenue