Eating Russian (actually, Georgian) Food in San Diego: Pomegranate Restaurant

I went to Pomegranate Restaurant when Shelly came to visit a few months ago. We had khinkale dumplings as part of our dumpling weekend and I have posted about how much I liked those but we also ate a couple of other things off of the 1000 Foods list. We had Lobio which is a bean dish make with walnuts and served cold. The version we had at Pomegranate was not a green bean recipe so I broke down and made it myself just to be sure that I had the version listed in the 1000 things book-it comes complete with the recipe so I made it exactly like the the recipe in Mimi’s book. You can go to her book to find her exact recipe and I don’t want to reproduce it here (but I did alter it, of course). I took 1 pound of green beans and blanched them until cooked but still crisp. In a bowl I combined 2/3 cup ground walnuts, 2 crushed cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup minced red onion, 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon hot paprika, 2 tablespoons dried cilantro and 1 tablespoon dried parsley. I added a VERY SMALL amount of oil-maybe 1 teaspoon just to coat. You combine all and let sit for an hour or so for the flavors to combine. I like this served at room temperature but you could go cold if preferred.

We also ate Tabaka which is a flattened chicken that has been grilled and then covered with themali sauce which is a plummy, garlicy sauce that is listed as a 1000 thing in it’s own right.

My most favorite thing is not a 1000 thing at all but is khachapuri or cheese pie but once again, who doesn’t love melted cheese? I really enjoyed eating at Pomegranate-it is a funky little place with really good food.