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Armenian Taverna

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Liam Hetherington
Liam Hetherington
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31) The Armenian Taverna - History Class

31) The Armenian Taverna - History Class

Armenia – 29/05/09

Hurrah for The Armenian Taverna! Its existence really is a God-send to people attempting a quixotic quest to eat cuisines from 80 different countries without leaving Manchester. Though for half the restaurant’s existence it would have been quite useless. You see, The Armenian Taverna predates the independence of Armenia itself.

Armenia is of course a very ancient nation – it proudly boasts that it was the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. However, when The Armenian Taverna was founded in Manchester in 1968, Armenia had been relegated to the status of a socialist republic within the USSR. It took over twenty years before Armenia was able to declare its independence. So this makes this homely little den on Manchester’s Albert Square very historic.

Despite its prime location in the heart of town the best way to describe this place would be ‘ungentrified’. It resembles a cross between a ‘70s Italian restaurant and a Turkish holiday resort taverna. I’m not sure if it has been redecorated since it first opened. The walls are thick with Armenian murals, tourist trinkets or signed photos from satisfied diners. Most of the latter are yellowing images of men with big collars and impressive sideburns who look like they might have been supporting characters in Anchorman. The two people I did recognise were footballing icon George Best and a certain Elvis Presley (and I feel kind of churlish to point out that Elvis never visited England…). Lighting levels are low and red. Frankly more light would have saved strain on my eyes. It’s not as though the taverna has anything to hide when it comes to the food. And it is the food that keeps them in custom. Their repeat customers (who - from what people have said – seem to be legion) are not here for the dated décor – they are here for the fantastic food.

This food can be found on their website’s lengthy menu . It helpfully describes each dish so you will be able to tell your dabagadztzugnik from your kharapak khorovu. But for those new to Armenian cuisine I’d recommend that you follow in the footsteps of Paul, Bryan and myself and order a full banquet.

Considering that a main course generally costs between £9 and £11, the £16.40 banquets are jolly good value. This is the price per person, and each has to be ordered by at least two people. There are two – a Vegetarian Banquet and an Armenian Banquet. Obviously we went for the one that contained meat!

Drinks are not included. Sadly they did not have any Armenian beers (the excuse was that Armenia was "a long way away" – though they did stock Armenian wine). This meant that despite the two countries’ troubled history we were served the Turkish beer Efes. (A classy touch was that the waiter individually poured each bottle into your glass for you; a simple thing but a real hallmark of good service in my opinion!). This was appropriate. Armenian cuisine seems – from this visit at least – to be very similar to Turkish and other nations of the eastern Mediterranean / middle-east. Familiar names like hummus, taramasalata and feta cheese appear as mezze (or mezzeh) here, mains are generally a variant on kebabs, desserts are paklava and ‘Armenian Delight’.

Our starters all came on one large platter to share out between the three of us. A basket of traditional home-made and charcoal-cooked lavish was provided, a soft thin flatbread reminiscent of naan. This was used to scoop up the dips – hummus (grainy chickpea puree), tabouleh (cracked wheat salad), taramasalata (pink fish roe), baba ganouge (grilled aubergines) and mutabal (aubergine dip). With these were served possibly the best falafel I’ve ever had, crispy outside but soft inside. Binirow borek were fied cheese, parsley, nutmeg and egg pastries. I’m assuming they were good because Paul scoffed them all before I got a chance to try one myself! But in return that meant I could have his yershig which were small spicy sausages, so that worked out okay I think! Finally there were kufta lamb meatballs – kofta in Turkey, keftedes in Greece, an khufte in Iran.

Main course was a selection of mixed kebabs. Charcoal-grilled chicken, pork, lamb lulu (essentially a minced lamb shawarma), and lamb chops. Sometimes kebabs can be too greasy (particularly lamb). These were not. They were served with rice – though some more of the lavish bread would have been nice.

Coffee was included with the meal, but none of us wanted any. So we were just brought a tray of Armenian Delight - essentially just almondy Turkish Delight.

Armenian food turned out to be not that different from the cuisines of its neighbouring countries. You could certainly find similar dishes in Turkey, Iran,. Greece or southern Russia. But the class of the cooking and service at The Armenian Taverna makes this little place well worth an investigation. And frankly, it was nice to see just what everybody enthuses about when you mention it! To have survived for over forty years slap bang in the centre of town they must be doing something right!

The Armenian Taverna is closed on Mondays. Otherwise it is open from 5.30pm, and also serves lunch 12.00 to 2.30 on week days.

From journal Around the World in 80 Meals! (part 4)

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