Jana Grill & Bakery: A Win For Lunch

Located in Watertown, Jana Grill & Bakery serves Armenian, Georgian, Slavic and Mediterranean cuisine, and I stopped by there last week for lunch. It's a small restaurant, with a rustic vibe, with a good-sized menu of appetizers, salads, soups, grilled meats, flatbreads, sides, desserts and more. You'll find dishes including Hummus, Pasuts Tolma, Babaganush, Pelmeni, and Beef Borscht. There are also Khorovats (charcoal grilled meats) and Losh-Kebabs (charcoal grilled ground meat), including chicken, beef, pork, and lamb. So many enticing choices. 

We began our lunch with a pitcher of Kompot, a slightly sweet juice of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. It wasn't overly sweet, and had a pleasant berry taste, the different fruits blending well together. 

Jana Grill is also one of the few spots in the Boston+ area which serves Khachapuri, a Georgian cheese bread (the country, not the state). Different regions of Georgia have different recipes and versions, and there are over 50 different varieties of khachapuri. The National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation even granted the status of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia to Khachapuri. 

Jana Grill makes two different types of Khachapuri, which are listed on their menu under "Flatbreads."  The Megruli Khachapuri (Small $15, Large $20) is a specialty of the Samegrelo region, a forested region which borders the Black Sea. It resembles a cheesy pizza, without any sauce, and the restaurant once described the dish as "Think of cheese pizza, and triple the cheese." 

 

They also serve Ajarian Khachapuri (Small $16, Large $22), one of the most popular and well known types of Khachapuri, and originated in the seaside region of Adjara. The bread is molded into a boat shape and the middle is topped by a soft-boiled egg or just the yolk. The crust is a nice golden brown, with a crisp exterior and a light, fluffy interior. The melted cheese is not just atop the crust, but also extends under some of the crust. The cheesy blend in the middle, when mixed with the egg yolk, is salty, cheesy, creamy and rich of umami. Pure delight! You can even order the khachapuri with slices of basturma (cured beef). 

Jana Grill has a Lunch Special Menu, from 11am-3pm, which includes Combo Plates ($17-$29). You create your own Combo Plates by making four choices including Protein (chicken, pork, lamb, beef or falafel), Side (rice or roasted potato), Appetizer (Hummus, Babaganush, or Tzatziki), and Sauce (Tahini, Tomato, Garlic, or Tzatziki). The Combo plate also comes with a small salad and pita bread. We chose the Lamb with hummus, roasted potatoes and garlic sauce. The lamb was tender and flavorful, with a nice char on it. The hummus was creamy and tasty and the potatoes were lightly crispy on the outside, and fully inside. The salad veggies were very fresh too. A hearty plate of food and a great choice for lunch. 

Service was excellent, and the food continues to impress. I last dined here prior to the pandemic, and the food remains at a high quality. It's an excellent spot to find some dishes which are hard to find elsewhere in the Boston+ area. Jana Grill earns my hearty recommendation.