Psst, behind you!

The bad news first: Art Café U Irmy, the cozy Georgian restaurant and café in Old Town, is closed. Facing those papered windows, however, doesn't mean you've struck out on your quest for a cozy seat and special cuisine. Turn right back around, and there it is: The good news. Guga Bar is flying the Georgian flag in the window and serving up the same dishes that adorned U Irmy's menu.

Well, almost all of the same dishes. I can't speak from experience; I never made it to U Irmy before it closed. But Guga is in fact run by the same owners, and the illustrated menus we received bore the same photos of dishes that can still be seen on the U Irmy website. The menu may differ on availability, however, as we struck out on quite a few initial orders.

An order of dolma, grape leaves rolled up with seasoned meat and rice, was met with a smile of chagrin and a shake of the head, as was an order of pelmenek, dumplings with what looked like sour cream and butter. The apologetic waitress helpfully suggested red beans with walnut paste and herbs, and a perplexing substitution of plain dumplings for the order of dumplings with sour cream.

Unacquainted with Georgian food as our party was, we were happy to take her suggestions and dive into other options. Beware: The meals are sizeable. There is no appetizer list, only cold meals, warm meals and specialties. All three of those categories have portions that are fit for one person, but might not necessarily make an ideal meal on their own. Family-style plate sharing seems to be the way to go here.

Red beans, which seem hard to elevate to a dish that gets people talking, manage to do so with a slightly spicy and garlicky walnut paste, made even more flavorful with cilantro and red onion.

The walnut-based sauces make their appearance on a great many of the dishes here, including fried eggplant, duck, chicken leg and a spinach dish. It's a marvelous sauce that seems unique to this region's cuisine but tastes great on absolutely everything.

Guga's particular recipe is unknown, but in traditional Georgian cuisine, walnuts are pureed and mixed with garlic, vinegar, herbs, water and cayenne for a sauce that doesn't look great but is harmonious in terms of flavors. If you've never had it, your mind tries to place its flavor, dancing between mild curries and garlicky Middle Eastern cold sauces, but the sauce doesn't quite register as anything you've tasted before. It's perfect covering tender fried eggplant, dotted with cilantro and pomegranate seeds, and mopped up with a thick and hot lavash round.

Other dishes at Guga Bar can veer out of incredible into decent, but the prices, especially for its location in Old Town, are hard to beat, and every dish makes a great accompaniment to cold beer, or as a snack on your way to rowdier bars. Fried mozzarella on butter elicited a couple of giggles at the decadence of the dish, which could be described perfectly as a hot caprese salad. Fried doesn't quite describe the state of the cheese, which seemed melted, rather. Altogether, the fresh tomatoes, melted cheese and basil make a great scoop for the lavash, though.

The aforementioned dumplings, sans sour cream, seemed a bit forlorn without any sort of sauce. Once pierced with a knife, however, a healthy amount of what looked like melted butter and fat oozed out, followed by the fragrant smells of ground pork and beef, seasoned with what smelled like caraway and maybe a little cinnamon. The "plain" dumplings were, in fact, not so bad on their own: They were sizeable and came six to a plate, great for sharing.

Pork neck bites were nicely marinated and came sprinkled with fresh white onions, pomegranate seeds and cilantro, accompanied with a cold tomato sauce that tasted like a thick gazpacho. Again, a great dish to snack on, but not necessarily a diverse enough meal on its own.

All together, however, the array of dishes you can order at Guga can make for a fantastic whole that in our case brought new flavors, stuffed bellies and a newfound appreciation for Georgian food. Not to mention gratitude that U Irmy has continued its special menu just across the street.

Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com