An old travel buddy of mine is back in Batumi right now bemoaning the fact that she can't find any cafe serving coffee or breakfast in the city until after 9am.
Are there perhaps some places there that are just a bit harder to find?
asked Jul 18, 2016 at 5:09
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1 Answer
I had this problem in Batumi some years ago, except I think we were looking for somewhere around 7am-8am (I don't remember why, I think we needed to take an early mashrutka somewhere).
Batumi is definitely not a "mornings" sort of town. If you want a coffee at midnight though, you're spoiled for choice!
After lots of walking around, we found somewhere that was (if I remember right) opening at 8am but took pity on us and let us in early. I remember it being on the corner of a square / park one block from the beach and beach-facing parks. After some browsing on Google Maps, I think I've found the place, "Coffeetopia", open 8am-1am. I don't recognise the name but it looks similar to what I remember and the location looks right.
[2022 update - it looks like that place changed hands, now has opening time listed as 9am and reviews complaining of changed menu/prices - but the good news is it's now possible to search Google Maps by opening time. This example search shows a few options with the same general principle - look for cafes in the upmarket business-y areas a block or two back from the beach and parks:]
There's also apparently an 8AM-opening ice cream place further from the beach, off an even smaller square, Luca Polare, allegedly open 8am-2am - I'm pretty sure this isn't the one I'm thinking of, as I'd probably remember if I'd had ice cream for breakfast and it's several blocks from the beach, but it might be another option. While browsing I also found a "Restaurant Ukraine" that allegedly opens at 8:30 AM, that's within 10 minutes walk from both the other options. [2022 update - both these places now seem to open at 10am but overall there seem to be a few more options elsewhere now than back in 2016]
Whether these places really do open that early, I can't say for sure... But I believe it is possible. Good luck!
answered Sep 2, 2016 at 9:21
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I know the Ukrainian restaurant. It was next door to Press Cafe, a cafe favoured by expats. I went to the cafe a lot even though I don't usually like expat places it wasn't designed for expats and still had a local vibe. I never did visit the Ukrainian place though, for lack of a Ukrainian friend to teach me the food (-: Sep 2, 2016 at 17:34
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2All I remember about Ukrainian food is salo, almost literally just cold fat and looks awful, but it's actually fantastic, tastes like distilled bacon. The best food I had in Ukraine though was Georgian... can't beat Georgian food. Sep 2, 2016 at 17:45
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