Peter, the owner of this Armenian restaurant was tending to his garden when I was passing by. I actually abandoned my plans to buy groceries and instead spent the afternoon chatting with this very charming former resident of the soviet union.
Many of you will have seen his building on Abbeyhill, with cyrillic letters atop the grand doorway. This restaurant is somewhat of a mystery, but Peter never had to advertise it. With odd opening times and unique dishes on the menu, people were queuing up to attend one of Peter’s infamous dinners. Peter has hosted many hundreds of guests over the years, some of whom loved it so much they kept returning for another visit and gave him souvenirs and gifts from all over the world.
Having never had the pleasure to join Peter for an evening at his restaurant, I have had to live vicariously though the reviews of other bloggers. Here are some fascinating insights into the experience of booking, arriving and eating at Lake Van Monastery in Exile
Booking & Arrival
It had taken roughly a month of phonecalls, but I had finally managed to get a table at ‘Aghtamar Lake Van Monastery in Exile’. Booking a table shouldn’t be this hard, but having read many interesting reviews online, I was willing to put in the effort.
It took a few messages but he finally did get back to me. He never gave his name or the name of the restaurant but we had an initial discussion and he seemed to like me and decided he would call me back closer to the event. I had wanted to bring about 8 people but had to negotiate this down to 6, and was told to personally vet each one to make sure they were “people I would invite into my own home”. I assured him that I would not be dining with strangers, but friends, and eventually he was convinced.
When booking, it’s best to leave the time and day up to him, which as far as I can work out is only on Saturdays and at 8pm.At 8 o’clock the door opened and a face appeared. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long” he said, and let us in.
Jemmaeatworld, August 2, 2011
The Setting
The posters were nothing to do with the ‘Armenian Tourist Board’ but were instead representations of serried ranks of Armenian patriots and Soviet heroes.
You were encouraged to dance for hours after the meal with Bedros leading the way. It wasn’t just a food experience. It was a night out.
John Mackie, July 20, 2013
The hall was pitch black and I could just make out the outline of bits of furniture and the man who had let us in. We were led into a large room where two long tables had been laid, one for us and one for another group who had yet to arrive.
Electricity was limited to one working light so a candle was put on each table. This would be our source of light and warmth for the next four hours.
Would I recommend Aghtamar? Absolutely. Don’t go if you’re a fussy eater, like heating, a choice of food or wine, not capable of turning up on time, like clean toilets or electricity. But if you are looking for something different, a change from the Italian or Indian, then it’s definitely worth exploring. At £23 per head (plus wine), it’s a little more expensive than I would normally pay eating out, but you certainly get value for money in atmosphere and both quality and quantity of food.
Jemmaeatworld, August 2, 2011
The Food
I think there were about six courses in total, although I did lose count after a bit. It was also quite hard to work out which was a course and which wasn’t. Around the second course in we were given a giant plate with various different types of salad including a Greek Salad, cream cheese and something that resembled mashed chickpeas, which thankfully was quite warm. After he didn’t appear for a bit we began serving it out and tucked in. About ten minutes later he appeared with a plate of meatballs.
This timespan was quite noticeable as he would arrive from the kitchen with a hot dish, but by the time he had managed to serve the last person it would have gone cold. Still we enjoyed several courses of savoury pastries, roast pork and stuffed pepper and a course of cabbage.
Jemmaeatworld, August 2, 2011
The wine was Georgian and not Armenian since the Soviet Union did not export Armenian wine. The brandy was cherry.
John Mackie, July 20, 2013
I have eaten with Bedros on 2 occasions. First with a party from the Brunton Theatre Musselburgh. A wonderful night lasting from 8 pm until around 2:30 am/ As I remember there were 14 courses served in a fairly arbitrary order. Bedros was in great form – he cooked and served everything himself – no other staff. When we had finished eating he produced his accordion and taught us some Armenian dances! He regarded us all as guests in his home and expected us to behave as such. The second time I went there was with a friend – just the two of us. On the phone he asked that if we were coming by taxi not to mention to the driver that we were going to a restaurant and to get him to stop some distance away and walk the rest. There was only one other couple there and we were place beside them. By the end of another fantastic night we were friends!
Gordon Fulton, September 22, 2013
The Man
My version of the Turkish coffee story (which I believe to be closer to the truth) is that the group concerned knew that any mention of Turkey might not fill Bedros with delight. Part of that group was a Brit professor from the University of Ankara and his family. The adults knew what to do but the bilingual son said something in Turkish towards the end of the meal. Nobody got thrown out but there was a slight frisson for a bit to be fair.
Bedros was a charming and superb host, provided that you played by his rules.
John Mackie, July 20, 2013
Peter treated his restaurant as more than just a place to eat. It was a cultural centre with live music and a museum with the most treasured items displayed for everyone to see and to learn the rich Armenian history. Something some of you might not know is that Peter’s building was burgled and all of his incredible soviet artefacts were stolen. Peter, devastated and disheartened, closed down the restaurant and disappeared from the public eye. You can still see the sadness in Peter’s eyes when he talks about it now, ten years later. “I wish I at least had pictures to remind me of those times”. Peter shared with me that he doesn’t have any photos of the interior of the building, in its full glory, and he would love to have some to keep for memories. Over the years, he has entertained and fed hundreds of guests in this building. I am appealing to everyone to help me find photos of the interior to share with him.
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