I came to Mandu enticed by promises of “everyday morning stuffing production” and “dumplings made exclusively fresh and on the fly!” The khinkali menu even emphasizes “hand-ground meat.” Unfortunately, my khinkali tasted like mass-produced frozen food. It is also obvious that they are machine-made – each khinkali looked exactly the same as the others.
After the first bite, the dough was dense and slightly rubbery, with only a few drops of broth inside, and the stuffing was dry, bland, with a metallic aftertaste and completely stale coriander. This is a typical effect of deep freezing: large ice crystals disrupt the gluten network (hence the hard skin), and in meat, freezing denatures proteins and oxidizes fat, so the aromas of the “broth” escape with the water, and the volatile coriander oils (linalool, E-2-decenal) escape during defrosting. In Georgia, you can buy identical, industrially frozen khinkali – I have nothing against such products (it is not a culinary crime), but in a place that prides itself on freshness, it is doubly disappointing.
Pros? Friendly service and pleasant interior.
Major minus: the dish for PLN 42 completely failed to live up to its marketing promise.