New Places: Where to Go Right Now

The spring’s biggest hit — and that is genuinely not an exaggeration. Blanca by Melonpan went viral before it even officially opened, and snagging a morning table has since become a minor sport. Book ahead. Every breakfast comes with a free glass of prosecco, coffee, or broth. The menu runs from pancakes with seasonal fruit and a spinach-zucchini Benedict to croissants stuffed with mortadella, coppa, or salmon, an omelette with stracciatella and shrimp, and halloumi with orange chutney. Sets for one, two, or three, in green, meat, and seafood configurations. The cocktail menu pulls its weight: house signatures called Prologue, Madeleine, Whole Lotta Love, and Insomnia alongside every classic from negroni to Espresso Martini. The 80-seat space runs until 2am — a rarity in this city — there’s a terrace, and dogs are welcome.

Walking into Deda feels like stumbling into someone’s grandmother’s house — if their grandmother had excellent taste and a professional line cook. Dark green walls, antique portraits in gilded frames, vintage furniture, clocks, mirrors, and decor that looks sourced from a very good estate sale. The menu is pure Georgian, no fusion detours: pkhali assortment, eggplant rolls, lobiani, smoked suluguni, salads with jonjoli and Kakhetian oil, one with walnuts. The only thing missing from the atmosphere is actual Georgians.

A new-openings list without a coffee shop feels incomplete, and Drip on Saryan Street 9 is here to restore order. The interior is warm, the menu is properly thought through, and — a detail worth noting — the coffee arrives on a miniature rug, lest you forget where you are. Drinks span coconut-matcha and pistachio drips, raspberry matcha, lemonades, smoothies, milkshakes, and the full coffee lineup from cortado to bumble. The post-gym crowd is also covered: protein shakes in three flavors, 30g protein each.

Kebab is everywhere in Armenia, which means everyone already has opinions about what it should taste like. Kebab.Lab takes that assumption and quietly dismantles it: the recipes were developed in Germany specifically for this project, and the difference is real. The format is tight — The Kebab in beef or chicken, The Burger, and The Dog (a hot dog with crispy crumble and sauce) — made with the kind of attention to detail that extends to the packaging. There’s proper seating too, so no need to hover over a counter.

Pizza, pasta, and tiramisu are easy to find in Yerevan. A panino with a filling that makes sense, though? Conspicuously absent — until Mio arrived on Abovyan. Sandwiches built with mortadella, pesto, greens, fresh cherry tomatoes, and enough other options to keep things interesting. The perfect weekday lunch, finally. Come for the panino, stay for the gelato, or stretch it into an evening aperitivo — they’re open until midnight either way.

The neighborhood needed this. The menu spans from fresh-baked bread — sold by the loaf, take one home — all the way to charcoal-grilled cuts, and everything in between earns its spot: veal carpaccio, shrimp and Angus beef bao, peach and prosciutto salad, panzanella, quinoa with stracciatella, a caramelized pear and prosciutto pizza, ossobuco, duck leg with pesto risotto, seasonal braised lamb shank, New York strip and filet mignon with cherry sauce from the charcoal grill. The cocktail menu includes something called the Shrimp Cocktail — either very funny or very literal, and intriguing either way.

Process is a Friday-night bar and it knows exactly what it is. You go when the week is done, the music is already on, and you want a drink with a point of view. The cocktail list delivers: Gimlet with coconut fat and cardamom, Killer in Red with truffle and Campari, Feijoa Frozen with mint sorbet, plus a gin & tonic section where Armenian producers stand comfortably next to Japanese and German names. There’s food — tacos, tortillas, baguettes — but no one’s really here for that. Weekend DJ sets are already a fixture.

Narnia sits next to Loona, and the same team — AVA — is behind both. They ran this formula in Dubai first; in Yerevan they’ve repeated it with confidence. The concept is pan-Asian with a deliberately hushed atmosphere and an interior that is unambiguously trying to impress you. Sushi uses koshihikari rice, available in classic and contemporary reads. The modern section earns its place: salmon chimichurri, torched scallop, butterfish with truffle aioli, and then — eel with foie gras, which is either a great idea or a very confident one. Rolls come with grated zucchini, ginger, and smashed cucumber. Named cocktails: Narnia (gin, sakura, plum wine), Purpose (whisky, guava, coconut liqueur), Love (gin, lychee, jasmine liqueur), Luck (Bacardi, prosecco, yuzu).

Ruby at Abovyan 11 is one of those rare places where the room and the food seem to speak the same language. The space pivots around a large panoramic window; beige walls, wooden details, white tablecloths, and on a sunny day the light is basically a décor element in itself. Brunch runs until 3pm — a good place to start. The main menu goes Mediterranean with an experimental edge: tartare with pepper, salmon skewers with prosciutto and asparagus, spanakopita with feta and truffle, arancini with parmesan, manti, filet mignon. Two standouts among the starters: kimchi hummus and shrimp tempura. The Kimchi Margarita sounds like a dare — it works.

Tabu, on Isahakyan Street, is for people who consider dinner a full evening. The place wakes up at 7:30pm; DJ sets and live music follow at 8. Dishes arrive with fire performers, sparks, and tableside theatre — if you wanted a quiet meal, wrong address. The menu is serious enough to deserve the drama: start with a roll salad with shrimp and crab, beef tartare with capers and parmesan, or tataki with truffle ponzu. Mains: Angus ribeye with porto sauce, duck leg confit, wild Patagonian sea bass, grilled lamb. The wine list is broad — in geography and in price.