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Osteria Pantagruel
Home-made pasta, risotto and bruschetta is turned out at this whitewashed cellar restaurant by Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate). The warm months see tables and chairs spill onto the square out front - probably the best place in Kyiv for a beer on a summer evening.
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Pervak
Kyiv's best Ukrainian restaurant masterfully creates old Kyiv (c 1900) without falling into the schmaltz trap that dogs many a Ukrainian theme resto. The chefs boldly prepare original takes on Ukrainian classics, which are adroitly delivered to tables by waitresses in frilly, cleavage-bearing country outfits. There's nightly live music and black-and-white silent movies playing on old Soviet TVs.
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Puzata Khata
Puzata Khata 'Hut of the Pot Belly' is an upscale stolova and an excellent place for budget travellers to sample traditional Ukrainian cuisine. There are cheap veggie options, delicious pastries and beer, and even hard booze. Other branches are on vul Sahaydachnoho 24 and Pasazh.
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Shalena Mama
This diner-like shrine to the Rolling Stones is a great place to slay the late-night munchies. The Asian-influenced food is named after Stones' tunes. Try the 'She Said Yeah' (sautéed glass noodles with white cabbage and chicken) and follow it with their massive apple strudel.
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Silpo (Podil)
Located beneath San Tori restaurant. There is another store on pl Peremohy.
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Svytlytsa
This little French eatery in the middle of Andriyivsky uzviz is wonderful and wonderfully affordable. Its famous stuffed crêpes have been curing hungover expats for years, while its summer terrace is one of the best places in Kyiv to watch the world go by. French staples like frog legs and steak tartare liven up the menu, and peckish backpackers can revel in omelettes and pasta dishes.
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Tequila House
Food not spicy enough to be considered serious Mexican food, but the blue cacao margarita is very serious.
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Tsarske Selo
This is Kyiv's quintessential Ukrainian theme restaurant, decorated in rustic 18th-century style and filled with tour groups. Ukrainian staples are superbly done, but the most famous dish is the dessert of salo (cured pig fat) in chocolate - only for the most adventurous.
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Varenichnaya #1
Specialising in varenyky (Ukrainian dumplings), this mimics the homy interior of an early-20th-century private apartment. Nearly 25 different varenyky fillings are offered. Surely, though, the live piglet in the basket near the door (so cute!) must deter anyone from ordering pork? Careful - beer is obnoxiously expensive here.
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Vernisazh
The atmosphere is arty-farty and the menu eclectic. Dishes exhibit Ukrainian, Thai and French influences and, yes, the chef is talented enough to pull it off. If it's raining you can kill time admiring the art or thumbing through their colourful coffee-table books.
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Vesuvio Pizza
Vesuvio serves delicious pizza and sensibly priced Italian food in a quiet, no-frills space near Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate). Long one of Kyiv's most popular pizzerias, it now has a second location on bul Tarasa Shevchenka, near the St Petersburg Hotel. Both restaurants deliver.
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Volodymyrsky Rynok
One block west of Palats Ukraina metro station, this market has more local, and hence less expensive produce, than the other market, Bessarabsky Rynok. Its wave-like roof is architecturally impressive.
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Yapona Khata
The most reliable of Kyiv's many quick-and-easy sushi outfits is in the Globus mall basement food court. If fast fish isn't your thing there are also plenty of other dining options down here.
