Restaurants in Ukraine
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Vesuvio Pizza
Vesuvio serves delicious pizza and sensibly priced Italian food in a quiet, no-frills space near Zoloti Vorota. 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.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Pushkin Le Café
Tapping into the legendary Russian poet’s connections with the Khans’ Palace, this outstanding restaurant combines a charming 19th-century drawing-room atmosphere with a skilfully executed menu that runs the gamut from Russian to Crimean Tatar, via French and Italian. The grilled salmon comes highly recommended.
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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.
reviewed
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3 Tolstyaka
The 3 Tolstyaka is enormously popular for a reason: authentic Russian food at awesome prices. Its popularity is also proof that average Donetsk denizens can’t afford the gaudy prices at all those top-end restaurants.
reviewed
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Himalaya
Himalaya has occupied a prime perch overlooking Khreshchatyk for some time, and somehow it just gets better with age. The Indian food is spicier than you expect in these parts and there are many veggie options.
reviewed
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Kazbek
Don’t be misled by the flashing neon lights and adjoining casino – this place is quality. Our favourite Georgian restaurant.
reviewed
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Dio Long
Cafeteria-style Chinese resto. Not pretty but works if you have no money and are tired of greasy Ukrainian stolovy.
reviewed
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Celentano
Ukraine’s ubiquitous pizza chain is a blessing in restaurant-starved Uman.
reviewed
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Tequila Boom
Fajitas and margaritas are the specialities here.
reviewed
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Amadeus
The refined interior, peaceful music and patio perfectly placed in the shadow of three churches are reason enough to plop down in one of Amadeus’ stylish wicker chairs. But it’s the food that puts it on another level. The menu leans toward fancy European fare like fondue and risotto, but there are stuffed baked potatoes (10 to 20uah) and varenyky (dumplings) on offer for the price-conscious hryvnia hoarders. The pizza-sized omelettes are legendary, and the surf-and-turf ‘gypsy shashlyk ’ is quite simply the best shashlyk we’ve ever tasted.
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Visiting the Khan
Not all Crimean Tatars are teetotal, despite being Muslim, and the sociable owner of this pleasant casual restaurant can often be seen sharing shots of vodka with her guests as she works the room. Nab a bench seat on the terrace, order plov (lamb, carrot and rice stew) or chebureky (meat or cheese turnovers/pastries) and gaze over the netting at the valley beyond. Look for a white building and a sign в гостях у хана picturing a camel caravan.
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Reflection
A completely atypical menu in such an unlikely city makes Reflection worth every extra kopeck. As if Waldorf and Caesar salads, vegetable fajitas, bruschetta, pesto with penne, teriyaki salad, lentil soup, pork with ripe mangoes etc weren’t sufficient reminders of the culinary world you thought you’d left behind when entering regional Ukraine, there are also freshly baked croissants or oatmeal at breakfast. The food is also usually well executed – our ‘fresh mango’ amazingly was.
reviewed
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Harem
Harem is an unusual thing – an upscale Crimean Tatar restaurant. Mostly, they’re quite casual. But on the terrace or in the lovely tiled Oriental room, you can sample a wide range of the Tatar cuisine, from top-notch deniz (seafood soup), biber-sarma (sweet peppers stuffed with minced beef, rice and spices) and lampa bykadina (bulls’ testicles grilled in brandy). French, Italian, Chilean, Argentinean and Georgian wines provide libation, and there are hookah pipes.
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Kupol
It’s designed to feel like stepping back in time – to 1938 in particular, ‘the year before civilisation ended’ (ie before the Soviets rolled in). How well this former mansion and arts salon recreates that specific year is moot, but, goodness, is the overall effect winning. The olde-worlde chintzy interior is lined with framed letters, ocean-liner ads, antique cutlery, hampers and other memorabilia. The Polish-Austrian-Ukrainian food is delicious and beautifully garnished.
reviewed
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Brave Schwejk
Named for the famous fictional Czech soldier Svejk (or Schwejk in German), this place harks back to the novel’s Austro-Hungarian era with its mix of sausages, goulash, pig’s knuckles, milk veal and similar specialities. The atmosphere is that of a small beer hall, where you’ll find the likes of Paulaner, Warsteiner and Beck’s from Germany alongside Staropramen and Krusovice from the Czech Republic.
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Khutorok Lya Mer
Overlooking the sea at Massandra Beach, this restaurant is designed to look like the interior of a ship, but the theme isn’t overdone and there’s only a small fish section on the menu. The cuisine is Ukrainian meets Russian meets Crimean Tatar meets European, with dishes like varenyky, veal stroganoff, and pork fillet shashlyk with Provençale herbs. The seaside back terrace is a lovely spot.
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Sadko
With a balcony offering primo views across the lake, Sadko produces a fine interpretation of Chinese cuisine. There’s sushi in the clubby room downstairs too. Although some to-share dishes like Peking duck (198uah) and Mongolian mutton (190uah) are quite luxurious, you can also eat frugally here. Simply add a filling plate of delicious rice shortcakes with onion (13uah) to an order of soup (around 6uah).
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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 for under 20uah.
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Mlyn
The upscale Mlyn is a waterfront restaurant housed in an old wooden mill in Hydropark. Open year-round.
Hydropark and Trukhaniv island are both full of fun outdoor restaurants where the emphasis is on eating shashlyk, drinking vodka and dancing to synthesized Russian tunes. You can't say you've been to Kyiv until you've had a long, boozy afternoon or evening in one of the places here.
reviewed
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Stolova Idalonya No 1
It’s fun finding such a Soviet-style student cafeteria in forward-looking Ivano. Even more surprisingly, some of the dinner ladies dishing up simple fare like fried chicken, pork cutlets, spaghetti, salads, borshch and Crimean Tatar plov (rice and meat) also speak English. The cafeteria’s sign is virtually illegible, so look out for neighbouring Kafe Petrus.
reviewed
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Turkuaz
While many restaurants on vul Derybasivska overcharge tourists for mediocre food, Turkuaz continues to dish up mouth-watering kebabs, Turkish salads and draught beer at extremely sane prices. Punctuate the experience by launching heavenly wisps of melon- or apple-scented vapours skyward from what, at 40uah, must be Odesa’s most reasonably priced kalyan (hookah pipes).
reviewed
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Slovan
Slovan’s white walls, dark wooden panelling and brown floor tiles make it one of Ivano’s most stylish restaurants and its wooden-decked terrace is a popular spot to be seen on in summer. Breakfasts (French, Italian or Hutsul; 15uah) are complemented by homemade pastas, gourmet fillets of beef and humble fare such as jacket potatoes (8uah) and pizza (19uah to 37uah).
reviewed
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Kafe Marakand
Local Tatars are frequent patrons here, where the assortment of Central Asian dishes includes plov (meat and rice), manty (lamb ravioli), lagman (beef noodle soup), shashlyk (meat skewers) and lepeshshky (flat, round bread) – nothing substantial for vegetarians. There’s also an Italianate covered stone terrace.
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Bristol
Treat yourself at this elegant Ukrainian-European-French establishment. Among a menu that includes Caesar salad, spaghetti, veal, frogs’ legs and even pâté de foie gras (106uah), the pork served with zingy mustard sauce comes highly recommended. The Georgian and Moldavian wines, especially the Acorex Select Cabernet VDCC, are reasonably quaffable too.
reviewed