Lviv
Given a full makeover in recent years, the Cabinet has lost its ambience but is still a decent place for a coffee and cake stop. It's been done out as a…
Must-see nightlife in Ukraine
Lviv
This simple pub puts the focus on great beer. The beverages in question: obscure craft ales from around Ukraine for 30uah to 50uah a pint. There are also…
Odesa
This long-standing Irish pub is a great place to start an evening and an even better place to finish it, as it's the only outdoor patio on vul…
Kyiv
The Podil branch of the long-running, Africa-themed coffee shop. The original is just off maydan Nezalezhnosti.
Lviv
Low-beat rock knaypa (Lviv pub) where you can drink several kinds of beer and listen to (often) live music.
The Carpathians
Good for a light lunch or a night on the house-brewed Klubne beer, this central European–style warren of brick cellars decorated with an assortment of…
Odesa
As often happens, you need to walk an extra mile to find something smarter than the clubs on Arkadia. This one attracts a crowd of goatee-bearded Vespa…
Kyiv
This is a huge, open basement space with one of the longest bars we've ever seen, backed by Kyiv's most impressive wall of booze. It's has plenty of…
Eastern Ukraine
Lacquered wood, faux-antique furniture and comfy couches makes this cosy bar an agreeable place to spend a quiet evening over a cocktail, except the…
Lviv
The latest addition to Lviv's cafe scene is this historical pharmacy punctiliously converted into a very stylish coffeehouse. The tables and bar are liver…
Central Ukraine
There's no question where the most happening place in Zhytomyr is. Pleasantville is packed to the gills nightly, but especially at weekends when live…
Western Ukraine
The best, most atmospheric watering hole in town boasts a dark tavern-like hall with long benches and a stage for local weekend strummers to perform, two…
Lviv
This fantastic, utterly unique beer hall is located three storeys underground in a centuries-old beer-storage vault once used by the neighbouring Lvivske…
The Carpathians
Uzhhorod's top tavern is this microbrewery south of the river where large copper brewing cauldrons supply drinkers with four types of excellent beer. They…
Lviv
With its nostalgia for the Polish-Austrian past and its dark interior, the tiny 'Under the Blue Bottle' cafe at the back of a courtyard has a cosy,…
The Carpathians
Seems every post-Soviet city has a pub called ‘The Barrel’, but they’re not always as pleasant as this atmospheric little wood-and-stone faux-medieval…
Eastern Ukraine
Brought here by the winds of the global coffee revolution, this tiny coffee shop employs chatty baristas who know how to make a mean brew and love to…
Lviv
The 17 types of mostly Ukrainian beer, the huge burlesque posters adorning the walls, the crude timber floor and smoky, rowdy, local-rockstar-gone…
Central Ukraine
They serve some of the best coffee in town, hot chocolate and deserts in atmospheric space punctuated by wicker chairs and black-and-white photos of old K…
Odesa
It's slightly more downmarket than other clubs in Arkadia and consequently often rowdier (in a good way). The Greek columns and statues are a tad much,…
Central Ukraine
We're not sure what local chocolate giant Roshen thinks about this national chain on its turf, but the people of Vinnytsya sure seem to appreciate its…
The Carpathians
Keeping to a post-Soviet tradition of naming your business after its building number, this brick cellar pub-club spins cool tracks as you kick back on…
Eastern Ukraine
It looks tiny when you enter, but the upper floor (or deck, rather) has a spacious sitting area with comfy armchairs and a large common table invitingly…
The Carpathians
Small central bar hang-out that manages to squeeze two cosy levels into its tiny interior as well as sporting a covered terrace in summer. Lots of…
Lviv
Even if you decide to skip the Lviv History Museum, it's worth popping in for a coffee in its aptly named inner courtyard with its Renaissance arcading.
Eastern Ukraine
A tiny coffee shop with comfy arm chairs, super-attentive service and desserts (fruit parfait and pavlova) to die for.
Kharkiv
Beloved English ales like Owd Rodger and Riggwelter, as well as its own numbered beers and an encyclopaedic food menu.
Kyiv
Aptly named Chi is Kyiv's top playground for the chichi set. Expect plenty of attitude from the staff and strict feiskontrol (face control), so dress the…
Kyiv
For a healthy dose of insanity sneak into this well-hidden bar named after Anton Chekhov's tale about life in a madhouse. Dressed in doctors' white robes,…
Kyiv
Loosely based on Andy Warhol's 32 Campbell Soup Cans, this underground place has cans on the wall and serves all drinks out of cans or jars (banka means…
Kyiv
Set over two spacious levels on trendy vul Yaroslaviv Val, Honey is a cafe and patisserie that offers a variety of desserts including 15 different types…
Kyiv
A very friendly cafe serving breakfasts and lattes with rather experimental local flavours – such as uzvar (dried-pear drink) and khalva (Turkish sweet) –…
Lviv
Buried deep beneath the Solomiya Krushelnytska Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet, the latest incarnation of 'Left Bank' is as a pub-museum with beer and…
The Carpathians
The vaguely Wild West/Aztec theme may sit incongruously with the Hutsul/Transcarpathian cuisine (try the kremzliki – fried pork with potato pancakes in…
Kyiv
This is a men-only 'cruising bar', which basically means that just about anything goes. Private lockers, variety shows and regular theme parties announced…
Lviv
All drinks are 20uah, all food (from 2pm) 40uah, at this popular, high-ceilinged, rather industrial drinking spot on pl Rynok. Soups, pelmeni (Russian…
Lviv
Post is the theme of this cafe with a huge collection of old postboxes, postcards, stamps and other postal paraphenalia adorning the walls. You can even…
Central Ukraine
Named after an old Moscow institution (though the bartenders claimed to have never heard of it), this is about as good a bar as you'll find in the centre…
Eastern Ukraine
Tiny but chirpy coffeehouse at the top of the main drag (near the entrance to the underpass leading to Korpusny Park) fashioned in the shape of a coffee…
Odesa
This white, open, cave-like structure is Arkadia's most upmarket and most expensive club. European DJs and big-ticket Russian and Ukrainian pop bands…
