Lviv
Here's how you compress your Lviv cultural studies into one evening out. Start with Jewish forschmak (herring pate), eased down by Ukrainian nalyvky …
Must-see restaurants in Ukraine
Kyiv
Spotykach shed its retro-Soviet theme in 2014 and adopted a Ukraininan revolutionary theme, with pictures of Taras Shevchenko and Bohdan Khelmytsky (and…
Kyiv
Sneak away from the busy uzviz into this beautiful old wooden house with sliding-glass doors overlooking a lush ravine out back. Kanapa serves modern…
Odesa
Once an itinerant tribe, congregating here and there for irregular jamborees, Odesa foodies now have a rather palatial indoors base. The two-storey…
Kyiv
Hidden in a 'secret bunker' under maidan Nezalezhnosti, this is both a nationalist shrine and one of Kyiv's best restaurants. Everything – from the…
Kyiv
One of Bakhchysaray's best restaurants, Musafir relocated to Kyiv in May 2015. The unmistakable scent of Crimean cooking wafts from the kitchen, where a…
Kyiv
Kyiv's best Italian restaurant has been around seemingly forever, churning out legendary homemade pasta and risotto in a whitewashed cellar smack next to…
Kyiv
This is modern Georgian cuisine at its finest. Try the fork-whipped egg-and-butter khachapuri (cheese bread) and a shoulder of lamb or charcoal-grilled…
Odesa
Few Ukrainian restaurants have truly authentic settings, but the art nouveau dining room of this Italianesque palazzo (once a stock exchange, now the…
Lviv
For a bit of tranquil, understated elegance amid the tourist bustle of pl Rynok, head to this oh-so-central European cafe within the town hall. Order from…
Lviv
Lviv's best vegetarian eatery has a relaxing, spacious dining room where you can tuck into meat-free, vegan and raw food. In the upstairs chill-out area,…
Kyiv
A perpetually long queue moves with lightning speed towards a window where two women hand out pieces of fried dough enclosing a mouth-watering sausage…
Kharkiv
If you've been to Lviv, this is one of those – ‘emotional restaurants’ – again. Hungry? Get some theatre for starters. To come in, you'll first have to…
The Carpathians
Tea, porridge, real English breakfasts – if you're from Blighty you'll love this tranquil retreat with its boutique interior, impeccably polite, English…
The Carpathians
Quite understandably the backdrop to many souvenir photos, this large, ornate log cabin built in the 1950s serves pretty decent food. The menu includes…
Lviv
One of the pretourism ‘originals’, this place is designed to feel like stepping back in time – to 1938 in particular, ‘the year before civilisation ended’…
Eastern Ukraine
There is an overcomplicated pun in the name involving mice and a retired Jewish gangster who allegedly left a handwritten book of recipes in this cellar…
The Carpathians
A recent addition to Ivano-Frankivsk's growing dining and drinking scene, this fresh, casual bistro is incredibly progressive for Ukraine. Enjoy meat,…
The Carpathians
'The Kitchen' serves high-quality European food in a jazzy, contemporary dining room from where you can watch chefs prepping your meal. A few traditional…
Kyiv
An upscale stolovaya, 'Hut of the Pot Belly' is an excellent place for budget travellers to sample traditional Ukrainian cuisine. There are plenty of…
Central Ukraine
New in 2017, this classy eatery is in the conversation for best Old Town restaurant. Sit upstairs in the bright cafe proper with throwback murals of old…
Eastern Ukraine
Halushky are inverted dumplings – cubes of baked dough mixed with whatever is used as a filling in conventional dumplings. Come here to sample the famous…
The Carpathians
Floating cloth lamps, simple timber furniture and a jolly soundtrack greet you at this cosy, family-friendly place. The menu is a simple affair of rare…
Lviv
An unmarked door behind the paper-aeroplane monument leads into the bowels of a Bernardine monastery, where this lovely local-intelligentsia fave is…
The Carpathians
Wistfully celebrating Ungvar's all-too-short decades in the lap of Czechoslovak affluence, this great pub and nostalgia museum rolled into one is packed…
Eastern Ukraine
One level smarter than other restaurants in Chernihiv, this cosy establishment specialises in grilled meat and specifically in pork – think steak and…
Central Ukraine
It's almost worth a special trip from Kyiv to dine here – it's as good as most Georgian restaurants in the capital and a third the price. The classic…
Central Ukraine
This funky little cafe on Vinnytsya's central walking strip has plenty going for it: bold English and German breakfasts, scrumptious thin-crust pizza,…
Sevastopol
Its name inspired by The Island of Crimea – a celebrated novel by dissident writer Vassily Aksyonov – Ostrov displays an elegance unseen elsewhere on the…
Eastern Ukraine
A tribute to the city founder John Hughes, this place is full of shiny brass – that of the mini- brewery pumping fresh brew into the pipes that take it…
Odesa
This may not be obvious, but mussels are as much a part of Odesa food culture as aubergine 'caviar' (cold vegetable stew). Furnished like a bar, with a…
Kyiv
'Ginger' is a delightfully earthy cafe filled with books, Zen-inspired music and the scent of jasmine. The Asian and European menu is all-vegetarian,…
Lviv
This classy barrel cellar restaurant plates up the same menu as Amadeus (with a few additions) in a cool, tranquil atmosphere illuminated by Tiffany-style…
Odesa
This envoy from nearby Moldova occupies a super-quaint courtyard covered with a vine canopy in summer and pleasant cellar premises in winter. Come here to…
Kyiv
This gem enjoys a wonderfully surreal end-of-the-universe setting by the velodrome and doubles as a really cool bar. Owners seem to be positively obsessed…
Kyiv
There are only so many quintessential Ukrainian dishes for experiment-prone chefs to play with, but it's not an obstacle for the true culinary pioneers…
Lviv
Stylishly unpretentious, with bare brick and dark wood interior (nothing to distract you from the excellent food) this little place serves juicy steaks…
Lviv
Come to Kryva Lypa for the best breakfasts in town. This two-storey place serves an array of wonderful toast- and waffle-based concoctions with eggs,…
Odesa
You'd need to hire an army of culinary detectives to find better pasta between here and Italy, but your chances would still be low. The restaurant…
Lviv
Dedicated to the city of Lviv, there’s nothing dim about the ‘House of Legends’. The five floors contain a library stuffed with Lviv-themed volumes, a…
