As the summer heat returns to Kyiv again, cafés and restaurants next to water are the perfect place to cool down, relax and have some food and a cold drink. The Kyiv Post tracked down some places with great views of Kyiv’s lakes and the Dnipro River.
Grand Piano Cafe
Grand Piano Café is a restaurant on the first floor of Bakkara, a hotel on water, in the form of a giant blue and white barge about 140 meters long moored near Venetian Island in Hydropark, between Kyiv’s right and left banks. The restaurant has a terrace with a view of Podil district and the domes of Volodymyrska church rising on the hill. The restaurant is about 10 minutes’ walk from Hydropark metro station.
While the restaurant is decorated with brown leather furniture and red wood, the terrace has a theme of light colors. The menu offers various dishes of European and Ukrainian traditional cuisine with prices at Hr 100-200 for a salad and Hr 85-215 for a main course. Wine starts from Hr 250 for a bottle of Ukrainian Chardonnay of the Villa Krym brand. A detailed menu can be viewed on the hotel’s website, bakkara-hotel.com.ua.
Grand Piano Café. 1 Venetsiansky Ostriv St. 7 a.m. – 12 p.m. Tel. 38044-369-3663
People sit in deck chairs and enjoy the view of Kyiv’s Podil district in Skvorechnick cafe on Trukhaniv Island on July 27. (Anastasiya Radkova)
Praha
Praha is a restaurant located in a white building with a columned frontage overlooking a small lake in Holosyyvsy Park in southwest Kyiv. The restaurant is nestled in the shadows of trees, and wild ducks and sometimes even swans can be seen paddling about the lake.
The restaurant has a two-floor main banquet hall, three additional halls, and three VIP-rooms along with a floating terrace and a courtyard. The chic interior is mostly decked out in white and beige colors. The varied menu offers dishes for around Hr 200-300 and higher. To check the menu, visit praha-restaurant.com/menu. Live music starts every day at 7 p.m.
Praha. 1 Academika Hlushkova Ave. 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Tel. 38044-526-9990
Melange
This family restaurant at Obolonska Embankment offers its visitors a cozy terrace with a view of the Dnipro. The restaurant has a main hall, banquet hall, a separate room for private parties, a sushi bar on the lower floor and a special playroom with toys for kids. Melange also has a small store selling confectionaries and alcohol, as well as made-to-order birthday cakes.
The restaurant offers European and Asian dishes and wide range of baked goods and wines. The price of a main course is around Hr 150, while salads and snacks cost Hr 65-135. Stir-fried Thai noodles are Hr 70-195.
Melande. 14-g Heroiv Stalingrada Ave. 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. Tel. 38044- 411-9571.
Uzhnyi Bereh Kieva
Uzhnyi Bereh Kieva (UBK) is an outdoor beach club and a cafe on the banks of Trukhaniv Island, located across from Poshtova Square in Podil district. The café is located right on the beach, so it’s possible to swim the Dnipro from Podil and emerge from the water to eat a burger (from Hr 50) or drink a cocktail (Hr 80-110). But a more practical way of getting to UBK is to cross the Peshehodmyi Bridge, turn right, and walk around 200 meters.
UBK is often used as a venue for seminars and lectures, as well as movie screenings. The café has soft armchairs near the water where one can smoke a hookah water pipe for about Hr 250. Information about upcoming DJ sets and events is available at bar’s Facebook account (facebook.com/UBKbeach) – the bar doesn’t have a website.
Uzhnyi Bereh Kieva. Parkova Doroha Street. Open 24 hours. Tel. 38067-335-0176.
Zamok Vydybychy
Zamok Vydybychy restaurant is located near Paton Bridge in one of the city’s most prestigious districts, Pechersk, and offers a great view at left bank of the Dnipro river and the famous bridge itself. The restaurant has three rooms (one with a panoramic view, a banqueting hall, and one with fireplace) as well as a covered, outdoor terrace.
The menu is focuses on fish and seafood, but grilled meat is also available. The fish for meals is ordered alive from the tank and cooked fresh when ordered. The average price of a main course is about Hr 300-600.
5 Naberezhno-Pecherska Rd. 12 a.m. – 12 p.m. Tel. 38044-525-0793.
Skvorechnick
Skvorechnick, which means “birdhouse” in Russian, is a café in the trees that opened in 2015 in Alexander Pushkin Park, but which has since moved to Trukhaniv Island. The café is located right on the beach, with a great view of the Dnipro, Pishohidnyi Bridge and the embankment near Poshtova Ploshcha metro. However, the rules and menu is mostly the same: no alcohol, and no meat dishes are available.
Instead, Skvorechnick focuses on vegetarian food: The menu includes cream of mushroom soup, rice with vegetables, various salads, hummus, traditional French Ratatouille, and halva for a dessert. The average price of a dish is Hr 50-70.
The café also holds various events like movie screenings, yoga classes and music performances. To check out its schedule of upcoming events, visit facebook.com/skvorechnikcafe.
Skvorechnick. Trukhaniv Island. Central Beach. 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. n
