Like in any large city, restaurant prices in Kyiv are a good head above those in the provinces. When juxtaposing them with prices in metropolises, Ukraine's capital offers dinners at rates very similar to the ones in Hungary's Budapest, while dining out in New York City is substantially cheaper when adjusting for the share of personal income needed to be paid for a nice meal.
The average Ukrainian family does not have a lot of disposable income to
lavish on eating out. According to the statistics aggregator nationmaster.com,
citing OECD figures, the median American after-tax monthly household disposable
income is $3,259. Hungarian and Ukrainian households have $668 and $358,
respectively, to spend a month. That comes to a ratio of roughly 10:2:1.
Given the sizable underground economies in Ukraine and Hungary, families
actually might have a little more to spare through undeclared hard currency
earnings, according to data provided by Ukraine’s Fiscal Service and the Budapest
Business Journal.
The American will spend less on restaurant meals than Eastern Europeans
relative to their income, assuming they dine out roughly as often. Industry
estimates show that New Yorkers visit an eatery on average 2.7 times per week.
Expatistan, another statistics aggregator that caters to foreigners living
abroad, calculates that the cost of a dinner for two in the Big Apple will run a
couple $48, in Budapest $27 and in Kyiv $13, yielding a 4:2:1 cost ratio. Therefore,
such a dinner would cost an average New Yorker some 1 percent of their monthly
income, while a resident of Budapest would have to pay as much as 4 percent and
one from Kyiv – pretty much the same, almost 4 percent.
A comparison of similar main course menu items from select family
restaurants in each of the three sample cities showed that the 4:2:1 cost ratio
is just about spot on – but scaled upwards. The tastes and serving customs of
the respective nations are close enough to validate this crude cost comparison
methodology. Hibachi lemon chicken at the Japanese cuisine chain restaurant
Benihana in New York costs $55, while the grilled turkey breast at Porcellino
in Budapest is just $16, and the Milanese-style chicken at Kyiv’s Il Patio is
$9. And that is without a side dish.
However, going beyond the more fanciful entre items and into “global”
dishes, the cost ratio no longer holds up. Each country offers the traditional
beef burger on a bun, and the family restaurants in each country charge almost
identical prices. From Big Daddy’s 1960s retro diner in Manhattan to the art
nouveau bistro Deryne in old Buda to Kyiv’s own bit of Americana
T.G.I.Friday’s, a good ole’ hamburger is priced at $10-$18. The patty sizes are
about the same too. Pizza menus are similar too, although the volume of
toppings on a New York-style pie hardly compares to the scant offerings of its Eastern European kin.
Part of the reason for the relatively higher costs of dining out in Kyiv
and Budapest is the regulatory and tax environment. Legal business consultant Nina
Mykhalska argues that the restaurant business in Kyiv is expensive due to the
high taxes and costs associated with registering dining establishments.
Notorious “unofficial payments” for regulatory approval add to the costs. Some
of these expenses are offset by low costs for some foods and labor, she adds.
Meanwhile, Hungarian restaurateur Itopa Omeiza and the investment consulting
group TMF echo these sentiments. The U.S., on the other hand, is much more
business-friendly, demanding fewer man-hours on bureaucratic tasks.
The ongoing economic downturn coupled with the war with Russia has
beaten up businesses in Ukraine badly this year, though restaurant sector
remains quite profitable. There have been over 40 closures in Kyiv in recent
months, according to Restaurant Consulting, mostly at the high end of the
market as wealthier clients have cut spending on eating out.
Industry professionals say that during economically troubled times,
people don’t stop going out to eat – they just scale down their consumption. As
a result, expensive joints close or re-brand as family establishments, while former
high rollers begin to frequent places with more sober prices.
And so Kyiv’s mid-market, or family-oriented, restaurants and cafes
continue to draw a sizable clientele, which makes this segment an ideal
comparative base to a couple of other big cities that lie near and well beyond
the borders of Ukraine.
All in all, despite being on different sides of the European Union
divide, Budapest and Kyiv are surprisingly alike, in the culinary sense, while
pricey New York City diners are an ironically good deal for a family outing.
Kyiv Post
business journalist Evan Ostryzniuk can be reached at [email protected].
