After shopping for clothes in a made-in-Ukraine store, the latest fashion trend, don't go home: Keep up the patriotic theme by taking in a hearty Ukrainian meal. There's much more to the national tastebuds than simply borscht and salo. The Kyiv Post rounds up the best Kyiv restaurants to feel the authentic taste of Ukrainian cuisine.
O’Panas
One of the Kyiv’s best-known restaurants, O’Panas is located in the central and picturesque Shevchenko Park. Its traditional stove, straw chairs, Ukrainian baroque elements in decoration, and lots of verdure recreate a design of a traditional Ukrainian house. The highlights of the menu are varenyky with potatoes and mushrooms (Hr 62), pork shank baked with spices and beer (Hr 295) and borscht, served with sour cream, garlic sauce and pampushka buns (Hr 68). The restaurant has an impressive offer of tasty wild game.
10 Tereshchenkivska St. Open 8 p.m. – midnight on weekdays, 10 a.m. – 1 a.m. on weekends
Dykanka
Named after the area in Poltava Oblast that was featured in Mykola Gogol’s classic collection of short stories, “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka,” the restaurant offers an extended list of traditional Ukrainian meals. It serves gourmet dishes that Ukrainian nobles used to dine on, such as a duck leg served with apples and raspberries (Hr 135) or a rabbit stewed in cream (Hr 260). The more common meals that could be found on a table of a Ukrainian villager are represented by the many versions of salo, or lard (Hr 29-52), the greasy Carpathian corn porridge banosh (Hr 50) or potato patties kartoplyanyky with cabbage stuffing (Hr 35).
4A Malyshka St. Open every day noon – midnight
Mlyn
The menu in Mlyn (Ukrainian for “mill”) offers a mix of Ukrainian and European dishes. Traditional Ukrainian meals are represented with veal served with potatoes and mushrooms in crocks (Hr 65), salo with garlic and croutons, or potato pancakes deruny with meat stuffing. Mlyn has an excellent location in Hydropark on the picturesque banks of the Dnipro River.
9V Brovarsky Ave. Open daily noon – midnight
Kanapa
This gourmet restaurant offers a variety of meals cooked according to the recipes of Ukraine’s pre-Soviet bourgeois. Those looking for an unusual approach to the Ukrainian cuisine can try the traditional dishes cooked with molecular cuisine techniques, which is another specialty of Kanapa.
Some of the highlights of the menu are the veal ribs with blueberry sauce with a side of mashed green peas (Hr 239), grilled catfish with oat flakes, aged cheese, cream and nuts (Hr 229) and steamed varenyky stuffed with poppy seeds, apples and honey (Hr 89). To complement the meal with drinks, choose fresh Rhubarb Lemonade (Hr 27), Buckthorn Juice (Hr 35) or traditional strong drink Khrynovuha (Hr 640 per bottle).
19A Andriyivsky Uzviz St. Open daily 10 a.m. – midnight
Ukrainian borscht is served with pampushka buns and sour cream in Kanapa, a national cuisine restaurant on Andriyivskiy Uzviz Street.
Tsarske Selo
This iconic Ukrainian cuisine restaurant is styled after a Ukrainian village of 18th century. The restaurant serves meals prepared according to old recipes. Visitors can enjoy different types of varenyky stuffed either with cherries, poppy seeds and raisins, or salmon, spinach and cheese (Hr 79). Rabbit leg braised with cream and stewed vegetables costs Hr 199 and beef tongue baked with mushrooms and cheese goes for Hr 199. On the drink side, the venue offers spotykach, Ukrainian vodka infused with nutmeg and spices (Hr 100).
22 Lavrska St. Open daily 9 a.m. – 1 a.m.
Korchma Taras Bulba
Having the appearance of a two-story Cossack estate, the restaurant offers a menu that corresponds to 17th century Ukrainian dishes. It serves authentic meals like duck roasted with apples and buckwheat (Hr 289), Ukrainian blood sausage krovianka, served with pickled cabbage, marinated tomatoes and horseradish (Hr 86) or grilled chicken with thyme served with vegetables and sour cream (Hr 132). The staff wears traditional Ukrainian attire.
2-4/7 Pushkinska St. Open daily 9 a.m. – midnight
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at [email protected]
