Shots of vodka or half-liter glasses of draft beer can still be had for less than $1 in Kyiv’s city center.
You just have to know where to look without cringing.
These dwindling numbers of holes in the wall offer a glimpse of what many modest bistros looked like in the early 1990s with prices that haven’t changed much since.
Don’t expect some of these dives to have street addresses, chairs or even names.
They’re what are left of the capital’s Soviet-era walk-in, walk-out watering holes.
One block from parliament, this underground café offers a quick splash of alcohol for those in a hurry. (Yaroslav Debelyi)
Along with the stench of stale beer, visitors aren’t greeted by hostesses or burly security guards.
Instead, orders are taken at centrally located bar counters usually by women approaching the retirement age dressed in colorful maid outfits.
Service is often brisk and customers leave as quickly as they enter.
Usually frequented by down-at-heel customers, you’re expected to mind your own business and keep conversation to a barely audible tone.
After all, the point is to imbibe not admire the décor, which usually is lacking, or rap at your cell phone.
A stone’s throw away from parliament, the generically named “Kafeteriy” is housed underground on 6 Kriposniy Provulok offering Hr 6 bottled Ukrainian beer.
The place is stuffy with only five tall, round café tables that are usually shared by strangers who come in for a quick shot of vodka.
Another Soviet gem is “Stary Prichal” (Old Wharf) on 3 Poshtova Ploshcha facing the Dnipro River just off a pedestrian bridge.
Don’t enter the café located on the sidewalk level.
Go up to the second floor of the main building of the river station and take in the stunning views of green banks, careless crowds on the beaches and occasional boats swinging by.
The service, however, is anything but stunning here. We waited 15 minutes before leaving behind the Hr 10 draft Lviv beer we had planned to order.
Next was our favorite drinkery located in a no-name wooden shack on the tramcar line on Kontraktova Ploshcha in Podil.
In fact, this part of town is really the only neighborhood that feels like an actual community given its low-storey buildings and quiet side streets.
Some places are so cheap that it’s easy to drink oneself into a slumber quickly.
Despite housing the historic Kyiv Mohyla Academy and the winding souvenir path along Andriyivsky Uzviz, this area has many roaming homeless dogs and no frill bars.
Serving Hr 6 Obolon drafts and Hr 2.60 50-gram vodka shots, this place is always packed during work hours and is open 24 hours a day. It was the only smoking establishment we visited.
Customers here are mostly drifters who stop in for a quick one before catching any number of buses, trams or the metro.
On the opposite side of Kontraktova Ploshcha metro stop, another wooden shack houses “Cafe-Bar” on Verkhniy Val near a bus stop.
Rows of creaky, sticky picnic tables offered some privacy while we ordered Soviet brand Zhihulivske bottled beer for Hr 6.50.
Zhihulivske was by far the most popular beer brand in the USSR.
At its peak, 735 breweries made the beer. Kyiv’s own Obolon beer factory brewed it and during the 1980 Summer Olympics, it made more than 30,000 deciliters.
In 1991, Obolon stopped brewing the brand but re-launched it last year.
Across the street on the corner of Verkhniy Val and Kostyantynivska Street, grab the locally brewed Podil beer at a brew hut for Hr 11.50 and one of at least 10 different kinds of salted fish ranging from pike, pike-perch, roach to beam for Hr 15-70.
Two types of locally crafted Podil beer goes well with any number of salted freshwater fish.
There’s seating indoors and outside.
The unfiltered beer is crafted at Brewery No. 2 nearby so it’s fresh and tasty while the bar is open until the last customer.
This place is always full and a favorite of Kyivans beyond Podil.
We noticed cars constantly pulling up with men carrying in empty plastic bottles to fill.
And for those who don’t know how to access the cafeterias attached to government ministry buildings for a cheap lunch, Yaroslava cafe across the street from the Radisson on 13 Yaroslaviv Val offers a variety of stuffed patties for less than $1.
City guides say the café has been functioning here since 1947.
Styled as a medieval dining hall, it smells like a good old bakery with cherry patties, meat pies and the Ukrainian version of a hotdog – a frankfurter baked in dough.
A winter-time favorite, a plate of hot, fresh meat or mushroom patties goes down well with a cup of herbal tea to satisfy any hunger urge.
In summer, it has a terrace where, apart from baked goods, you can order an ordinary lunch.
Kyiv Post staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected]
