Kyiv might be more than 420 kilometers from the nearest sea, but good, fresh seafood is always available at several fish restaurants in the capital – in some places it is cooked right at the diner’s table.
Fish in a Fire
Fish in a Fire, or Ryba v Vogni in Ukrainian, was opened in 2016 by the famous Odesa-born restaurateur Saveliy Libkin, who also owns a popular chain of restaurants called Kompot (which is a non-alcoholic sweet beverage made from boiled fruit). Fish in a Fire is Libkin’s first restaurant in Kyiv to specialize in fish. The menu mostly includes Italian cuisine, but also features a range of dishes with Black Sea fish.
Most of the dishes are baked in a large pizza oven installed by the previous owner of the building where Fish in a Fire is located, and hence the dishes are served on wooden shovels. In restaurant’s second room there is a shop display with octopuses, various kinds of fish and other seafood on ice. The place mostly serves white wine from different countries, including Ukrainian brands. A warm salad with seafood costs Hr 330, while the price of a main dish varies from Hr 195 for carp to Hr 520 for Sicilian tuna.
Fish in a Fire. 23 Sahaidachnoho St. 11 – 12 a.m. +38067 518 4364
Daily Fish Café
Located in the heart of Kyiv, near Lva Tolstoho metro station, Daily Fish Café promotes itself as a decent seafood place with affordable prices. The restaurant, with a minimalistic design in blue and white colors, serves mussels, oysters, snails, burgers and pasta with seafood, fish soups, and baked, fried or grilled fish as main courses.
Prices start from Hr 155 for fish and chips, and rise to Hr 299 for sea bass, dorado and grilled Atlantic cod. The restaurant also offers several non-fish options such as steaks, beef stroganoff and chicken for Hr 169–249. Wines go for Hr 319–750 for a bottle, and cocktails for Hr 80-120. The place also has a “happy hours” offer in weekdays, from 3 to 7 p.m., with two dishes for the price of one.
Daily Fish Café. 48 Velyka Vasylkivska St. 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. +38068 927 2525
Porto
Porto opened in Kyiv more than 10 years ago, but went through a big reconstruction in 2016. The restaurant has two sections: one for pan-Asian cuisine, including wok noodles with seafood, and the second with more glamorous atmosphere and the best dishes from the old menu. The place also has an impressive collection of wines, a bar with aquariums, and an open kitchen.
The restaurant’s signature dish is a seafood sauté made to each customer’s order from a choice of octopus, scallops, shrimp, cuttlefish, and baby squid. Customers can also pick the cooking style. The price of a fish dish varies from Hr 118-355 per 100 grams. Cocktails are also available – for Hr 106-270.
Porto. 72 Velyka Vasylkivska St. 12 p.m. – 12 a.m. +38044 206 83 87
Marlin
Marlin, a restaurant in Ocean Plaza shopping mall, stand out with its huge, 11-meter aquarium with bright exotic fish. More usual types of fish are on the menu, which visitors can order and then watch being cooked in Marlin’s open kitchen.
The price of a fish dish starts from Hr 215 for baked carp, and goes up to Hr 438 for a tuna steak. There is also grilled or baked seafood, such as baby octopus, cuttlefish, squid, octopus tentacles, tiger shrimps and scallops for Hr 185-385 per 100 grams. A glass of wine to go with the fish costs Hr 85-184. The restaurant also delivers – go to www.marlin-restaurant.com to order.
Marlin. 176B Antonovycha St. (Ocean Plaza shopping mall). 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. +38099 308 9928
Ryba Love
Ryba Love was opened by the famous Ukrainian restaurateur Dmytro Borysov. While many of Borysov’s restaurants specialize in fish and seafood, Ryba Love is special, as it was devoted to his wife Olena. The restaurant, located in the capital’s historic Podil district, has a display with frozen fish and seafood, and several aquariums.
The fish and seafood from the display, such as parrot fish, African catfish, grouper, octopus, tiger shrimps, tonguefish and others, cost Hr 108 – 308 per 100 grams. All can be baked with sea salt, fried, grilled or steamed. Other fish dishes start from Hr 198 for grilled flounder to Hr 798 for grilled Chilean sea bass. The price of a bottle of wine starts from Hr 390 and goes all the way up to Hr 5,390 for a bottle of 2011 French Burgundy.
Ryba Love. 21-23 Vozdvyzhenska St. 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. +38097 121 3131
Fish House
Fish House is a seafood restaurant on the left bank, near Osokorky metro station. The restaurant was opened by the couple Yuriy Aristov and his wife Maryna, who also own the Atlantic Yumma company, which imports fish from various countries. No surprise then that this restaurant offers lots of kinds of fish – baked, fried or stewed. Prices start at Hr 69 for 100 grams of dorado, and reach Hr 399 for 100 grams of white seabass.
Located on the first floor of the shopping mall, the restaurant has minimalistic design and aquariums with live fish and oysters. The menu features nine types of seafood platters for Hr 699-5,699 – the most expensive one is a mix of snow crabs, lobsters, oysters, langoustines, shrimp, tuna and salmon for four people. The place offers more than 50 types of wine to accompany the fish.
Fish House. 1E Mykoly Bazhana Ave (Appetite shopping mall). 11- 12 a.m. +38067 245 8830
Odesa
Odesa, named after the port city in the southwest of Ukraine, has a modern design and cuisine, and pays a lot of attention to the presentation of its dishes. In some cases the method of serving is also impressive: a chef comes to the diners’ table and cooks their meal in front of them. The restaurant also has a large oven for baking fish.
Odesa’s prices are affordable: a main course costs Hr 179-255. There are a lot of options for meat lovers, with dishes going for Hr 14 -272. A glass of wine costs Hr 90-295.
Odesa. 114 Velyka Vasylkivska St. 11 a.m. – 11p.m. +38044 238 2032
