You're reading: New guidebook lists best places to eat and drink in the capital

A new glossy guide called “Best Restaurants Kyiv,” as its title implies, takes its readers on a tour of Kyiv’s most sophisticated bars, cafes and restaurants.

The guide covers 40 spots located mostly in the city center. It provides readers with a restaurant description, combined with plenty of photos of interiors and the food served to diners. The guide also offers a map and a symbol system that shows readers if the place offers extra features such as city views, live music or business lunches.

The guide’s author, Maud Joseph, a French citizen who moved to Kyiv more than three years ago, was fascinated by the variety of restaurants that have popped up in Kyiv recently: In the introduction of her book she writes that 50 percent of her choices have existed for only two years or less.

“Food is my real passion and I also know that it is very difficult for foreigners to understand the city and to feel at home here,” Joseph told the Kyiv Post.

So to introduce the city to foodies, Joseph, who took master classes at the Alain Ducasse cookery school in Paris, compiled the almost 200-page pocket guidebook. The book provides readers with a client’s-eye view of the restaurants, rather than a chef’s, because apart from delicious food the places also have to be fashionable, with exceptional design and good service.

The restaurants that made it into the top-40 have a range of prices and cuisine specializations: there are some serving eastern European, Asian, and Mediterranean cuisine, as well as top-notched wine bars and confectionaries.
The restaurants reviewed are divided into three price categories: less than Hr 400 for a dinner, Hr 400-1000 for a dinner, and the most expensive ones with prices starting from Hr 1,000. In most of the restaurants in the guide, the bill starts from Hr 400, and only seven out of the 40 are in the low price category.

The list of places is geographically divided into five areas named according to the metro stations located nearby: Ploshcha Lva Tolstogo/ Olympiiska, Maidan/Podil, Teatralna/Universitet, Klovska/Arsenalna, and Lukianivska/Vokzalna.

Each group of restaurants starts with a table listing of all of the restaurants in the area, with symbols indicating those that have dinning and drinking options, the price category of the place, and so on. Along with a map showing the dining spot’s location, the author gives a detailed description of each place, indicating its strongest points.

As the author chose her favorite places, you won’t find many criticisms of the listed restaurants.

The author also lists her own preferences in the guide’s opening pages. She names the places with the best desserts options, the best Asian food, a pretty terrace or a good view. Some of the author’s top picks, however, are simply restaurants with “a cool atmosphere.”

The author, perhaps controversially, also indicates via the symbol of a cartoon girl in a crown the presence of “beautiful people” in a restaurant. (Please be sure to read the 13th point of the Kyiv Post’s articles about myths and facts about Ukraine before setting off to look for a “princess”).

One of the guide’s most attractive points is its good print quality and beautiful pictures of restaurants’ interior and food. The edition, however, is pricey comparing to the average cost of a book in a store – Hr 400 ($16) for a copy.
The guide can be found in 13 Kyiv’s book shops and cafes (visit eatinkiev.com for details).