The restaurants in Kiev are remarkably diverse. In addition to Ukrainian cuisine, there are many others (Asian, Mediterranean, American, and Georgian) that provide the opportunity for everyone to find the best choice to suit their personal tastes. If you are coming to Kiev, just give the Ukrainian capital a chance to surprise you with the outstanding cooking of the following high-quality restaurants.
Kanapa
Restaurant, European, $$$
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Located on Andrew’s Descent, one of Kiev’s most famous streets, Kanapa perfectly reflects the area’s historic and creative significance by serving modern reinterpretations of traditional Eastern European dishes like caviar and beetroot soup. Kanapa is a restaurant reminiscent of the literary salons of the 19th century: your meal may be accompanied by chamber music or a book reading, and all the artwork on the walls is for sale. In the summer, guests can enjoy a moment of peace on the terrace overlooking a wooded area.
Vegetarian food and the relaxing atmosphere of a library or bookstore is what you’ll find at Imbir. One of the only restaurants in the city to provide a completely vegetarian menu, it is full of books and comfortable armchairs, a sure way to make visitors want to stay there for hours on end. With a very reasonably priced lunch menu that changes every day, it’s an ideal spot for tourists and regulars alike. Their drinks are as healthy as their food: different sorts of tea and fresh fruit juice, and also almond milk drinks and detox smoothies.
With a pizzaiolo from Naples, a stove “built by a Neapolitan master from proper Neapolitan materials,” and even flour from Naples, it’s no wonder that Napulè feels like a piece of Italy in the middle of Eastern Europe. The menu offers classic Italian fare: pizza, pasta, salads, soups, and a few meat-based dishes. This might seem regular, but there’s a reason why these dishes are classics of Italian gastronomy: they’re delicious when done well, and Napulè does them very well indeed.
Anyone in Eastern Europe should take advantage of the opportunity to sample food from the Caucasus, not so common in the rest of the world. Shoti, a Georgian restaurant, is just the place for such a discovery. Its exquisitely designed award-winning interior and summer terrace make it a very attractive location, but it’s not just a pretty place without substance. You’ll also find some quintessentially Georgian dishes such as pork and veal khinkali (dumplings) and a type of cheese-filled bread known as khachapuri.
Right opposite the world-famous Pechersk Lavra monastery, Tsarske Selo is popular with tourists and travelers looking for Ukrainian cuisine as they take a break from sightseeing. The interior is a recreation of a typical 17th-century house in a Ukrainian village, and food is prepared following traditional recipes and methods. Tsarske Selo is perfect if you are looking for a place to eat after having visited the monastery and would like to extend your discovery of Ukraine’s history and folklore while eating.
The first contemporary Chinese restaurant was founded by TV anchor and businessman Hector Jimenez-Bravo. He managed to transfer the idea of the restaurant from the incredibly crowded metropolis of Hong Kong to cosy and moderate Kiev. Guests can sit at the community table – reportedly the longest restaurant table in Europe with 50 seats – and enjoy traditional dim sum, which is considered to be the best in the city. Why not become a part of the large community of Chinese cuisine fans?
Craving pasta or carpaccio in Kiev but don’t know which of the city’s surprisingly many Italian-style restaurants to choose? Look no further than Carpaccio, just a stone’s throw from the famous Maidan Square. Visitors can choose the traditional Italian dishes mentioned above for a taste of the familiar, but its less stereotypical offerings are what makes Carpaccio truly shine: calamari or such seafood dishes as grilled salmon and no less than seven different kinds of carpaccio and tartare.
BEEF Meat & Wine is a restaurant where you will be served excellent meat, cooked in the best traditions of world cuisine, and the staff will also recommend a fine wine – a combination that is attractive to people of all ages and walks of life. The steaks, roast beef, and carpaccio are of extremely good quality and made on the basis of secret recipes that were created decades ago. The most interesting part is the cooking of meat on natural coals in front of the guests, in the open kitchen.
Missing Italy while in Ukraine? Then Vino e Cucina is a perfect place for you. In the basement of the restaurant, one can find an enoteca – the room where the wine is stored. There is also a cheese room in which guests can pair the cheese with their wine. A pizzeria with a wide selection of traditional Italian dishes is located on the ground floor. Vino e Cucina is a great place for a family dinner, Sunday brunch, or just a meeting with friends for a glass of delicious wine.
CHI serves up Pan-Asian cuisine crafted by a serious team of chefs from China, headed by the chef Junyi Yang, who was recently in the kitchen of the London restaurant Hakkasan. This is a place to come for gastronomic delights. The feature of CHI is its smooth transformation from a place for lunch or a business meeting, to a nightclub with loud music and parties until the morning. Adherents of vegan and vegetarian cuisines will also find an extensive menu that goes far beyond the limits of rice and vegetables.
