Food and Drink
Restaurants are plentiful in Kiev and this website will not attempt to provide reviews of numerous restaurants. The reasons for this are three fold: 1) Kiev has an amazing amount of restaurants and it would be a full-time job to monitor them; 2) restaurants tend to be very expensive, so I would go broke reviewing them; and 3) like in many countries with developing restaurant scenes, quality can shift quickly and reviews can quickly become out of date.
What I will do is list particular restaurants that I have tried and have been impressed with, and I will focus on ‘value’ restaurants that are relatively cheap and and offer good food. Other than that there are websites that will provide you with more comprehensive information.
There is an English-language dining guide for Kiev, and while it is useful to some extent it is not a great resource. Many good restaurants are not in it. In fact, almost none of the restaurants I ate at were in the guide, and some that were in earlier guides and had good reputations were not in the most recent 2006 guide. You can pick up the dining guide in more expat-oriented dining establishments.
A note for wine lovers: Ukraine is not the country for you. Though I seem to remember one restaurant received a Wine Spectator Award a year or two ago, the prices are extremely expensive, especially for the quality of the wine. A cheap glass of very mediocre wine will run you the normal 6-9 USD per glass that you pay in the US. You will also pay per 50 or 100 milliliters, so be careful, as you may end up paying a few buck only for a sip.
Ukrainian wines are not very good. Though I am sure I will get people saying otherwise, the reality of wine in Ukraine is simply mathematical. They do not grow enough grapes to account for their wine production. A recent report said that up to 90 percent of Ukrainian wines have used grape powder technology to substitute for the lack of grapes. Predictably, all but the most expensive Ukrainian wines are almost undrinkable. I hate to say it, but stick to beer at restaurants, and if you want wine, buy it at a supermarket and drink it at home. It is still expensive, but at least you have some control over that you drink without shrinking the width of your wallet. Georgian wines are a better bet as they are relatively cheaper, but prices have risen in the last few years. With that said, Georgian whites are still not as good as the reds.
The wine page will provide some places to buy wine and eventually (once I have relocated in 2007) provide a value list of wines that you can buy in Kiev.
General Links
ukraine-today.com/
Ukraine Today has a really good recipe link page that also has a bibliography on Ukrainian cookbooks in English.
Subpages for Food and Drink:
Food and Drink
Restaurants are plentiful in Kiev and this website will not attempt to provide reviews of numerous restaurants. The reasons for this are three fold: 1) Kiev has an amazing amount of restaurants and it would be a full-time job to monitor them; 2) restaurants tend to be very expensive, so I would go broke reviewing them; and 3) like in many countries with developing restaurant scenes, quality can shift quickly and reviews can quickly become out of date.
What I will do is list particular restaurants that I have tried and have been impressed with, and I will focus on ‘value’ restaurants that are relatively cheap and and offer good food. Other than that there are websites that will provide you with more comprehensive information.
There is an English-language dining guide for Kiev, and while it is useful to some extent it is not a great resource. Many good restaurants are not in it. In fact, almost none of the restaurants I ate at were in the guide, and some that were in earlier guides and had good reputations were not in the most recent 2006 guide. You can pick up the dining guide in more expat-oriented dining establishments.
A note for wine lovers: Ukraine is not the country for you. Though I seem to remember one restaurant received a Wine Spectator Award a year or two ago, the prices are extremely expensive, especially for the quality of the wine. A cheap glass of very mediocre wine will run you the normal 6-9 USD per glass that you pay in the US. You will also pay per 50 or 100 milliliters, so be careful, as you may end up paying a few buck only for a sip.
Ukrainian wines are not very good. Though I am sure I will get people saying otherwise, the reality of wine in Ukraine is simply mathematical. They do not grow enough grapes to account for their wine production. A recent report said that up to 90 percent of Ukrainian wines have used grape powder technology to substitute for the lack of grapes. Predictably, all but the most expensive Ukrainian wines are almost undrinkable. I hate to say it, but stick to beer at restaurants, and if you want wine, buy it at a supermarket and drink it at home. It is still expensive, but at least you have some control over that you drink without shrinking the width of your wallet. Georgian wines are a better bet as they are relatively cheaper, but prices have risen in the last few years. With that said, Georgian whites are still not as good as the reds.
The wine page will provide some places to buy wine and eventually (once I have relocated in 2007) provide a value list of wines that you can buy in Kiev.
General Links
ukraine-today.com/
Ukraine Today has a really good recipe link page that also has a bibliography on Ukrainian cookbooks in English.