Kanapa
Kanapa belongs to the Dima Borisov restaurant family and is one of the most popular venues in the franchise. It is located on the picturesque Andriivskyi Descent in the wooden 19th-century building. The main interior feature of the restaurant is a fireplace, which brings a special ambiance to the place. Kanapa also hosts regular exhibitions of contemporary artists and serves food in modern ceramic dishes to complete the authentic vibe.
The menu in Kanapa has a detailed visual guide about Ukrainian cuisine - the map of the country is divided into regions and each is marked with the most popular products. Thus, fans of seafood, poultry, mushrooms and other particular ingredients may find a region they would like to visit the most. Each season the team of Kanapa goes on expeditions in Ukraine to add new dishes to the menu. The recipes used here are authentic, while technologies stay cutting-edge.
To give an idea about the menu, let's look at some dishes included in a tasting set: pike caviar in Odesa style with Shabo Classic Brut, aspic made of hare and pheasant meat with horseradish served with khrinovuha, Chicken Kyiv with red Cabernet Sauvignon and Ukrainian borshch with pork ears served with khrinovuha. The restaurant has an English-language menu.
Address: 19, Andriivskyi Descent
Bottega Wine & Tapas
Bottega Wine & Tapas restaurant is located right near Shevchenko park in Kyiv downtown. The interior was designed by the Ukrainian KleyDesign studio - brick walls, wooden tables and brass elements create a modern loft-ish vibe. The fireplace in Bottega Wine & Tapas is located in the quiet corner, where visitors can chill out in armchairs and read one of the books that lie on the table nearby.
As the name suggests, Bottega's special is tapas - an appetizer popular in Spanish cuisine that can be served with seafood, meat on various bases from bread to artichokes. To give an idea, Bottega offers tapas with salmon with goat cheese and pike caviar, marinated plum with gorgonzola cream and granola, and roast beef with cilantro on beaten cucumber. Another menu special popular here is paella with chicken and seafood, served for two.
Bottega Wine & Tapas is famous for its extensive and carefully picked wine list, rewarded by SIL' National Restaurant Award for three years in a row. The restaurant hosts regular enogastronomic dinners and wine degustations. Every Friday and Saturday, visitors can enjoy live music from local DJs.
Address: 13, Tereshchenkivska Street
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Shoti
Georgian restaurant Shoti is located on Mechnykova Street, a stone throw away from the Klovska metro station. The homey restaurant has a stylish wooden-based interior with prevailing white-and-beige colors. Two couches with fuzzy pillows by the fireplace are very popular with the visitors and are often booked in advance.
The menu at Shoti is filled with classics and regional specials of Georgian cuisine. Starters section is famous for phkáli, a traditional appetizer made of chopped vegetables, walnut, spices and wine vinegar. The dish can be made with fresh spinach, eggplants, squash, sweet pepper or leek.
Shoti, the Georgian bread that inspired the restaurant's name, is another popular dish here. It is baked for about 5-7 minutes in a traditional bakery tandoor. Sommeliers can assist in picking the best wine and food pairing based on your preferences. Each Thursday Shoti has a special dish that exclusively appears on the menu only for a day.
Address: 9, Mechnykova Street
Baklazhan
Baklazhan (Ukrainian for "eggplant") is one more restaurant with a fireplace that is located near Kyiv Fomin Botanical Garden. Here, the fireplace is placed in the center of the main hall opposed to the traditional location by the wall. Yet visitors still have a chance to enjoy the dinner while watching the flames. The epitome of coziness is reached by live music concerts that take place here every evening from Thursday to Saturday.
Baklazhan offers to explore the culinary map of Caucasus with dishes from Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. That's why the menu will be appreciated by lovers of meat dishes and bread, as both are essential to Caucasian cuisine. To give an idea, you can try festive pilaf with veal, chickpeas or dried fruit, chicken luleh kebab and various bread appetizers like khachapuri, chebureki and khinkali.
The wine list includes a wide assortment of wines from the Caucasus as well as European countries. The famous Georgian pomace brandy chacha is represented by 5 types of the drink. There are various non-alcoholic drinks suitable for kids, like yogurt-based ayran. Besides, kids can play in a kid's room and are entertained by a nanny on weekends.
Address: 25, Tarasa Shevchenko Boulevard
Lyubimy Dyadya
Lyubimy Dyadya, which means "favorite uncle" in Russian, is a homey restaurant located not far from Fomin Botanical Garden. The venue is hidden on the quiet street and channels the same vibe in the interior with an abundance of plants, warm color palette, fireplace and numerous books.
The menu is focused on Middle Eastern cuisine: various dishes from Morocco, Israel, Egypt, Turkey and Greece can be found here. The snacks, for instance, feature hummus and Baba ghanoush - a chopped eggplant salad with tahina, garlic and homemade aioli sauce. Poultry and meat, as well as seafood, make up separate sections on the menu. Bread, as an important feature of Middle Eastern cuisine, is baked every day and served fresh with various authentic condiments.
The wine list includes a large selection of red, white and rosé, while bartender will mix classic cocktails and specials. Lyubimy Dyadya offers early breakfasts on Mon-Fri from 8 A.M. to 12 P.M. and lazy late breakfasts on Sat-Sun from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. You can enjoy a dish of choice with a warm drink by the fireplace. The restaurant is also kids-friendly: there's a separate menu for kids, a whole box of toys to play with and numerous cartoons to watch.
Address: 20, Pankivska Street
The following list is the editor's choice. All businesses are mentioned in a random order.
Photo sources: Facebook and websites of businesses mentioned above, unsplash.com. All images belong to their rightful authors.
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