Interior

The restaurant is divided into several zones. On the first floor lies a full-fledged seafood bar and the restaurant itself. A lounge for a big company is located on the lower level. The bright and colorful carpets ordered from different parts of Bessarabia and made in different periods of the 20th century catch the sight from the very beginning. They reflect the traditional style of the region.

Menu Highlights

The gastronomic concept of the place is constructor-based. A grocery of Bessarabia is the basis of the restaurant: river and sea fish, frogs' legs, snails, meat dishes. Those who are looking for an authentic recipe can enjoy hominy (mamalyga) and Plachinda - very traditional dishes served with interesting fruit and cottage cheese sauces. Frog legs are served with honey-mustard sauce and are called Lolli-frogs, as they look like small lollipops. Wild snails come from the "Colonist" farm of Mr. Plachkov.
The restaurant adheres to the idea that even a simple river fish can surprise with its taste due to the right approach. So, there was a carpaccio, tar-tar and ceviche of carp, catfish, shrimps from the Black Sea with a very delicate taste. Traditional Bessarabia soups, Chorba and Zama, are present on the menu as well. Special attention should be paid to meat dishes, especially lamb. Thanks to the special aging method, it turns into tender lamb back, braised leg of lamb and stewed lamb torn. Visitors have pointed out lamb kidneys to be especially delicious. Unique side dishes served to main course: for instance, peas, spinach, kumquats, tomatoes as well as a variety of sauces and spreads.

Seafood

Seafood bar is a very important part of the restaurant. The restaurant's concept lies in taking the Bessarabia products, technology and ideas to make a modern trendy menu. That's why visitors can find Danubian tar-tar, rapa whelk ceviche with pear and avocado mousses, mango sauces and so on. Fresh fish in the seafood bar is also a joy for gourmets. Visitors can select any fish to be cooked in the way they prefer. Caviar Bar is represented by Ukrainian products: pike caviar, herring caviar, black and red caviar of gastro-family brand that are produced at the farm near Kyiv. Many dishes from fish and seafood are represented by Balkan and Serbian cuisine. For example, there are soups with tomato sauce, crayfish and mussels cooked with the shells with citrus fruits.

Desserts

The menu has about 10 positions of various desserts. You can try traditional Smetannyk, honey cake, double brownie with raspberry, cheesecake with gorgonzola, panna-cotta with lime, etc. No matter the mood and reason you come to this restaurant - for a snack, a cup of coffee, with a large group of friends, for a romantic dinner or for a Sunday lunch with family - you will always find here something nice for yourself.

Drinks

Slava Babich is a chef-barista of the gastro-family. Tea is offered in siphons for maximum flavor disclosure; and coffee is the specialty of the restaurant – it is freshly roasted and prepared in a very cool coffee machine. Guests can appreciate the loyal approach to guests by ordering coffee with almond or lactose-free milk.
Artem Lebedev, the mixologist and chef bartender, is very responsible with what he does and uses boundless imagination in his work. There are about 11 special cocktails on the menu. Cocktails here are based on a systematic understanding of the chemical and physical processes associated with alcohol. Guests can enjoy cocktails from the bar in the upper rooms.
The gastro-family has a formed an idea of collecting good Ukrainian wines: wine of Trubetskoi, Colonist, Great Valley and Shabo. Here you can choose Moldovan wine and wines of all countries on the banks of the Danube region - Hungarian, Austrian, German wines as well as Old World wines.
Address: 7, Bessarabska Square, Kyiv
Photo source: Bessarabia Facebook page. Cover photo by Anna Vishtak. All images belong to their rightful authors.