Salt Restaurant Awards was founded in 2013 by Hoteliero and Restaurateurs Club and it quickly became the main event of the year for the professional restaurant community of Ukraine. SALT Restaurant Awards are given to restaurants which have been selected by professional experts of the Awards and evaluated by independent international jury board. The annual award will highlight and evaluate the best restaurants in the country and will help them receive public recognition. The award for winners, SALT frying pan, is a symbol of quality of Ukrainian restaurants.
In 2017 the best restaurants of Ukraine have been selected in 12 nominations:
Best coffee House - One Love Coffee (Kyiv)
One Love Coffee is located on the sixth floor of Pinchuk art Center in Kyiv. The cafe boasts an ultra-trendy interior as well as impressive selection of coffee brands and brews. One Love Coffee offers a number of alternative ways in brewing coffee. You can order your drink to be brewed in pour over, chemex, kalita or aeropress. Brewed in modern equipment and served in cool cups and mugs, this trendy coffee-shop in Kyiv brings your everyday cup of coffee ritual to a whole new level. This coffee shope in the heart of Kyiv is all about nice and bright interior, delicious coffee, tasty pies and desserts, relaxed but good and timely service.
Address: 100, Velyka Vasylkivska street, Kyiv.
Best Meat Restaurant - Argentina Grill (Kharkiv)
The restaurant menu includes classic meat Argentinean dishes and dishes from the chef. Argentine wine is excellent addition to the meals. It is a cozy and atmospheric restaurant in Kharkiv, that will satisfy even the most spoiled foodies.
Address: 20, Nauka Avenue, Kharkiv.
Best Fish Restaurant - Odesa (Kyiv)
Odessa Restaurant is a conceptual dining destination in the capital of Ukraine offering gastronomic and designer’s dishes and an impressive cocktail card. All dishes - chef’s signature dishes and best of European cuisine classics - are created by the principle of interesting and complex combinations of ingredients. The menu is updated each month so that guests can enjoy local seasonal products and savor exceptionally well cooked fish and meat.
Address: 114, Vasyl’kovska street, Kyiv.
Best Restaurant of Ukrainian Cuisine - Barvy (Kyiv)
BARVY is the new addition to the local restaurant scene, which introduces the modern Ukrainian cuisine based on traditional recipes of various regions and ethnic groups of Ukraine.
BARVY serves traditional dishes of Transcarpathia, Galicia and Bukovina cuisine, as well as specialties from Odesa and the Crimean Tatar cuisine. Particular attention is paid to game, honoring the fact that hunting has been one of the most popular crafts in Ukraine for a long time.
Address: 3, Mechnikova street, Kyiv.
Best Restaurant of National Cuisine - Shoti (Kyiv)
"Shoti" is the name of traditional homemade bread in the shape of boat which is baked in the “ton” - Georgian oven. Such oven is located in the middle of one hall of the restaurant where the bread is baked and served hot to visitors. The menu is quite large and makes seven pages. Grilled cheese with home adjika sauce, Kakheti oyster braised with tarragon, and dolma (vine leaves stuffed with beef and rice) are among hot appetizers. You can order an alcohol-free red basil lemonade, tarragon and homemade compote. For dinner, it is possible to order a bottle of original Georgian wine. Only Saperavi wine is served by glasses.
Address: 9, Mechnikova Street, Kyiv.
Best Confectionery - Honey (Kyiv)
Come into this cozy patisserie and enjoy exquisite pastries, cakes, desserts and phenomenal ice cream. The friendly English speaking staff is always willing to offer advice and guide you to the right choice. It’s a real paradise for dessert fans. The ice cream is produced from natural ingredients only. Honey’s signature desserts are very popular among visitors. These are sea buckthorn sorbet with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sponge cake and Swiss merengue and raspberry sorbet with calamondin ice cream as well as pistachio sponge cake.
Address: 19/21 Nizhny Val St, Kyiv; 20, Yaroslaviv Val, Kyiv.
Restaurant with Best Wine List - Vino e Cucina (Kyiv)
Vino e Cucina is a beautiful place with delicious food and amazing wine menu. The large two-story building hosts three independent and at the same time interconnected halls that have their own atmosphere: enoteca, cozy home-style pizzeria and a refined Italian restaurant. Vino e Cucina’s enoteca counts more than 800 wines, including 100 kinds of sparkling wines and 50 types of grappa. Italian wines make up to 80% of the collection and the remaining 20% come from France, Spain and countries of the New World.
Address: 82 Sichovyh Striltsiv str., Kyiv.
Best Beer Restaurant - Pivna Duma (Kyiv)
Pivna Duma is a new beer pub located on Khryshchatyk street in Kyiv city center. The interior of the place was designed by popular Ukrainian architects Slava Balbek and Slava Ovechenko. This is a new take on beer pub and the tradition of consuming beer in general. The place awes its visitors with unusual staircase and other interior items.
The beer list features over 47 kinds of beer and offers a wide variety of delicious beer snacks.
Address: 10, Khryshchatyk street, Kyiv.
Best New Restaurant - Chang Bistronomy (Kyiv)
‘Bistronomy’ (a combination of the words Bistro and Gastronomy) is the name given to the exciting new culinary movement that is sweeping Europe, and breathing new life into its restaurant scene. Chang bistronomy has recently opened in Kyiv and now offers authentic and affordable Vietnamese cuisine in the heart of Ukraine’s capital.
Chang’s menu offers traditional Vietnamese pho soups, tofu spring rolls, shrimp spring rolls, Chả giò, also known as Nem rán, which are deep fried rice paper rolls stuffed with minced pork or shrimp. Guests can also order a product of Vietnam’s colonial past, the banh mi sandwiches.
Address: 23A, Yaroslaviv Val street, Kyiv.
Best Bar - Hendrick’s Bar (Kyiv)
Hendrick’s is the result of the new fast-spreading trend in Kyiv for speak easy bars. To get to Hendriks you need to go down to the basement of the True Burger Bar and ring the armored door: if there are places available, you will get into, but if the bar is packed, you can always wait for your ‘turn’ upstairs enjoying delightful burgers from True Burger’s chef. The name of the secret place speaks for itself: lots of the cocktail recipes are based on the popular gin. On Friday nights Hendrick’s treats its guests with free punch always prepared in a new interesting way.
Address: 42 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho str., Kyiv.
Best City Cafe - Moloko Bar (Odesa)
Moloko bar (Milk bar) is the first craft yoghurt bar in Odesa, offering bio yoghurts and cheeses made on local farm in Odesa oblast. Wooden elements of the interior and light coming from the windows create a cozy atmosphere of the café. Delicious milk products here are used for cooking breakfasts, desserts, salads and waffles. The dishes are served with tasty additives such as chocolate, mint, coconut flakes, honey, pineapple, Brazilian pepper and other. The menu includes Belgian waffles, with salty and sweet fillings. As for drinks, guests are offered smoothies, fresh juices, hot berry milk, tea, cocoa, lemonade and various types of hot and cold coffee.
Address: 28, Lanzheronivska street , Odesa.
Read: New 2017 Odesa Restaurants
Best Hotel Restaurant - Vogue Cafe at Fairmont Grand Hotel (Kyiv)
The café embodies the spirit of Vogue, offering a combination of contemporary cuisine, elegant décor and impeccable service. Both the menu and interior design showcase a classical yet contemporary feel, integrating international elements with a traditional Ukraine offering.
Address: 1, Naberezhno-Khryshchatyts’ka street, Kyiv.
Best Country Restaurant - Edem Resort and Spa (Lviv)
Edem Resort Medical & SPA is a luxury recreation center located near a picturesque lake in green forest surroundings. Beautiful nature, clean air, peace and silence help all the guests to reach harmony of mind, body and soul.
The resort features luxury hotel with 88 rooms, 4 exclusive restaurants and 5 banquet and conference halls.
Featuring a private lake with sandy beach and tennis court, this hotel is located 30-minute drive from Lviv. The property features spa center and gym with yoga and pilates classes.
Address: Ripyshche Hutir 1, Strelki, 81220, Ukraine
SALT National Restaurant Awards aims at development of the restaurant & hospitality industry in Ukraine for the purpose of increasing the competitive level of market players and informing consumers about the best Ukrainian restaurant business representatives.
Photo: SALT Restaurant Award Facebook Page