It?s almost a given that every year the owners of Soho American steakhouse remodel their basement and give it a completely different look. The area began as a nightclub, which being far from the center never proved too popular, and then became a pizzeria and strip club (more…)
Bars & Restaurants
I remember my first days in Kyiv well, as forgettable as they were. It was five years ago and the city had no middle-class restaurants worth noting. Kyivans had the choice of dining out in Soviet-style cafes, McDonald’s restaurants or really expensive places where you daren’t walk in without a thick wad of C-notes to cover the high cost of dining. I love eating out and yet I hardly ate out at all.
A former resident of Kyiv, an American named Bruce, once told some Best Of team members that looking for Thai food in this city, though difficult at times, can even be rewarding. He mentioned in particular a certain local restaurant that, he said, served the best Tom Kha soup this side of Bangkok. Heady words, to be sure, but having lived there for some years over a decade ago, he became a discerning culinary expert on all (more…)
Though Mardi Gras and Carnival are over, signaling the beginning of the Christian Lenten period, the local Maslenytsa tradition is all set to begin, meaning it’s time to think about pancakes (crepes, actually), known in Ukrainian as mlyntsy. In Ukraine mlyntsy are easy to find – just turn to any Ukrainian restaurant and they’re bound to be on the menu. But forget the restaurant scene for a while.
It’s long been around - the movie and book exchange at the Baboon cafe/bookstore. For those who have blinked and missed the note in the Kyiv Post Community Listings (see p. 33 for these), it’s pretty simple: bring your old books to Baboon, trade them in for old or new ones, or receive credit on future purchases. The same applies to movies, of which they have a growing stack of VHS tapes. Maybe most people have already switched to DVDs, but for those that haven’t this is a gold mine.
It’s wonderful to acknowledge charitable giving in Ukraine, whenever and however it is done. Even better is acknowledging that the Kyiv Lions Club, now three years old, will again host the now 10th-annual Robbie Burns Night party, all the proceeds for which will go to their eponymous charity fund, to be distributed to local charities.
Seafood lovers have in the past had to suffer in the nation’s capital. Despite the fact that Ukraine borders two seas and can boast hundreds upon hundreds of kilometers of rivers, the people of the Steppe remain true to their traditional fare of meat and potatoes augmented with beets and mayonnaise.
With the Lunar New Year set to begin on Jan. 29, it’s time to start thinking about where to get some red-colored dishes (symbolizing good luck), or something with lots of noodles in it (symbolizing long life), or traditional, sticky sweet rice flour balls to remind you that life can and should be so. Thankfully, Kyiv is not as completely homogeneous as it might seem.
Eric Aigner, that local restaurateur with a face as unforgettable as his establishments, has certainly done a bit of traveling in his life, and his stints as a tourist seem to have made him into one cheeky businessman.
It’s American football playoff time. Nerves are frayed from opening kick-off to final whistle. Hoorahs and curses are shouted at TV screens in bars and in otherwise quiet, pastoral American homes. Beers are consumed – and so are chicken wings.
