Kyiv’s foodie scene is decidedly underrated (surprise: it’s not all about the chicken kiev, the city’s most famous export). Its other homegrown star dish is varenyky, flabby filled dumplings that often come drizzled with a thick sauce. Find that and other traditional Ukrainian dishes (pig ears, beetroot borsch) at Kanapa, a wooden ski chalet of a restaurant on cobbled street Andriivs’kyi Descent that’s faintly reminiscent of Montmartre.
For a touch of the bizarre, try restaurant Spotykach in the old town, which specialises in retro Soviet cuisine: thiсk plates of Ukrainian flag-coloured varenyky and tubes of cosmic food inspired by the food the country’s astronauts ate in space. There are a number of excellent Georgian restaurants too (more dumplings, bread and cheese) and good news is that most places are as cheap as chips.
Where to stay: The banana-yellow MaNNa boutique hotel, with just five rooms, is a short walk from Andriivs’kyi Descent and Kyiv’s pretty Old Town.
Source: The Independent