Eating Out!

When I first moved to Kyiv in 1994, we didn't really enjoy the possibility of eating out. There were a few unbelievably expensive restaurants that we heard rumors about but never bothered to inquire exactly where they were. There were the Intourist state-run hotel restaurants that all served the same meal--a bowl of borsch, a piece of fried animal flesh, some rice, and maybe some beats and peas, topped off with two small scoops of ice cream and the proverbial cup of tea. Someone discovered Latakya, a Middle Eastern place on the edge of the city. We often journeyed there on Saturday nights; it usually took about 1.5 hours to get there from our apartment on the other side of the city. Latakya served two things: pizza and French fries. Sometimes they would have Coke or maybe Pepsi to bring. In those days, it was safer to bring your own. They had bronze-like caged-in rooms you sat and the band knew one song: “Hotel California.” The ketchup, in those days, always had a hint of apple.

Then came Kentucky Beirut Chicken near the Lenin Statue on Shevchenko Boulevard. Then, of course, McDonalds. We still aren’t indundated with western fast food. Slowly, demand is being met, though, mostly by Ukrainian or Russian companies that have learned valuable lessons from their western counterparts. Ukrainians aren’t stupid, though. They know fast food is mostly not really that good. And this desire for better but still cheap food had driven the success of places like the Two Geese, Puzata Khata, and a place near Kreshatik metro station that I always call Bulla Bulla because I don’t like it and have refused to remember its name. These places are more like cafeterias with relatively good Ukrainian food, sometimes with a European twist. A good meal costs $5. An OK meal can go for as little as $2. These places are a great blessing to many. Just wish some of them were closer to home. They are all concentrated in the downtown.