Safely hidden on one of the central streets, Shaheen Caf? serves a curious mix of regional dishes
My first week of living in Kyiv, I spent several brutal winter afternoons walking up and down the ice-covered hill of Prorizna looking for a bar called The Drum. That’s because the little guidebook I was using had misprinted the address. But not only was the search exhausting, it was humiliating as well: The Drum is at number 4, the guide said it was at 44 and the street itself ends well before number 30. So I asked about a half-dozen people for directions and was foolishly adamant about how wrong they must have been when I was told the address didn’t exist. “What could someone who LIVES here possibly know?” I thought. “I mean, after all, it says so in a book so it HAS be right…”
I’ve told this little tale both as a caveat to publications everywhere (typos can be small in print but much larger in consequence) and because I’m often long-winded (though the fact that I’ve mentioned this story at all now practically ensures a typo or two in this very article). But I’ve also mentioned it because a new restaurant has opened up inside the courtyard of 4 Prorizna, Shaheen Cafe, and it’s one that should be experienced whether or not you know exactly how to find it. Have no fear, though: the owners have put forth some effort to make sure you can. A small yellow sign with an arrow adorns the railing at the corner of Prorizna and Khreshchatyk, while a larger one hangs above the archway that marks the entrance.
After taking a seat at one of the covered outdoor tables, I was told that the owner hails from Azerbaijan, and the menu is certainly a reflection of someone well traveled throughout the former Soviet Union and its sphere of influence. Bulgarian peppers, Central Asian soups, Caucasian spices, Russian appetizers, Mediterranean touches: all of them huddle together with more accord than ever displayed by their respective nations.
Ordering a Greek salad in Kyiv can be a disarming exercise in creative mystery: what actually arrives at your table is often no more than the barest interpretation of what you thought you requested. But the one at Shaheen (Hr 12.80) is not only a bargain, but a relatively faithful execution: a large bowl of firm cucumbers, ripe tomatoes, purple basil, black olives and real feta cheese topped with a modest drizzle of decent olive oil and a touch of salt (with tomatoes finally in season this is all the dressing you want). The chicken Caesar salad (Hr 19.10) was nearly as successful. Tender fingers of breast meat are lightly coated in paprika (a rather novel approach that works well to counter the somewhat drab effects of a dressing that is largely mayonnaise. There was the hint of anchovy and a slight vinegary bite, but little else). The greens in both, however, were at a level of quality higher than these prices usually allow. The same goes for the lagman, a noodle soup popular in Western China and Uzbekistan. For Hr 4.70, the livid red tomato broth is a wealth of textured pasta, peppers and carrots – and curiously devoid of lamb, a meat I’ve encountered in nearly all other versions I’ve tried (but the flavors were strong enough that the morsels weren’t missed). The meatball soup (Hr 9) also surprised me with a bowl better stocked with pork spheres than I thought the price demanded. In fact, the only dish that seemed expensive by comparison was the mushroom julienne and chicken (Hr 7.70), a tiny steel cup loaded with the aforementioned ingredients thinly sliced, layered with sweet onions and covered in a terrifically dense and cheesy brine. It’s the kind of decadent and creamy appetizer that would be served to you in a giant bowl back in the States (enough to cause hours of heartburn and days of intestinal pain). This portion, however, is the perfect size to allow you a few bites of indulgence that won’t disturb your sleep.
There’s another surprising detail about Shaheen’s food, though: someone in the kitchen has obviously taken some pains to give more than a nod to many of the dishes’ presentation on the plate. It’s a surprising touch in a Ukrainian cafe where almost all the main entrees fall below Hr 30. You should know first that I have an ambivalent relationship to the art of presentation. While I’d of course like all my food to look as pretty as possible when it arrives, I’ve been to more than one restaurant here where it seems beauty has taken priority over flavor. For me, it makes no difference if a sash of vibrant sauce drapes across a curiously cut nest of vegetables if the taste does nothing for my palate. But sometimes you find attention to detail in curious places: The Shandong (Hr 20.60) was a splayed flower of tender chicken meat with red petals of pepper and bright yellow stamens of baby corn. What’s more, the flavor was an artfully prepared unction of olive oil and mild Caucasian seasoning that was sopped up greedily by the moist chunks of fowl. The same goes for the veal steak (Hr 36), a very generous portion of tender meat rubbed with cumin seeds and topped with stringy rice crackers that look like weaves of white hair. All of this was deftly arranged on a bed of thin-cut slices of potato that were either wonderfully crispy or delightfully soaked through with beef fat. Even the less accomplished pasta du mare (Hr 26.40) was more than adequate. And while the menu said salmon and perch would be included, the result – as can happen so often with this dish – was more a congregation of whatever seafood the kitchen had on hand. This meant a plate of linguini flecked with shards of salmon, the ever-ubiquitous tiny shrimp and bits of octopus covered in a seasoned cream that reminded me of a bland white clam sauce. Adding a bit of salt makes it certainly serviceable.
Yes, the service was a little slow, but that’s because it seems two women are running the entire show, both indoors and outdoors –and both were always polite when they arrived. The dining room as well isn’t exactly the most inviting of interiors, but I’ve definitely seen worse – and the covered tables outside are perfect for a warm June afternoon. Most importantly, the dishes are quite good and very well-priced. Get here before the owner realizes that, with a location like this (no matter how hard it may to be find the first time), he can charge twice as much for half the food.
Shaheen Cafe
4 Prorizna
Open daily 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
English-speaking staff: noEnglish-language menu: no
