Ukrainian food has a solemn place at Monastyrska Trapezna near the Vydubychi Monastery
I first saw Vydubychi Monastery on a school field trip something like 20 years ago. I became fascinated by the doll-house look of the bell-tower, and the image stuck with me for years.
Now I see that roof every time I’m strolling along the secret paths in the Botanical Gardens – in May, surrounded by that intoxicating lilac odor, or in November, while kicking through fallen leaves and letting myself get melancholy. Seeing that roof has always been a comfort.
So I became intrigued after learning that someone had recently opened a restaurant in the same monastery. Monastyrska Trapezna (Monastery Refectory) opened in May, in a historic building adjoined to that favorite early-18th century bell tower of mine. The building was built by Ukrainian hetman Danylo Apostol. They say that earlier it was a real monastery mess hall, and later on served as a place to feed all the pilgrims to the holy spot.
Treated with Respect
The owners of the new restaurant have treated the history of the site with respect, and have succeeded in preserving the place’s monastic accents: the warm-colored walls, the stained glass windows on the first floor, the frescoes of Kyiv’s famous churches in the second-floor dining hall, the exhibit of Cossack pipes and time-worn Ukrainian household objects along the staircase. Religious music wafts through the space, lending it an aura of decency and purity. A perfect calming effect is left: the friends I came with struggled not to fall asleep.
Monastyrska Trapezna serves Ukrainian cuisine, plus some dishes yanked out of actual monastic cook books. And the smell of the soups, brought by a pleasant waiter, perked us up immediately. My wild mushroom soup (Hr 32) served with a little potato-mushroom pyrih on the side, was one of the best ones I’ve tried: rich in flavor and light at the same time. Other soups we tried were shchypaka (Hr 30) – a take on chicken-noodle soup – and green borshch (Hr 30). These latter two were well-balanced in taste and soothing.
Deruny (Hr 30), potato dumplings with sour cream, varenyki with cherries (Hr 33) and a beautifully soft homemade pyrih, a sort of strudel with three layers, chicken, mushroom and meat, followed the soups.
Those who appreciate traditional Ukrainian food will like all of the above. Deruny and varenyki are incredibly common around the city, but the pyrih we found can hardly be found in stores or restaurants. Maybe you can pick some up around Easter, when women traditionally bake up all that goodness in honor of the holiday.
We moved on to some intriguing drinks with weird old names, such as varenukha, spotykach, and kusaka (each for Hr 12), all of which are essentially homemade vodkas infused with, respectively, dried fruits, mint, and several kinds of pepper. All proved worth a try although I preferred the softer, sweeter dried fruit variety, which was offered to us as a farewell drink on the house. I wouldn’t come here just for kvas (Hr 15) though, which, as it turned out, was too yeasty in taste and not fizzy at all.
In Good Company
The monastery is a fine alternative to well-established nearby Ukrainian restaurants Kozak Mamay and Tsarske Selo, featuring not only good Ukrainian food but something a little beyond that. The place is well-suited for corporate dinners or banquets of up to 40-50 people. However, it probably also feels nice to come here after a Sunday service and a lonely walk in the Botanical Garden, from which, in fact, there is an informal path to the monastery. There is also a vehicular entrance accessible just off the Naberezhne Shose. In any case, diners will leave the place calmed and satisfied, just as they should when leaving a place filled with such positive energy.
Monastyrska Trapezna
40 Vidubytska, 451-4256, 501-2717.
Open daily from 10 a.m. till the last client.
English menu: Yes.
English-speaking staff: Yes.
Average price of main dish: Hr 70.
