The Myslyvets (hunter) restaurants on four of the roads leading into Kyiv offer warm confines and hearty eats for anyone on their way back to the capital.
the local farmers’ market – some friends and I stopped in at a Myslyvets (Hunter) restaurant on the highway for a hot supper. This was no dumpy little cafe either, with bad service and bland food. Instead it was cozy warm, and the food and service were ideal on a miserable, rainy day.
A blazing fire inside each Myslyvets outlet keeps the place toasty; if we had chosen for some reason to sit outside, they would have fronted us blankets.
The menu at Myslyvets leans toward the traditionally Ukrainian, with a down-home feel. For starters I tried the vinaigrette with herring (Hr 10), while a friend sampled the potato pancakes with mushrooms (Hr 17.50). Not bad, she said. We all ended up trying the chicken soup (Hr 10). For main courses, we skipped the holubtsi (Hr 30), with one of us ordering veal shashlik (Hr 23) while I opted for the pork steak with a tangy mustard sauce (Hr 27), which went well with a side of buckwheat (Hr 7.50). Another friend chose the chicken with mushrooms (Hr 23) and paired it with a rice pilaf (Hr 10). The holubtsi platter (Hr 30) also looked tempting.
Myslyvets accepts most major credit cards, and they offer discounts to Kozyrna Karta cardholders.
If you’re on the road and you pass one of these places on one of the miserable days coming up this fall and winter, brake fast. Excellent food for road trips, in the rain and otherwise.
Myla
24 km west of Kyiv
on Kyiv-Zhytomir highway
(8-298-79379);
Mytnytsya
44 km south of Kyiv
on Kyiv-Odessa highway
(tel. 8-271-45336);
Sofiyivka
120 km southeast of Kyiv
on Kyiv-Cherkasy highway
(8-04737-40410);
Kozelets
(new)
79 km northeast of Kyiv
on Kyiv-Chernihiv highway
(8-04646-42454).
