Find out where to have a quick bite on the run in Kyiv
Unlike some other big cities like Prague or Istanbul, Kyiv isn’t heavy on independent vendors selling street food, or so-called “street meat.” But you can find some examples of it. In Germany, street food tends to be Turkish; in France it’s often Vietnamese; and in England it’s Indian. In Kyiv, it’s the battered and deep-fried hot dog, which is probably American. Fried frankfurters aside, a few vendors in Kyiv sell shwarma, the Middle Eastern snack of seared mutton and shredded cabbage wrapped in a pita shell and doused with sauce. It’s quick, often goes for less than Hr 15 and can be found all over the city. However as for the quality of meat, you pay your money and take your chances.
Other places to get freshly fried pirozhki in Kyiv is at the Central train station and local markets, where women are frying chebureki (meat-filled) and pirozhki with meat, cabbage, potatoes, rice, or jam fillings. Here again it is best to avoid the meat, and stick with the safer vegetables and sweets.
One of the city’s most popular street snacks is Kyivska Perepichka (Hr 3) – a hot dog buried inside thick, fried dough. In existence for over a decade, the Kyivska Perepichka has become a cherished symbol of the city. Everybody in the city knows this beloved window on the corner of streets Khreschatyk and Khmelnytskoho. Traditionally Kyivans bring their foreign friends and guests there, to show Kyiv’s take on the hot-dog. The line is often long, but moves with conveyer belt efficiency.
Keep in mind that the original Kyivska Perepichka can only be found on Khmelnytskoho. You may find other kiosks selling sausages in fried dough under the name of “Kyivska Perepichka” but they vary considerably in taste and quality.
Mister Snack is another great place to pick up something on the run. The fast food chain can be found on almost every corner. Toasted sandwiches, sausages and salads are offered here. You can choose from a number of readymade sandwiches, or make up your own with a wide selection of fillings. You don’t have to have the sandwiches toasted, but I’d recommend it because the bread is not soft and tastes much better toasted. The salads in plastic containers are offered in generous portions and are tasty. You can choose mayonnaise or an oil dressing – just make sure you tell them the amount of mayonnaise you want while ordering – they tend to put too much of it, unless you tell them not to.
Bread and potatoes are staples of the Slavic diet. The specialty of Pechena Kartoplia (which is a Ukrainian version of the Russian fast food chain Kroshka-Kartoshka), is a delicious baked potato, and is cooked before your eyes. The steaming potato is taken out of the oven, cut, and mashed into soft puree with butter and cheese. You can choose among many toppings; herring, pickled or fried mushrooms, and salad-mixes with crab sticks, ham, cabbage, chicken and cheese. Apart from potatoes, Pechena Kartoplia’s menu includes a selection of salads, hot sandwiches (toasts) with ham, fried mushrooms and cheese, hot soups, desserts (delicious pies, fruit with souffle and fruit jelly), and various drinks. For the convenience of customers the Pechena Kartoplya offers combo lunches.
Smachna Kartoplya is another “potato-with-fillings” type of eatery. Like Pechena Kartoplya’s kiosks, you can find it pretty much everywhere, but they don’t tend to occupy prime storefront locations like Mister Snack, instead they are usually tucked away in underpasses and food courts. Smachna Kartoplya offers baked potatoes, where they whip up the insides with cheese before topping with a dollop or two of your choice of salad. Smachna Kartoplya also serves a decent bowl of borsch, and a selection of toasted sandwiches.
Buter, a little sandwich shop can be found on Kontraktova Ploscha and offers a great range of food at reasonable prices, and it one of the healthiest options for street food. Here you can get sandwiches, baguettes, wraps, and rolls (hot or cold) along with a limited but excellent range of salads, and there is always fresh fruit juices on sale. Speaking of fresh fruit, if you like ‘smoothies’, this is the place, as they prepare them quickly and don’t charge too much.
Hungarian Bakery Fornetti has only been in Ukraine for three years, but has become a popular takeout joint. Fornetti’s little fast-food bakeries are more numerous than any of the aforementioned fast-food chains. Fornetti serve pastries (weighing 15-20 grams) with various fillings; chicken, vegetables, cheese, bacon, jams (cherry and apricot), chocolate and sweet cream. If you’re lucky, you can get them just out of the oven, piping hot. They’re nothing spectacular, but filling, tasty and inexpensive food. You can by four to five of the little pastries for as little as Hr 3.
Kyivska Perepichka (Corner of Khreschatyk and Khmelnytskoho)
Mister Snack (4 Horodetskoho, 29B Volodymyrska, 2 Shevchenka, 12 Khmelnytskoho, 1 Lva Tolstoho, 8 Lvivska Ploscha, 24 Sahaydachnoho)
Pechena Kartoplya (2 Bessarabska Ploscha; Globus; Gorodok, 23 Moskovskiy Prospect; Karavan, 12 Luhova)
Smachna Kartoplya (Maidan Nezalezhnosti, underground passage, 72 Chervonoarmiyska, 5B Khmelnytskoho, Metrograd)
Buter (41 Sahaydachnoho, Kontraktova Ploscha, 40 Saksahanskoho, Central train station, Petrovka metro)
Fornetti (Near almost every metro station)
