On the beaches surrounding us, Kyivans lay baking in the sun like so much human shashlyk. Others could be seen splashing in the Dnipro, playing miniature golf or strolling and swigging from bottles of warm beer purchased from the kiosks that dot the Hydropark landscape.
Standing out among the profusion of inexpensive fast-food outlets that the park has to offer is a large A-frame building along the Dnipro shore, just north of the Hydropark metro station. The building houses Mlyn, a refuge on a steamy summer afternoon.
Mlyn is a distinctively Ukrainian restaurant, appropriate given its location in the heart of the capital’s riverside summer playground. Waiters in traditional embroidered shirts and red sashes shuttle drinks and dishes between the kitchen and the restaurant’s cool, dark dining room or covered dining terrace – protected against the sun but open to the cooling late-afternoon breezes.
We selected a table on the terrace – a superb place from which to observe boats, swimmers and the crowded beaches while staying relatively cool and comfortable.
Cold draft glasses of Obolon and Chernihivske can be had for Hr 4, with selected imports available as well. The restaurant has a small selection of decent wines and a fully stocked bar.
As befits a Ukrainian restaurant, vodka seems almost as obligatory as the plate of sliced bread that appears, unordered, with every meal. As our waiter delivered our mugs of beer, he reflexively asked whether we wanted vodka to go with it.
Mix vodka and beer? I guess I’m not that Ukrainian yet.
Cool salads and warm weather are a more natural combination. We were pleased to see that Mlyn offers a dozen salad selections, ranging in price from Hr 15 to Hr 33. I selected the Hetman salad. At Hr 16.80, it proved a good choice – a mound of julienne-sliced smoked meat and cheese lightly dressed and accented by fresh – even still warm – toasted croutons. My companion chose the Olympic salad (Hr 17.60), a Greek-style vegetable-and-olive salad, though lacking the feta cheese. It arrived dressed in a light vinaigrette dressing.
The restaurant’s menu is heavy on dishes featuring wild game. Variations of rabbit, deer, boar, quail and duck are all available. I’d first sampled the wild side of Ukrainian cooking at Hunter, a restaurant on prospekt Peremohy, and was eager to contrast my pleasant experience there with Mlyn’s interpretation. But because the restaurant offers several kinds of game sausage, my dining companion asked the waiter for a recommendation.
“Order them all,” he replied with a tired shrug.
Mlyn doesn’t offer a sampler plate, though it should. So, lacking the appetite to order four separate entrees, he opted instead to try the Wild Boar sausage, at Hr 34.40. It arrived sliced and flavorful. Unlike a lot of sausage, it wasn’t overly fatty, which left it just a tad on the dry side.
I was seriously tempted by the duck fillet with fruit (Hr 80.20) and by the rabbit in port wine (Hr 36.50). But, instead, I settled on the veal in pastry (Hr 39.50), which proved a good choice.
Chunks of tender veal were swathed in tender pastry and served with just enough plum sauce to impart flavor without being cloying. It was the first time I’d tried veal prepared in such a way, and it was delicious.
Dining at Mlyn is ala carte, but a selection of side dishes is available, at Hr 10 each. We opted for what turned out to be somewhat greasy french fries and moist potato pancakes.
Aside from the restaurant’s cornucopia of choices, I was pleased to see that the prices covered the spectrum as well. A patron selecting inexpensive options like salad, borscht and varenyky can dine with a friend equipped with a sturdier bankroll – and Mlyn’s escargot, frog’s legs Provencal and beluga caviar – without feeling shortchanged.
Mlyn is a popular venue for private parties, and was closed to the public the first two times we tried to eat there – making it advisable to call ahead.
Unlike a lot of restaurants that open to great fanfare then fade away a year or so later, Mlyn represents a permanent fixture in the city’s culinary landscape. Built in 1967 and privatized 30 years later, Mlyn appears to be here to stay.
Box:
MLYN
Hydropark
Tel: 516-5728.
Open noon to 11:45 p.m.
NIBBLES
The Drum bar and restaurant has begun offering continental breakfast – featuring a basket of croissants and toast and an assortment of creams and jams – served all day, for those not-so-early-morning risers.
