The true sweet tooth heaven proves easy to find
tives for a chat over a cup of tea or coffee, you certainly can’t go without serving something delicious and sweet for dessert. Naturally, getting a Kyivskiy cake or a pastry with custard isn’t a problem at any food store. However, over time you can get bored with the small selection of traditional Soviet desserts, and may start craving something more original. Then you should try your luck at some of Kyiv’s best confectionaries, where you’re sure to find something new and exquisite to please yourself and surprise your friends with.
The easiest way to buy sweets is at one of the Candy Land kiosks, located at big shopping centers like Globus or Metrograd. There you’ll lots of chocolates, toffees, jellies, lollipops, candied fruits, and what not, sold by weight. However these spots are limited to certain varieties of candy, and don’t offer any cakes or desserts.
So if to you shopping for sweets means examining them carefully first, asking about their ingredients and freshness, and finally trying them on the spot with a cup of something hot, you should head to full-scale confectionaries that include a shop and a cafe.
One of them is D.A. Semadeni at Chervonoarmiyska Street. It bears the name of the owner of the first confectionery factory and the chain of popular cafes in Kyiv, who lived 12 Chervonoarmiyska in the middle of the 19th century at. Though the present Semadeni confectionary is located on 68 Chervonoarmiyska, it is accomplished in the art nouveau style and bears the atmosphere of old Kyiv. However, the assortment of sweets at D.A. Semadeni doesn’t live up to its famous namesake and is limited to bonbons (Hr 5 to Hr 6) and several kinds of cakes only.
Another place that I always passed by but never visited before is French confectionary Mono that is located in the building of Bessarabskiy market. The hall of the cafe is too tiny and surrounded by glass walls, so I felt as if I was behind a show window. The assistant eagerly helped me to choose among several kinds of baklava (Hr 6 to Hr 8) and some pastries (Hr 9), yet I couldn’t understand why the confectionary, which is supposedly French, specializes mostly in Turkish sweets.
Once my friend and I dropped by Passage confectionary, which is labeled after its location in Passage, near Khreshchatyk. I was pleasantly surprised by the wide choice of sweets, pastries, desserts and cakes presented there, yet I was more stunned when I learned their prices – Hr 9 to Hr 45 is the average. If you want to splurge on yourself once in a while it’s all right, but to buy a serving for an entire tea party at Passage would be expensive. Moreover, the posh atmosphere of the cafe and coldness of the waiters don’t dispose to spending too much time in there.
One more place that I visited during my search for the perfect confectionary, was the much talked about Volkonskiy, which is located in the building of Premier Palace hotel. Volkonskiy is divided into two halls, the cafe and the confectionery shop, which makes it easier and more convenient for visitors. The service of the place goes in accordance with the prices and corresponds to the high status of the hotel – the assistants are friendly and the confectionery is fresh. However, the assortment of the shop is mostly represented by baked goods like bread, pastries (Hr 27), and desserts (Hr 15 in the medium), which are without any doubt among the best in the city, yet unfortunately you won’t find any sweets, bonbons or cakes in Volkonskiy.
However hard I tried I couldn’t be less predictable in choosing the best confectionary in Kyiv. Whenever I visit Repriza for a cup of tea or coffee I can’t calmly pass by a showcase filled with all kinds of sweets, pastries, cakes, and baked goods. It was the first place where the assistant asked me what kind of chocolate I preferred and then readily gave me a small tour of the assortment. In addition to sweets and bonbons (Hr 4 to Hr 5) the confectionary offers fresh cakes, puffs with various fillings including fruits, desserts, as well as salted and sweet pastries. Moreover, in the homely atmosphere of the cafe it is always pleasant for me to sit down with a friend or in the company of an interesting book, enjoying one of the best desserts I could possibly imagine.
Repriza (10/5 Sahaydachnoho, 417-1908; 26 Chervonoarmiyska, 499-1357; 38 Velyka Zhytomyrska, 272-1380)
