There is something special about the charming Podil district in Kyiv — its tiny streets, historic buildings and noisy bars. Yet the new restaurant, Dom № 10, still manages to outstand in the locals’ favorite district.
Located in an ancient one-story building, Dom № 10 is brightly lit from the outside, attracting passersby on the dark Spaska Street.
The restaurant doesn’t stick to one cuisine. Instead, they collect dishes from various countries in a small but sufficient menu. It’s a smart move, which helps to avoid labels like “another Georgian restaurant” and stay away from the direct competition with numerous Kyiv eateries serving a certain cuisine.
The absence of such a label lets Dom № 10 create its own image. Before opening in December 2018, the restaurant intrigued its future customers with stories published on social media about the history behind the place: A legend says that a sculptor used to live and work in the almost 200-year-old building, which has retained some of the old design and decor.
“We recreated the atmosphere of the old Podil house-studio, and at the same time filled it with our creative energy,” the restaurant’s official website reads.
In its three halls, Dom № 10, indeed, retains the classic style with uneven white walls, wooden dark-brown doors, window frames, and ceiling beams.
And there’s plenty of fascinating details to eye while waiting on a dish, such as a ceramic oven, books, glass bottles, pieces of sculptures, candles and lots of greenery. And their classic design is organically mixed with modern furniture, lights and decor — altogether creating a pleasant, calm atmosphere.
I chose Dom № 10 for a friend date — an intimate talk with a glass of wine and tasty dinner. However, the spot seems perfect for any occasion: at the table right by ours there was a couple having a romantic date, the other table nearby was occupied by a big family celebrating a birthday.
Although we booked a table before arriving on a Tuesday night, the restaurant wasn’t cramped, so it should be no trouble to come spontaneously and get seated, however, I doubt it’s an option on weekends.
Kyiv’s new Dom № 10 restaurant serves meat and fish entrees, including baked sea bass fillet served with green peas. (Dom № 10) (Yulia Vasylega)
We were met at the entrance by the welcoming staff who showed us the way to the wardrobe, which is located in the restaurant’s basement floor next to one of its dining halls.
And we were lucky to be seated in what I consider the best hall of Dom № 10 — a considerably small room with wooden panels on the walls, soft khaki sofas and chairs and lots of potted plants.
Our waiter was very nice, just like all the other stuff, and helpful with recommendations about the restaurant’s specialties.
Choosing from a great variety of both cold and hot starters we settled upon the recommended salmon and avocado ceviche for Hr 195 to warm up our appetites. The Peruvian dish was a mix of salmon, avocado and cucumber complimented by piquant onions, garlic and cilantro and served on a large white plate with orange sauce around and mango foam on top.
It was a good start, but we rushed to finish the appetizer soon, as our entrees arrived a little early.
For the main courses, we tasted filet mignon for Hr 340 served with a creamy pepper sauce and king trumpet mushrooms. The steak was juicy and a little pink, just as we ordered it, cooked medium-well, and we enjoyed the sauce — simple yet delicious, it topped up the meat’s taste.
We also enjoyed baked sea bass fillet for Hr 285 served in a heavy rectangular bowl with green peas. The perfectly cooked soft fillet under a crispy crust looked enticing and its taste met the expectations.
Apart from meat and fish entrees, Dom № 10 offers duck breast with cherry sauce, Indian chicken tikka masala and risotto made with mushrooms and truffle butter.
Both of our entrees were filling, so we took a pause after finishing them to empty our wine glasses before getting to dessert. From the 11-position wine menu available to order by the glass, we picked French white Gewurztraminer Helfrich and Italian Pinot Grigio Rose Pavia Folonari, which both were delicious and cost us Hr 190 and Hr 130 per glass respectively.
Apart from that, Dom № 10 has an impressive wine cart featuring more than 300 drinks available to order by the bottle. What was not impressive is that the restaurant charges for water — a regular thing for Kyiv restaurants, which looks cheap. The total for two glass bottles of water was Hr 110.
To sweeten the pot, we decided to try the recommended dessert — a piece of cake made with buckwheat honey and truffle cream, beautifully served on a large white plate with sabayon sauce. The dessert cost Hr 89 and it turned out to be our favorite dish at Dom № 10. Reminiscent of the popular (in post-Soviet countries) medovik cake, the dessert was an amazing combination of subtle truffle flavor and strong bitter-sweet buckwheat honey.
Conquered by the sweet treat, we proceeded to enjoy the house-made truffle ice cream and berry sorbet for Hr 55 each, once again suggested by our waitress. To our own surprise, the restaurant didn’t charge for the ice cream and sorbet, telling us it was complimentary.
Despite the minor frustrations, we spent more than two hours at the restaurant, enjoying perfect service, decent tasty food and delightful sweet courses. So mark Dom № 10 as a new food destination worth paying a visit.
