Go on a healthy diet with help of Kyiv’s eateries and food stores
Thousands of years ago the beginning of spring a season when nature renews itself, traditionally became associated with the renovation of the human body as well. The rules of body purification, including the consumption of so-called “healthy” foods, firmly entered our calendars. Yet more and more people, for example vegetarians, follow a strict dietary regiment all year round. Taking care of one’s health has become stylish, bringing fresh and healthy products to the top of the list of modern trends. As a result, a lot of restaurants introduced special “light” dishes into their menus, which don’t include too much fat, as well as vegetarian offers. Taking into account the Lent period (40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday in the Christian tradition, lasting from March 10 to April 26), most eateries have introduced special Lenten menus as well.
Following the Lent
According to Orthodox and Catholic Christian doctrine, during Lent one should exclude meat, dairy, egg, oil, and fish products from their diet, though fish is still permitted on certain days. Traditionally, the main accent in the local cuisine is put on soups, fresh and pickled vegetables and fruits, juices and “compotes” (drinks based on stewed fruits).
Lypskiy Osobniak offers pickled mushrooms in a garlic sauce, porcino soup, and a celery salad with walnuts. At Kupecheskiy Dvor you can order ratatouille made from zucchini, eggplant, potatoes, and onions with rosemary and thyme sauce, as well as a fresh berry salad topped with peach and mint sauce.
Eateries that specialize in Ukrainian and Russian cuisine have long included a menu for those who fast during Lent, and other restaurants are not lagging behind and welcome their customers with special offerings. Konkord has prepared a white asparagus salad with green peas, cherry tomatoes and onions under a Thai sauce; at Marshe you can try pea puree with eggplant and toasts, while Trattoria Fratelli D’Italia offers minestrone (thick vegetable soup), grilled eggplants with spices and haricot soup with pasta.
Though Caucasian restaurants don’t pamper their visitors with vegetable or Lent dishes too much, this spring they have prepared some alluring propositions, many which include eggplants. At Georgian restaurant Kazbek you can try eggplant with nuts and saffron or pomegranates, garlic and greens, as well as a vegetable roll with a nut sauce or vegetable soup. Mimino offers red and green lobio with nuts, garlic and spices, stewed eggplant with tomatoes, pepper, potatoes, onions and garlic.
Marokana’s Moroccan menu has vegetable rolls with cucumbers, wakame, and succory or avocado and shiitake with pistachios.
Fruit, vegetable and berry fans can rejoice, since both Mokko and Avalon are offering a wide assortment of freshly pressed vegetable and fruit cocktails.
However, not only the chic eateries boast Lenten menus. Fast food joints that specialize in Ukrainian and Russian cuisine, like Puzata Khata and Zdorovenki Buly, offer special Lenten dishes too.
Lypskiy Osobniak (15 Lypska, 254-0090
Kupecheskiy Dvor (24 Stolychne Shose, 8-067-246-6246)
Konkord (42/4 Pushkinska, 235-9555)
Marshe (13 Chervonoarmiyska, 451-4050)
Trattoria Fratelli d’Italia (38 Saksahanskoho, 287-4166)
Mokko (15 Khreschatyk, 230-9230)
Avalon (3 Leontovycha, 234-7494)
Puzata Khata (1/2 Baseyna, 235-9048
Zdorovenki Buly (3 Luteranska, 278-3348)
Kazbek (30 Lesi Ukrayinky, 285-4805)
Mimino (10A Spaska, 417-3545)
Marokana (24 Lesi Ukrayinky, 254-4999)
Kosher food
Though the number of Jewish restaurants offering kosher foods, and shops selling kosher products is limited, there are still several options. The first option that pops into mind is King David restaurant located next to Kyiv’s main synagogue on Esplanadna. The menu offers truly kosher dishes, yet the quality and the atmosphere don’t jump beyond a modest level.
The other restaurant – Tsimes – is known for its reasonably priced and tasty Jewish cuisine, though the products used are not necessarily kosher. Still, it gives a chance to try some healthy Jewish dishes, such as “Gefilte fish,” “Tzimmes” (a sweet stew of vegetables and fruit), couscous and fresh fruit cocktails.
If you want to buy kosher products the choice again is not great. Try Super Brodsky near the synagogue and a tiny shop at 29 Schekavytska.
King David (24 Esplanadna, 235-7418)
Tsimes (10/5 Sahaydachnoho, 428-7579)
Super Brodsky (13 Shota Rustaveli)
Vegetarians’ paradise
If you’re a strict vegetarian and can’t stand the sight of meat, and even exclude fish and eggs from your diet, the best choice for you will be to drop by an Indian restaurant. In the center of Kyiv, the closest place is Himalaya right on Khreschatyk. The list of traditional vegetarian dishes includes vegetable balls in an onion sauce with spices, paneer (South Asian cheese) in a spinach sauce, assorted vegetables in an onion-nut sauce and others. New Bombay Palace also has a wide assortment of vegetarian dishes – traditional vegetable mixes and paneer accompanied by various sauces that won’t leave you disappointed. Another item at Indian restaurants that will make any vegetarian happy is the wide assortment of traditional unleavened flat bread. For those not yet acquainted with Indian cuisine, there is one recommendation – think twice before ordering “very spicy” or just “spicy” dishes – they will truly be hot.
Greek cuisine is considered one of the healthiest and traditionally boasts a wide assortment of vegetarian dishes. The recently opened Greek restaurant Athina offers a decent choice of salads accompanied with olive oil and low-fat cheese as well as various seafood dishes of octopus, calamari, shrimp, cod and salmon.
While it’s rather difficult or even impossible to buy special Asian products in Kyiv, you can find fruits and vegetables for “European” style dishes in abundance. If you are looking for appetizing oranges, bananas, apples, tomatoes, greens and all kinds of berries with no restriction on price, I recommend going to Bessarabskiy or Volodymyrskiy markets. However if you are looking for better prices, the best option will be to visit Furshet Gurman at the Komod shopping center. Besides, Furshet has a wide selection of rare fruits and vegetables.
Himalaya (23 Khreschatyk, 270-5437)
New Bombay Palace (33A Druzhby Narodiv, 285-8708)
Athina (14 Antonovycha, 287-3504)
Bessarabskiy Market (2 Bessarabska Square, 234-9207)
Volodymyrskiy Market (115 Horkoho)
Furshet Gurman (4 Lunacharskoho, 593-2550)
Asian cuisine
Asian dishes, especially Japanese ones, probably offer the greatest combination of simplicity, nutrition and health. As mentioned in a previous Post issue, the city offers a wide choice of Japanese and Chinese eateries starting from fast food style eateries to posh restaurants. If you are looking for authentic restaurants with a casual atmosphere and tasty food at affordable prices, the best option will be to visit restaurants like Murakami, Vostok, Mandarin or Harbin. Harbin is less known, yet offers a range of options on its menu, like noodles with vegetables or seafood, eggplant with soy sauce, and bamboo salad.
For sushi I recommend you visit Nobu, a small eatery with a good reputation, or one of the newly opened places, like Gin-No Taki that offers a great combination of quality and low prices.
A great addition for the Asian experience will be a visit to a tea house (Shanti or Tea House), where you can find original and exclusive Chinese and Indian tea assortments.
Murakami (Naberezhne Shose, Dnipro metro station, 428-7224)
Vostok (11 Naberezhno-Khreschatytska, 537-0240)
Mandarin (Naberezhno-Khreschatytska, berth No.6, 599-0877)
Harbin (33A Artema, 486-1137)
Nobu (12 Shota Rustaveli, 246-7734)
Gin-No Taki (49A Volodymyrska, 569-5640)
Tea House (7 Druzhby Narodiv, 451-4283)
Shanti (2 Bessarabska Square, 234-3368)
Fish and seafood
Fish and seafood occupy an important place in any healthy dietary regime and, if well prepared, it can be a real gourmet heaven for everyone, including vegetarians and those fasting during Lent. Thank God that in Kyiv there are shops offering a decent choice of fish and seafood restaurants.
The city’s seafood options include Doversol, one of the main fish suppliers in the city, Avalon, which offers nine different ways of fish preparation, the Da Vinci Fish Club that claims to be “the first fish restaurant in the city,” Ikra that also specializes in sushi, and Rybniy Bazar (Fish Market), which offers Mediterranean and Thai cuisine.
As I was told by a recent Word With… feature guest Stefano, the chef at Italian restaurant Mario, it’s not a problem finding any variety of fish you want in a good Kyiv restaurant. The problem for a regular person is to buy fish and seafood in a common shop. There are several fish markets, but they’re truly limited. Following the tradition of European fish restaurants, Doversol has a wide selection of seafood for sale – whole fish and fillets, live lobsters, shrimp, mussels, clams and others. To shop in a more relaxed atmosphere, you can visit the oldest Kyiv store Dary Moria that offers a big selection of seafood in a big two-story building at affordable prices.
Doversol (81 Chervonoarmiyska, 531-1378)
Avalon (3 Leontovycha, 234-7494)
Da Vinci Fish Club (12 Volodymyrska, 490-3434)
Ikra (11 Pankivska, 288-1990)
Rybniy Bazar (24A Volodymyrska, 278-4852)
Dary Moria (23 Pavlivska, 486-8575; 48 Turhenivska, 486-5164)
