In the 1990s, to order a cup of coffee in some of Kyiv’s cafes, clients had not only to pay for the beverage itself, but also to pledge money, a valuable object like a piece of jewelry, or a passport as security for the cup.
There aren’t many restaurants and cafes from those times left in Kyiv, and those that are still on the map won’t ask for collateral on a loan of a cup.
But while most venues have been extensively renovated, some still bear a few reminders of their long pasts.
Here are six of the oldest venues in Ukraine’s capital, some of which have histories that stretch back into Soviet times.
Yaroslava bakery
Time has passed, the city has changed, but Yaroslava bakery, opened in 1947, has remained the same. Several generations of Kyivans have grown up with the tradition of dropping by the bakery on weekends to have one of the bakery’s famous buns with cinnamon. The variety of bun fillings on the menu is enticing to those with a sweet tooth: cranberry, strawberry, blueberry, poppy seeds, sea buckthorns, and many others.
This place is not very popular with tourists, but it does retain the atmosphere of old Kyiv. The bakery has stone flooring, metal chairs, wooden tables and old drawings on its walls.
15 Yaroslaviv Val St. Monday-Friday 9 a. m. — 10 p. m., weekends — 9 a. m. — 8 p. m. +38044 272 4260
Praha restaurant
Unlike bakeries, restaurants in the Soviet Union were fancy places that not everyone could afford, with diplomats, foreigners and civil servants as the usual guests.
Praha restaurant, built in 1956, is the oldest restaurant in Kyiv. Back then, to reserve a table at this classy place, the average Soviet citizen had to make “an arrangement” beforehand with the receptionist — or pay a bribe in other words.
Praha used to serve mainly Czech cuisine. When the restaurant opened, Czech cooks came to Kyiv and taught the staff how to prepare their national food. Praha was also known for its top-notch beer, delivered directly from Czechoslovakia.
Two years before the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1989, the restaurant closed. It reopened in 2011, with a new design and a new menu with dishes from Asian, Italian and Ukrainian cuisine. The restaurant is located in a park zone, near a lake next to the National Exhibition Center in the Holosiivsky district of the city. The elegant restaurant building evokes memories of an old European manor, with a white colonnade and balconies with forged metal railings.
1 Akademika Hlushkova Ave. 9 a. m. — 12 p. m. +38044 526 9990
Vavilon restaurant
While Praha mostly hosted diplomats, lawmakers and other top officials, Vavilon restaurant, opened in 1987, was a favorite place for creative minds: actors, stage managers, singers, and playwrights. Olena Sakina has been working in Vavilon for 30 years. She has witnessed how their visitors, sitting at a table having dinner, were coming up with new ideas for movies, performances and future hit songs. The majority of Vavilon’s visitors are locals, with just a few rare tourists, Sakina says. The menu reflects tastes of the clients: Ukrainian food with no hint of foreign cuisines. Despite its renovated interior, visitors describe Vavilon as a place frozen in the late 1980s.
6 Saksahanskoho St. (in the Budynok Kino building) 11 a. m. — 11. p. m. +38044 287 4513
Miami Blues restaurant
This restaurant, in contrast to Praha and Vavilon, did not exist in the times of the Soviet Union — it opened three years after it fell, in 1994. Regular clients of Miami Blues often say the place hasn’t changed at all in the last 20 years. It still has leather chairs, dim lighting, and lots of wood in its design. The menu is a mix of Ukrainian and Italian cuisine. Miami Blues was also the first restaurant in Kyiv to introduce a breakfast menu.
114 Velyka Vasylkivska St. 24/7. +38044 239 1133
Caribbean Club
While there are still a few restaurants in Kyiv that have been open for more than 20 years, there are no night clubs as old as this. The oldest is the Caribbean Club, which opened in 1998. Vlad Povshednyi has been a bartender in Caribbean for almost five years. He says the club was always popular among foreign tourists, but before it was renovated in 2013 it was a small one-storey place that mostly played salsa music. Now it is a three-storey concert hall and night club. At least two or three times a week the club holds jazz and rock concerts, dance shows, or theater performances. “We have clients that come from other countries just to spend an evening at Caribbean Club,” Povshednyi tells.
4 Petlury St. 6 p. m. — 6 a. m. +38067 224 4111
Parovoz Speak Easy bar
Up until 2002, there were few true pubs in Ukraine — people going out drinking would most commonly go to a restaurant or club. Parovoz, opened in 2002, was one of the first popular bars, as it had more class than most others, says Nikolay Golotin, the owner of Parovoz Speak Easy bar. The bartenders didn’t just serve vodka — they mixed new (for Kyiv) drinks like margaritas or Bloody Marys. “We gave a new meaning to the word bar,” Golotin says. The bar was renovated 2014, with new drinks added to the menu, and the place now resembles an American bar from the 1920s and 1930s. “The world has changed, our clients grew up, and we had to change too,” says Golotin. The only thing that remains the same is the absence of any sign outside, and the only way to get in is to know where it is — or to know someone who does.
19 Velyka Vasylkivska St. 12 p. m.— till the last client. +38044 235 2413
