Kiev – Chicken Kyiv

Not the best exterior photo, but we thought that to mark our final night in Kiev we should go to a restaurant which specialises in Chicken Kiev. I actually didn’t even realise that this was a real dish, I thought it was something that had been created in the UK, showing my distinct lack of culinary knowledge….

I have to say that this is the best looking menu that I’ve seen in any restaurant. It’s styled in the form of a pop-up book and some real attention has been given to its creation. Although I’m not entirely sure that they’ve done their flagship dish of chicken kiev much justice….

This does appear to be a meal served at Wetherspoons because of the plate used, but it is genuinely from Kiev…. The restaurant claim that they were developing this dish for four years and judging by the number of them being served to other customers, it appears to be their most popular dish. Which would make sense since they named the restaurant after it…..

The chicken kiev was served on a bed of truffle mashed potato and there was  a sauce with tomatoes. The chicken was excellent, succulent and tender with plenty of flavour. The mashed potato was smooth and the tomatoes added a little texture to the dish. I wasn’t quite sure if the sauce inside was meant to have garlic in, which I imagine it was, but I couldn’t detect it and that would be quite an omission if I managed to miss it. The meal was well presented and of a reasonable portion size, although not excellent.

This dessert was exceptional and is a Kiev cake, which I’ve never previously heard of. Before ordering it I did a quick check on-line of what was in it, discovering that there was meringue, buttercream and cashew nuts. It sounded acceptable, but the dessert that arrived exceeded those expectations. The meringue was light and fluffy, there was a pleasant nut flavour running through it, it was moist and not overly sweet. Beautifully presented and it had a real depth of taste.

There were lots of fun design elements inside the restaurant, including this chicken thing. The service in the restaurant was attentive, polite and engaging, although the waiter certainly did his best to upsell, although it didn’t feel too forced. The staff in the restaurant seemed professional and keen to help, although it wasn’t as busy as I thought it might be.

I discovered later that the restaurant has a secret bar which I would have visited, although since it was a secret, I didn’t. Maybe next time.

Honey vodka, which was surprisingly drinkable without a harsh after-taste. Although, this was the only negative about the restaurant, that it was served as 100ml, but priced on the menu as 50ml. The staff member said that was how the restaurant did it and it was impossible to order a 50ml. But since the menu was priced as 50ml, that didn’t entirely make sense to me. But as we had already worked out the total price and left a tip, that extra cost just came out of that, so it was really a lose-lose for everyone.

Anyway, that minor issue apart, I feared that this would be a little bit of a tourist trap, but it was a professionally run and pleasant environment. The food quality was high and that dessert was one of the best that I’ve ever had. The meal, including a main, dessert, beer and vodka came to under £6, pretty reasonable for a decent restaurant in the capital of a country.