Deribasovskaya Street. I know, what is it with the long words, right? :p It took me about a week to pronounce this correctly! We had most of our meals on Дерибасовская (Russian) or Дерибасiвська (Ukrainian) Street during our Odessa visit. Wikipedia calls it "a pedestrian walkway in the heart of Odessa." The street is paved with cobblestones and lined with restaurants, pricey shops, and a park. It's where you go to see or be seen. Our friend Martin calls it interpreter date central (usually a group of three: the foreign man, the Ukrainian woman, and an interpreter). But I digress. Let's get back to the topic: food!
*well, most of them are on this street.
Meals at Mick O'Neills Irish pub were the mainstay of our diet in Odessa. This is Martin's favorite restaurant. He likes to settle in at an outdoor table, peruse the Russian/English menu, and trade greetings with other expats.
Breakfast:
Left: All-Day Irish Breakfast. 87 grivna.
Right: Very tasty Блини (curd pancakes) with raisins and sour cream. 32 grivna.
And the most important part of any breakfast?...
Breakfast, the following day:
Left: All-Day Irish Breakfast again.
Right: Omelette. 50 grivna.
This pub is open 24 hours. We made a late-night visit involving alcohol and a slice of chocolate cake that almost killed me with its chocolatey-ness (that's a good thing).
Top Sandwich. That's how you say Топ Сендвич. If you want to be really good, say Top Sandvich since there's no 'w' sound in Russian. (That's right, Washington becomes more like Vashinkton.)
What to order? Top Sandwich offers just about everything. I kid you not. Look at the menu- it's 106 pages long! It's like an annual fashion magazine!
The selection includes:
chicken sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches on the grill, pizza, grilled dishes, salads, cold appetizers, hot appetizers, first courses, meat dishes, fish dishes, fowl dishes, home-style menu, garnishes, pasta, blini, desserts, extra, breakfasts, tea menu, coffee, virgin drinks, cocktails, shots, hot cocktails, Red Bull (here's another Russian language hack: Ред Булл), freshly-squeezed juices, smoothies, drinks, wine menu, alcohol drinks, hookah. Phew!
And that's not including the separate "Asian Kitchen" menu!!!!
The food was delicious. Tasty enough to be worth the wait.... let's just say the service is a little slow here, but at least you can sit outside and enjoy the day.
L to R: fettuccine (D recommends!), borsch, and chocolate-filled blini.
Sorry about the terrible pictures. It looks like I sneaked up on these dishes in the wild, doesn't it? :p It was dark and I had to use flash. But look- real asparagus! It's a miracle!
And finally-
Печескаго is an open air restaurant next to the Deribasovskaya Street park. They've got the usual offerings- hot and cold salads, meat dishes, seafood, etc and an English menu. We enjoyed borsch, a noteworthy attempt at a Caesar salad, chicken Kiev, and an amazing teriyaki something with tropical fruits and rice.
Yes, definitely order the teriyaki! By the way, the website says they also have karaoke here.
That wraps it up. We only had 48 hours to spend in Odessa and I consider it well spent (see Odessa I and Odessa II for more). All these restaurants were fantastic and a good change from what we usually eat in Kharkov. The only drawback- with such good food comes high prices, so hit up the ATM before you go and prepare to be a big spender.
Which restaurants in Odessa do you recommend?
More Odessa pictures on Facebook
*well, most of them are on this street.
Mick O'Neills
Meals at Mick O'Neills Irish pub were the mainstay of our diet in Odessa. This is Martin's favorite restaurant. He likes to settle in at an outdoor table, peruse the Russian/English menu, and trade greetings with other expats.
Breakfast:
Left: All-Day Irish Breakfast. 87 grivna.Right: Very tasty Блини (curd pancakes) with raisins and sour cream. 32 grivna.
And the most important part of any breakfast?...
 |
| tea! |
Left: All-Day Irish Breakfast again.Right: Omelette. 50 grivna.
This pub is open 24 hours. We made a late-night visit involving alcohol and a slice of chocolate cake that almost killed me with its chocolatey-ness (that's a good thing).
Топ Сендвич
I'll teach you some Russian. Ready?
Top Sandwich. That's how you say Топ Сендвич. If you want to be really good, say Top Sandvich since there's no 'w' sound in Russian. (That's right, Washington becomes more like Vashinkton.)
What to order? Top Sandwich offers just about everything. I kid you not. Look at the menu- it's 106 pages long! It's like an annual fashion magazine! 
The selection includes:
chicken sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches on the grill, pizza, grilled dishes, salads, cold appetizers, hot appetizers, first courses, meat dishes, fish dishes, fowl dishes, home-style menu, garnishes, pasta, blini, desserts, extra, breakfasts, tea menu, coffee, virgin drinks, cocktails, shots, hot cocktails, Red Bull (here's another Russian language hack: Ред Булл), freshly-squeezed juices, smoothies, drinks, wine menu, alcohol drinks, hookah. Phew!
And that's not including the separate "Asian Kitchen" menu!!!!
The food was delicious. Tasty enough to be worth the wait.... let's just say the service is a little slow here, but at least you can sit outside and enjoy the day.
 |
| This picture deserves to be big. As you may remember, голубцы (pigeons) is one of my favorite Ukrainian dishes. Don't worry, it's not a real pigeon. It's beef wrapped inside cabbage and baked. Mmmmm... |
L to R: fettuccine (D recommends!), borsch, and chocolate-filled blini.
Buffalo 99 Sports Bar
I want to quickly mention this place even though it's over on Rishelyevskaya Street. They offer potent Long-Island ice teas, outdoor seating, and good service.
Sorry about the terrible pictures. It looks like I sneaked up on these dishes in the wild, doesn't it? :p It was dark and I had to use flash. But look- real asparagus! It's a miracle! |
| If you go here, request Oleksandr (the guy standing up). He is the king of waiters. |
And finally-
Печескаго
 |
| Two famous characters from the Twelve Chairs |
Yes, definitely order the teriyaki! By the way, the website says they also have karaoke here.
That wraps it up. We only had 48 hours to spend in Odessa and I consider it well spent (see Odessa I and Odessa II for more). All these restaurants were fantastic and a good change from what we usually eat in Kharkov. The only drawback- with such good food comes high prices, so hit up the ATM before you go and prepare to be a big spender.
Which restaurants in Odessa do you recommend?
More Odessa pictures on Facebook
"Interpreter date central" cracked me up! There were so many of those, and they all seemed so awkward. Pretty sure we saw the Top Sandwich place, but don't think we ate there. Love seeing your food pictures- looks like you had a good time!
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