Hungry 2

Well, we may have managed to visit most of Kharkov's landmarks, but there still is far to go when it comes to restaurants! Here's an update:

Capri Pizza

With the glorious arrival of sunshine and long days, the Shevchenko Park cafes and nightclubs have sprung to life. Capri Pizza opened their open air restaurant just off of Freedom Square and we recently met here with a friend to enjoy dinner in the fresh evening air. So fresh, actually, that it was a good thing blankets were available to ward off the chill!

Clockwise: service button, dessert, "Jamaica" pizza (45 uah), dolmades (39 uah)

There were a wide variety of pizzas available (40-75 uah) as well as pasta (42-55 uah), salads (23-70 uah), desserts (22-35 uah), and drinks. I've yet to try any of their other locations but really- what beats sitting in the park in summertime?!

Twenty Two pub & restaurant

I'd heard about this place from someone's blog circa 2007 but it wasn't until our friend Sergei came visiting from the states that we stopped in for a meal.

The food was good, served in bowls with a huge rim that dwarfed the actual portion size. It made me feel like I was on a diet :p

phone in the restroom

This seems like an expat kind of place, although the only other diners there that day were a loud table of locals.

Near the Pushkinska metro

the random cheburechnaya

Ready for a snack, we stopped here after taking a friend shopping for a winter jacket. It looked rather sketchy from the outside and even more sketchy from the inside but it was fast, cheap, and warm. They sold vodka in tiny plastic cups which we all ordered as a safety precaution. (side note: we've developed this theory that drinking alcohol reduces the chances of getting food poisoning... perhaps it's just a placebo but good results have been reported so far :P ) This place is tiny; with the four of us in there and a lackluster teen behind the counter, I think only one or two other customers were able to squeeze in for a bite to eat/shot of vodka after work.

If you're into this kind of thing, look for it near the Prospekt Gagarin metro.

Jazzster

Jazzster is one of those pricier restaurants that everyone knows about. It's got a nice location downtown and hosts bands from both near and far. Sasha invited us here to celebrate her birthday. We arrived late, just missing the Ukrainian band's version of Gangnam style, alas.

The decor is nice. Ladies- sorry, guys!- can take some cool pictures in the ladies room, where there's great lighting and lots of cool quotes to pose in front of, like Elvis Presley's "Man... I was tame compared to what they do now."

While the menu looks awesome and even boasts organic dishes-

One Coca Cool and one drink from the hips, please! (шиповник = rosehip)

I gotta tell you, this was borsch scraped from the bottom of the barrel. Tepid water and raw cabbage do not make for a tasty soup. On the other hand, the second dish (сирники?) was divine.

Обломов Anti-cafe

Saving the best for last, Oblomov is a new pay-as-you-go coffee shop that just opened on Marshala Bazhanova street (across from International House). Named after an absurdly lazy character from Russian fiction, this is an ideal spot for being lazy.

30 uah gets you in for your first hour, with unlimited coffee, tea, lemonade, and a basket of cookies. It's 20 kopeks a minute after that.

Come in the evenings and enjoy the live music! Overall, it seems like an "undiscovered" place because of its newness, so it's not too late for you to be one of Oblomov's early fans!



Still hungry? Check out the original entry, featuring 5 more places to dine in Kharkov : )