Kyiv Social — Restaurant in Sydney

Kyiv Social is a wonderful place to dine in, and I think it is a really good concept of dining at a place that gives back. It was my first visit tonight, and I enjoyed my dining experience there.

Highlights & tips: I highly recommend booking beforehand as it can get quite busy. The restaurant was packed even when it was past 8pm. We were greeted warmly by the staff; full of smiles, and they were very friendly. Orders are placed with the staff at the table. The atmosphere and ambience were warm and welcoming. Music choice for the night felt right for the place, too. Dinnerware was stoneware with each dish served in a different design plate including the dining plate. Definitely adds to the charm. Food came out at a decent pace. My top 2 dishes were the Borscht and the Goulash. The Borscht was such a delight to have and the sour cream adds a really nice touch to the soup. The Goulash was rich and was lovely with the really smooth mash. The herring on rye toast was nice too as it tasted fresh and very thankful the dish was not fishy. Payment accepted is only by card. There is a surcharge for payment by card but it is a reasonable charge of 0.9%. Location-wise, it is pretty accessible. There are nearby bus stops (along Parramatta Road & City Road) or by car with parking available nearby like Broadway Shoping Centre. It is also possible to walk from Central Station or Railway Square. They have a front and back entrance.

Some drawbacks from a food perspective for us: While it was nice to experience a different style of dumpling, especially in sour cream, as a sauce topped up with dill, we found the meat tasting quite gamey. The speck did cover the taste a little but the gamey taste can be a bit overwhelming for us. In some ways, we were hoping for more fillings in the dumplings but that may be too what we are used to with Asian dumplings from nearby Chinatown. The portion size for the schnitzel was surprisingly small for a half portion. Though it was amazingly juicy and tender. The garlic butter sauce was a nice and different style of complement that I have not had before. The slaw was pretty fresh tasting too.

Overall, I enjoyed my dining...

Tried Kyïv Social for the first time on Friday night and was not disappointed. Service was welcoming and attentive without being over the top, and the atmosphere was spot on. We ate the potato dumplings and cabbage rolls for entree, with chicken kyïv, beef cheek goulash and the smashed cucumber salad. Both the potato dumplings and cabbage rolls were exceptional, however were served only slightly above room temperature. This wasn’t so much of an issue as the flavours were strong enough to carry through – especially the cabbage – although the dumplings were a little on the stodgy side given the lack of heat. Thankfully the mains were served hot and equally delicious. The chicken schnitzel is served table-side with a stream of hot garlic butter poured expertly by our very own babusya from a silver gravy boat. Dinner and a show. The chicken was thick and delicious and paired perfectly with the garlic butter. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the beef cheek goulash, which although very well cooked, was under seasoned and missing the wow factor you’d expect from such a dish. I was hoping to be punched in the face with generous amounts of smoked paprika, red capsicum and creamy polenta, instead the dish was a little watery, the cheek lacking depth of flavour and the polenta lacking much flavour at all. However the surprising star of the night was the smashed cucumber salad. Despite apparently forgoing the smashed component, the roughly chopped cucumber pieces were doused in creamy yoghurt and chilli oil, with a generous flurry of crispy onions on top for some added crunch and umami punch. Amazing. Was the food perfect? No it wasn’t. Was it very good? Absolutely. Will I be back? You can...

If you would like to try something different and have some fun with your friends - yes, go to Kyiv Social. Excellent location, nice atmosphere, good drinks. And I was told that the food is not traditional Ukrainian so I didn't have very high expectations, was not hoping to have a "taste of home food". But when my friend opened menu in front of me with the clear message on the very first page "we are serving traditional and authentic Ukrainian food..." - I was a little bit disappointed. I don't mind fusion, I don't mind personal vision of the Chef's food, but please don't call it traditional Ukrainian food. In one or you replies you were saying that you are using authentic Ukrainian recipes which were given to you by the staff members. Well, I am just wondering who's grandma was cooking toast with salo on the soft French cream fraiche? By the way, the toast itself was completely burned. It was wrong... One more thing. Kyiv Social says they donate some money to train the new arrival refugees as a staff. I didn't see the staff members had any training as a waiter. They didn't have any answers to any of my questions. It was just solid "I don't know" to my questions about the size of the dish or about the ingredients. I believe that well trained staff must describe the dish to me and know the taste. But vareniki with cherries were beautiful, great desert, thank you. I would definitely...