100 rokiv tomu vpered — Restaurant in Kyiv

This place was rather disappointing. We came to try the well-recommended Creative set, only to find that they were not serving it, so we tried to order the Ukrainian set instead. For some reason, they only brought out one set for two people, even though we were four. Clearly, we would have wanted two sets, since we were four, very odd. Service: Server got the order wrong (should have confirmed if it were for 2 or 4), forgot to bring out another dish that was ordered, most often no one was present upstairs and when a server finally appears upstairs, it was difficult to catch their attention. Even worse, I do not speak nor understand Ukrainian, but all the communication about the dishes were done in Ukrainian. Luckily, my other (Ukrainian) guests accompanying me did and (sometimes) interpreted if I were lucky. The servers knew that I was English-speaking. Most other decent restaurants in Kyiv have the common decensy to also repeat information in languages everyone understands. That said, when I asked questions in English directly, they were well replied in English, but otherwise all communication was in Ukrainian by default despite knowing I would not understand. I should probably have pointed this out with the staff but I thought they would realise this themselves. Food: I liked it, it was slightly above average actually. The meat with herring tartar tickled my Scandinavian senses. None of my Ukrainian guests liked the dishes though, they considered them nothing special and suggested they would have cooked me this at home instead. I think maybe that's an exaggeration, but perhaps this place is more interesting to us foreigners than to locals that eat Ukrainian-style food every day. To me it was a unique experience. Environment: It's difficult to have a good time in the very noisy environment. The environment was also freezing cold, despite the warm weather - but the staff agreed to quickly change the temperature setting on the AC. The place has no soft surfaces so the acoustics are horrible, so if you want to be able to hear what anyone is saying without shouting, ask for a table downstairs or outside. They should invest in better acoustics, sound absorbants and bass traps in the corners. Summary: I would only come back with other foreign friends and acquaintances, but I would avoid bringing Ukrainians there as they will be less forgiving. I would at any cost choose not to sit upstairs in order to have a pleasant time. I would have lower expectations in general, which might be good. If you come in with low expectations, you might be pleasantly surprised. If you come in with high expectations, you will be bitterly disappointed. Unfortunately, this is the best Ukrainian food restaurant I have tried so far, so it might still be...

Absolutely delicious food. The chef does an awesome work of reinterpreting Ukrainian cuisine. Unfortunately our experience was ruined by an abysmal and unacceptable service. I believe this wasn't intentional but rather a result of having very poorly trained and not properly managed staff. We waited ridiculous amount of time to order. Then we were told that the we cannot learn what is in the set menu because 'we don't do that's. I understand that you might want to keep an element of surprise - but how can you expect guests to feel comfortable and order an 8-course menu if the only info you provide is that it can be either 'Ukrainian' or 'creative'. This is quite ridddiculous - it wouldn't hurt to train your staff to say a few words about what can be expected. OK, we wanted to give it a try but it then occured that if you don't eat meat you cannot have it - there is no option to adjust it to vegetarian or even pescatarian setup. Well, this is the first restaurant positioning itself as 'fine dining' that will not even consult such request with the kitchen (and make it work - it really is not that big of a problem if you consider yourself a creative chef). Finally, upon ordering desserts we were informed that the kitchen is closed for 40 minutes (!) and we can have tea or coffee instead because they close in 5 minutes. No one bothered to ask about desserts or inform us about the kitchen closing. Well if you really don't want our business then OK, but I imagine it is not something that you should do if you're running a restaurant... To sum it up - this place can be great, and even reach Michelin star quality but it has to employ someone who can properly train the totally hopeless and inexperienced staff and straighten internal processes. Fingers crossed as I would like to return here sometime and have a...

We booked a table for our anniversary. Sadly our experience started out a bit sad with no guidance in regards with the wine. First we had a waiter that hadn't tried the wines we asked about, and when my ukranian girlfriend took over and tried in local language he replied a bit passive aggressive instead of just sending another waiter. He eventually did just that, but still even with a new waiter the information was lacking and not accurate compared to the wine we ordered and were served.

The borsch we got as first serving was delicious albeit a bit to the sweet side. That can be a culinary choice though, and we did find it tasty. Another slight disappointment was that there wasn't a refill of the bread that we finished as we ate the borsch.

Main courses - ribs and varenyky - were decent and lived up to expectations, but didn't exceed them. We decided to skip dessert and call it a night. Another disappointment is the vibe and decor/interior. As it is now it doesn't feel like anything special, and there is definitely room for improvement.

Overall I want to stress that I have nothing but the utmost respect and sympathy for the help and service to the ukrainian forces that the establissement have shown over the years. This review is honest because I feel like there is potential here, but it is sadly not realised yet. Especially with the service, which I've gotten used to is at such a high level in Ukraine. Even in small local establishments, so a high end restaurant should be able to meet a higher standard.

Look forward to come back one day and have my previous experience proven...