Sometimes we need a cozy place without hustle and bustle to have a rest, but there is no wish to go out of the city. The good point about Kiev is that you can easily find such a calm place even in the heart of Kiev. Barbara Bar is in the list of these places.

Beinside chose Barbara Bar (especially summer terrace) as a perfect place for warm summer evenings. You can come alone, come with a friend or with someone beloved, can come with a group of friends. It is located on the rooftop of the building and that is why you always feel a lot of space around you and warm fresh air. Summer terrace of Barbara bar is light, decorated with wood, flowers, cozy sofas and pillows on wooden chairs. 

When the sun has gone down and night is coming to the city,  you are surrounded with hundred of  lights, and you it seems that miracle appears...

Food & Drinks

The main characteristic of the Barbara Bar is that any time of day or night you can come and forget about your hunger/bad mood/sadness/aloneness (tick needed) and indulge yourself with something savory. Barbara Bar has a wide variety of  dishes on the menu: starting from salads and croissants to delicious desserts, seasonable menu, breakfasts...

The most popular dish in Barbara Bar is Burger. And burgers are worthy to be tried.

Special for vegetarians the restaurant has sandwiches with grilled tofu and vegetables. And you know, our team decided that it is not less savory as Burgers are.

Talking about drinks, Beinside team choice is homemade lemonade and cocktails. Especially we liked it during the hot summer days and warm evenings to chill out.

 

A friendly and supportive staff is always ready to help you with making a choice. By the way, here is an English-speaking stuff and you can always ask for an English-written menu.

Beinside team visited Barbara Bar, liked it and strongly recommend to spend here your perfect evening.

Photos by Andrii Kuzmin

 Two days more, and the autumn will come to Kiev. But let us not be depressed! This season has a lot of benefits. For example, during a rainy windy day, you can run into your favorite coffee shop or cozy pub. Run with a loved one or alone to enjoy a cup of coffee. Beinside assembled a small collection of atmospheric Kiev places. These are the places where the harmony and good mood live. 
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"Harms"

Indie reading room is a very cozy place. Comfort is created by books - specially selected - music, theater, film and other arts, as well as vinyl records, various stationery stuff, excellent coffee and snacks to eat. Be sure to try the cheesecake! It is so gentle and creamy that you will want another piece, and then you will be inspired to take a notepad and write a couple of sentences - in rhyme or prose ... Guests of "Harms" call its menu specific and unusual. We almost forgot! A cat Elliot lives in this coffee house - such a calming animal!

Where: Str. Vladimir, 45a

Hours: daily from 10:00 to 22:00

The Blue Cup Сoffee Shop

The main thing  is to be on time to get in, as there are not many places in this Kiev coffee shop - a couple of dozens. A couch is the most comfortable place. First, you will be interested in looking at the walls of The Blue Cup. They have a lot of funny moose, rabbits, bison, birds, lynx ...the interior is colorful, but not cutting the eye. And all this beauty is imbued with the aroma of coffee, so be in a hurry to order it! Caramel latte is especially great as well as sea buckthorn-tangerine tea. Well, how it all come without sweet ?! In the menu you will find meringue, pies, cheesecake, chocolate cake, cookies ...
Where: Str. Pushkinskaya, 5
Hours: daily from 9:00 to 22:00

DRUZI café&bar

If you do not want just to hide from the bad weather, but to have fun, you must run in DRUZI café&bar in Kiev. In the evenings, from 19:00, different games are organized there. There is a lot of table games, including "Scrabble" and Dixit. And it does not prevent to enjoy delicious drinks! Order warming home tea: citrus-mint, sea buckthorn, strawberry... And of course, don't forget about a fantastic brownie! By the way, it is not only a snack. Here you can have a tasty and dense lunch or dinner.
Where: Str. Proreznaya, 3/5
Hours: daily from 8:00 to 00:00

Smart Сafe Bibliotech

Excellent library, which is constantly updating, board games, tea, coffee, chocolates, biscuits ... In "Smart cafe" you pay for the time: the first hour costs 42 UAH, each next - 21 UAH. The location is very popular. Workers even calculated that in average per day, guests eat 30 kg of biscuits and bagels. And the most popular drink here - latte and espresso. Bringing food is strictly prohibited! The cafe often hosts useful workshops, trainings and presentations and invites important persons in Kiev.
Where: Str. Saksaganskogo, 120
Hours: Mon-Thu - from 10:00 to 23:00, Fri - 10:00 to 00:00, Sat-Sun - from 11:00 to 00:00

Creative space "Chasopys"

Location for a perfect pastime! In the halls of "Chasopys" all the time something happens. Of recent: the lecture about the use of 3D-printing in medicine, master-class on the development of advertising campaigns in social networks, the seminar "How to get rid of stress and prevent it". Participation in events is paid and prices can be specified on the official page of the creative space within Facebook. But coffee with cookies is treated for free. Guests say it is very tasty.
Where: Str. Lva Tolstogo, 3
Hours: 8:00 to 23:30

Kiev vegetarian literary cafe "Ginger"

Here in this Kiev literary cafe time seems to have stopped. Choose a table, order something of an unusual oriental cuisine, and while it is preparing - you can look around. Do not be lazy to go to the bookshelf and not simply read the names on the spines, but take one or more publications. Selection of literature in "Ginger" is not very big: cookbooks, works on self-development, spiritual and physical perfection, and of course, your favorite classics. Here everything is in harmony, and this mood is immediately transmitted to the guests.
Where: Str. Zhylyanska 7
Hours: 8:00 to 23:00

Literary Pub "Krapka Coma"

Someone likes to relax with the coffee, and someone - with beer ... In "Krapka Coma" beer rules! It's homemade. And bundled with the meat (which is prepared in a pub) its taste is incredible! If you do not want a steak, order the burger with a lamb: it is something great! The atmosphere in "Krapka" is always relaxed. Everyone is busy with his business, no one does not interfere each other. Take a look through the book. Is there any desire to read? Then wait until the evening when the pub will host a live concert.  Jazz events are especially beautiful.
Where: Str. Antonovicha, 14
Hours: Mon-Thu- from 10:00 to 23:00, Fri-Sat - from 11:00 to 1:00, Sunday - from 10:00 to 23:00

Don't forget to check about other places to have a drink or merely to dine in Kiev. For example, Beinside recommends you a Ukrainian gastronomy restaurant "Last Barricade", and those who are vegetarian can find another satisfaction in Kiev by choosing on the most delicious vegetarian restaurants of Kiev. 

Kiev Metropoliten underground railways are becoming more and more bright and colorful. Spanish street art artist Okuda painted a train in Kyiv in the case of the project ArtUnitedUs.

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“Okuda really surprised us. This is the second train in Kiev painted by a well-known artist. The capital of Ukraine is impressed, it is a wonderful gift to the Kiev people and guests to the Independence Day!” said government.

The first painted train in Kiev appeared in Kiev in May. It was made by Kenor as a part of the project ArtUnitedUs.

Okuda: Biography

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Okuda was born in 1980, November 19 in Spain and he is based in Madrid since 2000. He is a Bachelor of Dine Arts from the Madrid University. Since 1997 Okuda has been creating different paintings on the streets: railroads and factories in his hometown could be easily recognized. But he created not only at the streets. Also, he was working in his studio, producing more intimate works.

Okuda created his works in Pop Surrealism. Gray bodies and organic forms were combined with different multicolored lines and geometric patterns. His works are about existentialism, the Universe, the infinite, the meaning of life, the false freedom of capitalism, and they show a conflict between modernity and our roots, our past.

Okuda creates those geometric architectures that become organic shapes, bodies without identity, headless animals, symbols that encourage reflexion …  He has his own unique iconographic language.

His works can be seen in streets and galleries around the world: India, Mali, Mozambique, United States, Japan, Chile, Brazil, Peru, South Africa, Mexico and the European continent among others.

Now we can see his works in Kiev, Ukraine:

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Secret places are always the most inspiring and interesting. Sometimes one inconspicuous door can hide incredible mysteries and lead to an unexpected place where you can listen to medieval music, where local intellectuals discuss important cultural and social projects, where you can find modern Ukrainian cuisine and the first 100% Ukrainian bar. It’s all about Ukrainian restaurant Last Barricade (Ostannya Barricada).

In fact, long ago «Ostannya Barricada» was the first Ukrainian art-club, created by Oles Dony. Modern «Ostannya Barricada», created by famous restaurateur Dmitro Borisov, follows the same principles – it’s devoted to the development of Ukrainian culture and exploration of Ukrainian history. It is an art and gastronomic space and a museum dedicated to 3 Ukrainian revolutions – Revolution on the Granite, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan (Revolution of dignity).

It is not easy to get here, but watchful guest will find tips and the entrance. Just remember – Lyadsky gate is a point to start. At the entrance you will see a small coffee place and nothing more. Don’t make a mistake, don’t stop – it is only the beginning. If you give the word door will open and you get further: you’d overcome the “iron curtain” and finally get to the cozy rooms and see the walls with plenty of artifacts dedicated to key moments of the modern history of Ukraine.

A small stage is a place where poets and musical groups perform. It’s maybe one of the best places to listen to authentic Ukrainian music.

What can you taste here?

Of course, it’s a place to taste Ukrainian food. If you think that Ukrainian cuisine is all about varenyky (a kind of ravioli with different fillings) and borscht (red beetroot soup), you are mistaken. Of course, you can order here tasty borscht and varenyky (with duck, potatoes and goose liver, with stewed kid, with cherry and even with halva), but that’s not all. For example, you can taste Ukrainian oysters and Ukrainian Black caviar, fried veal brains and bull testicles (“mountain oysters”) with cranberries, steaks, Chicken Kiev, fish soup, Kyiv cake and more. Prices are very reasonable. For example, if you order Ukrainian oysters + potato salad with trout + Chicken Kiev + dumplings with cherries, you pay a little over $ 10.

Also pay attention to the huge collection of Ukrainian cheeses, meat specialties, and  8-10 kinds of bread, which is baked right here.

Ukrainian Bar is also worth your attention – you can taste Ukrainian liqueurs, whiskey or Ukrainian version of calvados and special cocktails made of Ukrainian alcoholic beverages.

Also there is a shop where you can buy Ukrainian pottery, vyshyvanka, books, Ukrainian ethnic jewelry and works by contemporary artists.

It’s a place full of emotions and symbols. Beinside highly recommends!

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The Kyiv day is full of hustle and bustle, traffic jams, loud car honks and marvelous freshly brewed coffee aroma. But there are some places, where time is stopped and nothing can interrupt your rest.
One of those places is Richelieu restaurant – cozy corner in the heart of Kiev. Located in the center of the city, it is a wonder how calm and bright it is.

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About Richelieu restaurant

Richelieu is one of the most visited restaurants in Kyiv with a 17-years history. Here you can find French cuisine meals such as frog legs, escargot and raclette; taste the most famous French cheese or traditional Soupe à L’oignon. Also, Richelieu is rich for Ukrainian dishes: you can try Ukrainian red beetroot soup “Borshch” with special Ukrainian bread “pampushka”, take a plate of “varenyky” with different fillings or savor the famous “Chicken Kiev”.

French cuisine

French Cheese

Ukrainian Borshch

Chicken Kiev

Soupe à L’oignon

Sangria Evening

You can come to the restaurant and meet some gourmet events. From time to time Richelieu organizes some degustation evenings. Last Friday Beinside team joined one – Sangria evening, where each guest was welcomed by a glass of Sangria – traditional drink made with wine and chopped fruits.

 

If you are in search of a place, where you can have a tasty meal at any time you want, or looking for a cozy and calm corner for a rest or a meeting, check Richelieu restaurant. You will find here cheerful and supportive staff, a wide variety of savory dishes and intimate atmosphere, rich wine card, Japan menu and Halal menu. You will probably want to visit this restaurant one more time!

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