Breakfast and the City
“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper”
nutritionist Adelle Davis
Smoothie bowls, syrnyky with mango, and crisp avocado toasts… Kyiv is spoilt for choice with places serving insanely delicious breakfasts at any time of the day. Don’t read ahead if you’re hungry
Living in the big city is living on-the-run. We work hard, sleep less than our bodies need, and often skip meals for no good reason. To keep up with this urban pace, feel healthy, and ensure the million-dollar ideas continue to abound, you need to eat properly. Yes, this sounds like Captain Obvious talking, however, here’s a little more…
Clichés Exist for a Reason
You’ll have heard time and time again that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Along with your metabolism, your morning eats kick-start your brain and your body. Just google “what nutritionists say about breakfast…” and you’ll understand why food in the AM shouldn’t be skipped. If you currently believe that the only thing that wakes you up in the morning is coffee, you’re going to be proven wrong.
After consuming dozens of articles and Instagram stories (@breakfastcriminals, we love you!), we started test-driving downtown cafés and restaurants in search of healthy, hearty, and rather tasty breakfasts. The result? We’ve probably got a yearly dose of avocado while uncovering some pretty extraordinary recipes and compiling a list of breakfasts, both savoury and sweet, we liked the most. So, sit down, pick up your fork, and enjoy!
Beliy Shum
Beliy Shum offers classic breakfasts which come with freshly-baked croissants, fried eggs, and syrnyky. While the menu looks simple at a glance, you’ll be intrigued by the list of viands included in every course. Instead of a plate, your food will be served on a square cut tray probably taken from a school cafeteria. With a number of rather unexpected ingredients carefully arranged on the tray, these breakfasts resembles a work of art.
Beliy Shum occupies the first floor of the new Bursa hotel on Kostintynivska Street. In addition to the hotel and café, Bursa runs an art gallery and a rooftop bar called 1818. If your breakfast flows into the evening, head up to the roof and finish your day with a 2AM cocktail while taking in a breathtaking sunset.
WO Breakfast choice
Savoury: Fried eggs paired with grilled potato, avocado, and tongue-tingling kimchi
Sweet: Syrnyky dressed with passion fruit puree, tangerine ganache, Greek yoghurt, and chips made with flax seeds and sesame
Kostiantynivska 11
⎯ Open: 07.00 – 23.00
⎯ Breakfasts: 07.00 – 15.00
beliyshumkyiv
+380 44 537 37 07
Wi-Fi: +
Outdoor seating: +
BLUR
BLUR reigns supreme in terms of its smoothie bowls – one of the most healthy and fitting starts to the day. This coffee shop boasts a minimalist Scandinavian-style interior, with white walls, wooden tables, and niche magazines from around the world.
In BLUR breakfasts last all day. What’s more, the coffee shop treats guests with unlimited granola dressed with fresh yoghurt. What better reason to come here with your laptop and stay until dinner?
If you are lucky to take a seat on the leather sofa next to the window, you’ll double your breakfast enjoyment by watching the city as it awakens.
WO Breakfast choice
Savoury: Toast with cream cheese, prosciutto, arugula, and peaches
Sweet: Mango smoothie bowl with granola, cashew, and coconut flakes
Mechykova 5
⎯ Monday/Thursday 08.00 – 21.00
⎯ Friday 8.00 – 22.00
⎯ Saturday 10.00 – 22.00
⎯ Sunday 10.00 – 21.00
⎯ Breakfasts: all day
+380 68 270 7575
blurcoffeeshop
blurcoffeeshop
Wi-Fi: +
Outdoor seating: +
Cookietone
If you think that pancakes can’t be a healthy morning food, breakfasting in Cookietone may make you change your mind. Established as a concept bakery, Cookietone has grown into the most pancake-centric café in the city. It turns traditional pancakes into gustatory and visual masterpieces made with imagination and organic ingredients.
The What’s On girls are head-over-heels for Cookietone’s interior, fully painted in pastel pink and blue. The café has a real feminine feel, perfect for bridal showers, chowing down on cotton candy in bulk, or chit-chatting next to the fancy pink fridge.
WO Breakfast choice
Savoury: Pancakes with shrimp and cherry tomatoes flavoured with sweet-and-sour sauce
Sweet: Pancakes with cottage cheese, walnuts, and maple syrup
Ivana Franka 25/40
⎯ Open: 08.00 – 21.00
⎯ Breakfasts: 08.00 – 12.00
09.00 – 14.00
+380 67 516 2886
cookietone
cookietone_kiev
Wi-Fi: +
Outdooseating: +
Avocado
Fortunately for avocado lovers, Kyiv now has a café with a never-ending supply! Avocado is a place where you can overdose on ripe avocado that will be served with avocado and flavoured with avocado too…The owners guarantee the green fruit arrives to your table immediately after being picked in a subtropic-like climate.
A speciality of Avocado is their Avo Burger, which features avocado pieces that cover luscious slices of roast beef instead of the traditional bread bun. Eat two avocado burgers in one sitting and you’ll get the high cholesterol on track in no time flat.
WO Breakfast choice
Savoury: Fresh avocado baked with chicken eggs and parmesan
Sweet: Cottage cheese pudding with seasonal berries
Kriposnyi 4
⎯Monday – Thursday 11.00 – 22.00
⎯Friday – Sunday 11.00 – 23.00
⎯Breakfasts: all day
avocadocafe.com.ua
avocadocafe.com.ua
+380 95 434 4788
Wi-Fi: +
Outdoor seating: +
Zhizn Zamechatelnykh Lyudey
Those who grew up in Soviet times will recognise Zhizn Zamechatelnykh Lyudey, also known as ZHE-ZE-EL, as a series of biographical books first published in 1890. Each book tells the story of a prominent personality who managed to make a significant contribution to history. As a restaurant, Zhizn Zamechatelnykh Lyudey (The Lives of Outstanding People) continues the tradition of bringing the brightest minds together and creating equally outstanding food.
While this venue has little in common with the ultra-modern restaurants found in Kyiv’s downtown, its book-lined walls and fresh quinoa salad do bring about some of the most philosophical conversations about life. We’ll let you decide which has more influence.
* Make sure you reserve a table before your visit
WO Breakfast choice
Savoury: Piquant shakshuka with hummus and eggplant salad
Sweet: Lazy varenyky complemented with seasonal berries and clotted cream
V Vasylkivska 36
⎯ Monday – Friday 08.00 – 00.00
⎯ Saturday – Sunday 09.00 – 00.00
⎯ Breakfasts: 08.00 – 12.00
09.00 – 13.00
zhizn.zamechatelnykh.lyudey
@zhizn.zamechatelnykh.lyudey
+380 503 933 636
Wi-Fi: +
Outdoor seating: +
According to the latest evidence, we should all be aiming to consume around 15–25% of our daily energy intake at breakfast. That’s 300 – 500 calories for women and 375 – 625 calories for men
