Ostrich meat steak, red trout caviar, delicate escargot, aged cheeses, wines, ciders and honey. All of this and much more can be tasted right outside Kyiv. Check out top 10 tastiest locations of the region.
Yasnohorodka
Beside the largest ostrich farm in Ukraine, Yasnohorodka Family Eco Park also hosts a number of cool gastronomic locations, such as:
- Ferma Locavore Restaurant. Local Food Hub. Its founders call it a real theatre of farm-based cuisine! What’s in the repertoire? Ostrich meat steak, ostrich egg omelette, fried snails, pheasant and turkey ravioli, and a lot of other dishes cooked form the products bred on the farm.
- Wine Idea Winery. Multiple sorts of wine are produced, stored and poured here, like red wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Odesa Black, Pinot Noir, Merlot) made of the grapes harvested in Odesa region, and white wines (Citronny Magaracha, Johanniter, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc) of the grapes grown in own vineyards of Kyiv region. Visitors are offered tours to vineyards where they can learn about different varieties of wine, to the wine cellar and the Museum of Wine, and of course, to join wine tasting.
- GRILL & CHILL PARK featuring tree hammocks, chairs on the grass, barbecue, ostrich burgers and street food festivals!
The Eco Park is a major part of one of the five eco-gastronomic tourist routes known as the Roads of Wine and Taste of Kyiv Region. Read more about the Yasnohorodka Route here.
Bester Sturgeon Farm
In 2022, the Bester Sturgeon Farm that had been active for about 10 years, moved to a new location near Rzhyshchiv. The farm produces up to 800 kg of caviar yearly. Only a quarter of it is sold within Ukraine, with the rest being exported to America, France, Israel, Australia and other countries. Fish is bred in outdoor reservoirs, with caviar gathered naturally, through fish culling without using any chemical additives or growth promoters.
Here you can enjoy fishing among amazing natural landscapes, visit a flooded church, purchase Bester products and taste some fish delicacies with a glass of sparkling wine. Menu contains red trout caviar, sturgeon caviar, snail roe and many other dishes.
We recommend to stop by a few other cool locations on the way.
Jiffy Farm
Jiffy Farm has been growing two species of snails, Helix Aspersa Müller and Helix Aspersa Maxima, in eco-friendly environment for over 5 years, using a unique full biological cycle technology. You’d certainly want to come here to:
- enjoy the peace, quietness and amazing sceneries,
- take a close look at shellfish life and learn some fun facts about their biological features and lifestyle, growing and cultivation environment, their history and reputation at all the global culinary capitals, culture of their consumption as well as specifics of snail cooking,
- watch a real-life snail race,
- and, of course, enjoy local delicacies, such as stuffed snails, snail julienne, snail burgers, sandwiches with snail roe, etc.
Nature Snail
Another cool snail farm in Kyiv region is located in Neshcheriv village of Obukhiv district. Founded in 2017, Nature Snail specializes in growing two species of Mediterranean snails, chicken, turkey, Mulard ducks and trout. It is a place where one can enjoy the largest number of snail dishes in Ukraine, such as Burgundy snails, snails with Provencal herbs, snails with porcini mushrooms, snails with dorblu, snail roe, snail filet and snail gratin with mushrooms, to name just a few. You can also taste some delicate escargot with wine and have fun at a snail race.
Granny’s Goats
You’ve certainly seen this brand in metropolitan stores, but now you can visit the dairy kingdom of Anna and Olersandr Babyns in person.
The family has been engaged in Saanen goat breeding and goat milk production since 2007. There are about 400 snow-white goats currently living in the farm and you can pat, feed and even milk them. Yes, goat milking workshop sessions are available in the farm. During the tour, visitors will learn about cheese and soap making, as Granny’s Goats produce about 30 unique soap types from goat milk and butter. And certainly, the tour programme includes tasting of fresh milk, aged cheeses, wines and herb teas.
Lukachivka Eco
Starting your day with tasting instead of coffee is an excellent offer from the Lukachivka Eco Farmhouse located in Vilkhovets village, Obukhiv district. A few hundred goats of Alpine and Anglo-Nubian breeds live here in natural environment, freely grazing in an enclosed area with nearly all-day access to pasturage. Deer are frolic in the farm together with goats.
When you come to Lukachivka Eco, you will be greeted with farmland breakfast and some fresh milk and yoghurt to taste. Then an interesting tour to the production facility, where you can see and learn how cheeses are made. This is followed by meeting with animals, goat therapy and a walk around the farmland area extending to as much as 35 hectares. The tour is concluded with a lunch with hard and soft cheese tasting.
Medvyno Eco Park
Medvyno is a 170-hectare environmental park located nearby the Chernobyl Radiation and Environmental Biosphere Reserve. It hosts the largest deer farm in Ukraine with more than 500 deer of three species. While on safari through the park, you can meet African buffaloes, European and American bisons, Przhevalsky horses, onagers, camels, llamas and many animals. You can recuperate after a long walk by having a delicious lunch, cooked over a campfire.
The goat farm of Medvyno breeds Saanen, Anglo-Nubian and La Mancha goats. These goats give milk that is good for making tasty cheeses. So, let’s try some.
Medovyi Spas Meadery
Want to know what our ancestors used to drink centuries ago? Welcome to Medovyi Spas, one of the first commercial-size meaderies in Ukraine. Mead brewing traditions have been revived here since 2018, starting with an authentic liquor Cikera made of fermented honey and cold-pressed natural juices. It retains micronutrients and vitamins and is good for your health. While visiting the meadery, you will not only learn about the secrets of making Cikera, but also taste all 8 of its varieties with some craft cheese for a snack.
Learn about some other tasty locations on the Yahotyn gastronomic route aside from Medovyi Spas.
Biologist
You must’ve already heard about such a current eco-trend as natural wines. It’s time to learn more about them at the BIOLOGIST Winery. Its owner, a seasoned professional Ihor Petrenko, will be happy to meet you and arrange a fascinating tour where he will:
- guide you through vineyard terraces in the Kyrykove Reserved Tract,
- explain you the details of natural, organic, and biodynamic wine-making,
- treat you with a home-cooked, fresh from the oven, lunch according to the best wine pairing traditions,
- open a bottle of 50 to 60 years old Barolo or Barbaresco for you.
The Village Wine
Do you want to plunge into the atmosphere of Provence and enjoy excellent wine? We know the perfect place for you, The Village Wine in Horokhove village, Kaharlyk district. It’s a splendid hotel and restaurant complex with spa and a winery amid vineyards and apple orchards. Beautiful nature, peace, relaxation and craft wine... Sounds like a perfect plan for weekend.
By booking a tour to The Village Wine, you’ll get a stroll through orchards, greenhouses and production facilities together in a vintner’s company, an opportunity to taste 6 varieties of wine and the complex’s brand drink, enjoy the divine taste of cheeses, escargot snails and other dishes, cooked by the local chef.
Arrange yourself a gastronomic holiday by exploring fascinating farms and wineries of Kyiv region.
