"Yevhen Klopotenko's Ukrainian room, named for the country's lost recipes — borscht he helped take to UNESCO; book it for a first date."
Borscht reaches the table here only if a foreigner asks for it. That is the point of 100 Rokiv Tomu Vpered — the name means 'a hundred years ago, forward' — where chef Yevhen Klopotenko reconstructs what Ukrainian cooking might have become if it had been left alone for a century. He and co-founder Inna Popereshniuk opened it on Volodymyrska Street in 2019 after travelling the Carpathians, the Odesa region and Cherkasy collecting recipes from people's home kitchens.
Yevhen Klopotenko is the most visible chef in Ukraine — winner of MasterChef Ukraine, and the campaigner who in 2022 helped get the culture of Ukrainian borscht onto UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. His kitchen here is a thesis: borscht and salo, the clichés tourists expect, are served only on request, and the menu instead rebuilds regional dishes most Ukrainians have never seen. The signature is a borsch finished with plum jam and cooked in a wood-fired oven, a deliberate argument that the national soup has more range than its reputation.
The cooking leans on Ukrainian produce and old techniques pushed into a modern frame: fermented and wood-fired, regional rather than Soviet-canteen. Expect to spend around ₴700 to ₴800 a head, which for cooking this considered is closer to a neighbourhood bistro than a destination tasting menu. The room runs lunch through dinner, so the same kitchen feeds a weekday business table and a late date night.
balbek bureau designed the interior, and it shows: a warm, textural room in Kyiv's old town that reads contemporary without going cold. Light is low and flattering, the materials are natural — wood, stone, soft seating — and the sound level sits at an easy hum rather than a roar, which makes it a room you can actually talk in. Service is informed and unstuffy. Dress is smart-casual; this is a confident city restaurant, not a white-tablecloth temple. It seats a mid-sized crowd across the day, from lunch to a late table.
Book this room for a first date because it hands you something to talk about before the small talk runs out: a menu of Ukrainian dishes neither of you has eaten, a wood-fired borsch with plum jam worth arguing over, and balbek bureau's warm, low-lit room that flatters and stays quiet enough to hear each other. The price keeps it unshowy, around ₴700 to ₴800 a head, so the evening reads as thoughtful rather than transactional. For a daytime business lunch, the same kitchen works earlier in the day.
Not for a tourist chasing the postcard version of Ukrainian food — borscht and salo appear only on request, and the menu skips the dishes most visitors expect.
Yes — it is one of the most interesting tables in Kyiv for anyone curious about real Ukrainian cooking. Chef Yevhen Klopotenko, who helped place Ukrainian borscht on UNESCO's heritage list in 2022, rebuilds regional recipes most diners have never tasted, and the signature wood-fired borsch with plum jam alone justifies the booking. At roughly ₴700 to ₴800 a head, it is fair value for the ambition.
Not very, by destination-restaurant standards, but weekend evenings fill, so book a few days ahead for a Friday or Saturday table. The restaurant runs from late morning into the evening on Volodymyrska Street, so lunch and early dinner are the easiest slots. Walk-ins sometimes work midweek, but a reservation is the safe move.
Smart-casual. This is a confident, design-led city restaurant rather than a formal dining room, so good denim, a shirt or a dress all fit. There is no jacket requirement. The balbek bureau interior pulls a stylish crowd, so it is the kind of place you would not turn up to in gym clothes.
Start with the signature borsch finished with plum jam and cooked in the wood-fired oven — it is the dish the kitchen is known for and the clearest statement of its approach. From there, follow the regional dishes the menu foregrounds rather than asking for borscht and salo, which the kitchen serves only on request. Ask the staff what was sourced that week.
Reservations via 100rokiv.com.ua or by phone. Open late morning to evening; weekend dinner tables book a few days out.
Affiliate disclosure: Restaurants for Kings may earn a commission when you book through our reservation links, at no cost to you. Our scores are editorial and never paid for.
Where 100 Rokiv Tomu Vpered ranks among Kyiv's tables, sorted by occasion and score.
See the Kyiv guide →