Dine near the Dnipro at Mishi Blyahera, the restaurant reinventing Ukrainian gastronomy | The Escapist

Where?

Dnipro, Ukraine

What?

If Dnipro isn’t on your travel bucket list, this highly-affordable, haute-cuisine restaurant is the reason why it should be. Self-labeled as New Ukrainian gastronomy, everything about Mishi Blyahera exceeds expectations, while leaving your budget largely in tact. A culinary gem in an otherwise ordinary street in central Dnipro, the restaurant’s dim lightning, exposed ceiling pipes, indoor plants, and dusty bookshelves set the scene for a fine culinary experience.

Try chef Daniel Phippard’s tasting menus, which are carefully paired with wines, cocktails, or non-alcohol drinks depending on your preference. Dill-sprinkled mussels with lard, liver parfait with redcurrant granola, or seaweed-wrapped pike in French butter sauce are some of Phippard’s mouthwatering creations made with ingredients sourced from nearby organic farms, as well as the Black and Azov seas. You should also take the opportunity to give the Dnipro Mule a try: a vodka-based cocktail with horseradish, lingonberry, and a dash of kvass.

What not to miss in Dnipro:

— Dnipro is known as the cosmic capital of Ukraine for a reason. Explore the city’s Rocket Park, an open-air sanctuary to the space race, and admire Soviet-era rockets once made in a secret factory next to the city.

— Discover Art Centre Kvartira, an art gallery and mini-hotel hidden in a 19th-century mansion in central Dnipro. This eclectic arts venue regularly hosts avant-garde exhibitions from local artists, concerts, and film screenings. Forget Airbnb: rent one of the gallery’s bedrooms and sleep in style surrounded by works of art.