Until March 2022, we knew almost nothing about Ukrainian cuisine. Then we took in a mother and her twelve-year-old daughter. Together with tens of thousands of other residents, they had fled the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy after Russian troops invaded. Today, the mother works again in her profession as an architectural draftswoman, and the daughter has one more year until graduation.

During the seven months in which we shared our apartment with them, we got to know a hearty, meat-heavy cuisine. This is exactly the kind of food that “Fayna” in Tiergarten has been serving for the past year and a half. The premises of the former restaurant “Giraffe” were completely renovated and have become highly popular among Berlin’s Ukrainian community as a venue for celebrations ranging from baptisms to weddings. But the non-Ukrainian neighborhood also appreciates the restaurant’s cuisine and, in good weather, its quiet sunny terrace.

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The Ukrainian staff offer warm hospitality and efficient service. People from Ukraine also work in the kitchen. The weight listings on the menu are unusual. According to our waiter, this is common practice in Ukraine. This way, you know exactly how large the portions of the cold and warm starters are, ranging from lard carpaccio and pancakes with salmon and cream cheese to mushrooms baked with cheese and shrimp or cottage cheese croquettes with berry sauce (12–19 euros).

One of the house specialties is the pound-heavy “tasting set.” Served in several bowls arranged in a circle are classic borscht, pickled cherry tomatoes, egg salad, mashed potatoes with a chicken meatball, and for dessert vareniki dumplings filled with cherries (16 euros). Four soups – mushroom, spinach, borscht, and solyanka – as well as salads with meat and various filled vareniki dumplings are also part of the menu.

Meat dominates the main courses as well

The same is true for the main courses: almost nothing comes without meat, whether lamb, chicken, pork, or beef. The classic Ukrainian dishes are interpreted in a modern way, for example with various aromatic sauces and sweet potato purée.

The selection of non-alcoholic cocktails, such as pomegranate kombucha, is surprisingly good. Most of the wines come from Georgia. On weekdays from 12 to 4 p.m., lunch dishes such as fish with vegetable salad, beefsteak with egg and fried potatoes, or beef stroganoff with pickles are offered for 14 euros.

Klopstockstraße 2, Moabit, Tel. 0176-32 40 16 22, Sun.–Thu. 12–23, Fri–Sat. 12–24, www.fayna.rest

This article was originally written and published on the 19th of May in German. It was translated in English with the use of Artificial Intelligence.