Kyivska Perepichka

Look for the queue. Kyivska Perepichka is a hatch in the wall on Bohdan Khmelnytsky street just off Khreshchatyk, a few doors from TSUM, and there's almost always a line of people on the pavement outside it. It moves quickly - there are usually two women working the window and they've been doing this a long time.

There's one thing to order, because there's only one thing they make: a mild sausage wrapped in fried dough, somewhere between a hot dog and a doughnut. It's the other dish with the city's name on it, and unlike chicken Kyiv nobody disputes where this one came from. That's it. No menu, no choices, no English needed. You'll also find tea, coffee and Coca Cola if you want something to go with it.

Don't expect anywhere to sit. There are a few standing tables set up in front and that's your lot, so this is a five minute stop on the way somewhere rather than a meal. The queue is worth joining anyway - it's not just a tourist thing, and you'll be standing behind office workers, students and pensioners all waiting for the same one item.

A Kyiv Institution Since 1981

It started as a kiosk in the city centre in 1981 and grew quickly, helped by the location: Bohdan Khmelnytsky street runs right up to Khreshchatyk, so everybody walking through the middle of the city goes past the door. Nearly forty years on it's become one of those places locals will tell you about before they tell you about the cathedrals.

Part of the appeal is that so little has changed. The street is named after the hetman whose statue stands up on Sofiyivska Square, ten minutes uphill. The area around it is full of Soviet-era architecture and the hatch itself has the feel of the period it came from, which is a large part of why Kyivans are fond of it. If you want a sense of what grabbing lunch in the city looked like before the restaurants arrived on Khreshchatyk, this is the closest thing still operating.