Three addresses to get your sweet tooth fix in Kyiv

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I have loved sweets ever since I can remember myself.
Some kids are into the salty type of snacks: kids that are in love with cheese puffs, kids that would kill for some potato chips, but that wasn’t me. You see, I, for that matter, would have sold my soul to the devil for some sweets.
Yes, sweets were my king, and I have the receipts to prove it:
When I was three, I managed to convince my mom to add lemon pudding to my omelet because I thought it was a genius idea. It turned out disgusting, but I won the battle, so who cares.
On another occasion, I finished an entire family-size pack of Mini-Snickers by myself and, to top it off, decided to shove the wrappings into the cracks in between the sofa cushions to hide my criminal activity ( the 10-year-old criminal mastermind that I was).
I was always somehow drawn to that flavor and had the opportunity presented itself; I would always try and put my hand on the closest confection within a 10-meter radius.
All things considered, it’s no surprise that these days, every time I fly abroad, I try and look for the finest out of what the city that I’m visiting can offer.

While in Kyiv, looking for the next sugar rush, I stumbled upon these jewels:

Éclair Little Artwork –

Undoubtfully a place that is fun to come back to.
The whole coffee shop is dedicated to one thing, and one thing only- the Éclair.
Since the prices are pretty accessible (around 2.5 USD each), I suggest you make some room in your schedule and your dessert stomach and go to town on those eclairs. Try as many as you’d like!
Most of the ones that I tried turned out to be well-balanced and flavored.
Some of the options were quite unique even, like the sea buckthorn one, which was truly delightful.
Among other flavors that I liked were the lavender one, the pear- caramel, and the apricot.
Surprisingly, an éclair I wouldn’t recommend on (and a very lonely one at that) is the vanilla one topped with gummy candies, that for some reason, felt a bit hard and not exactly fun to chew on.
Another personal recommendation would be to avoid the orange juice coffee, a trend that I couldn’t figure out. For the life of me, I have no idea how it became this popular around here. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not a good combo, and my taste buds are pretty much open to unusual flavors.
On the other hand, the eclairs are really to die for.

Address: 6 Kostolna st. , Kyiv

Opening hours: Monday -Thursday 9:00-21:00, Friday 9:00-22:00, and Saturday Sunday 10:00-21:00.

Honey. Cafe-confectionary –

This one is located inside the “TSUM” luxury department store on Khreschatyk Main Street ( there are two other branches – one in the Podil neighborhood and one in the area of the “Sophia of Kyiv” national conservation area).
The place offers a wide variety of Individually sized pastry cakes (some even gluten-free), macarons, and chocolate. Out of the cakes that I had the pleasure of trying, I have a few to recommend: If you’re into more complex flavors, you should try out the plum cake with accents of marzipan and Jack Daniel’s whiskey ( the purple pebble in the photos). If you are more of a floral flavors kind of person, you should get yourself the raspberry-lychee-white chocolate one ( heart-shaped ). And, if you are a die-hard chocoholic, like some people I know, you should most definitely get the chocolate cherry cake covered with cheesecake mousse ( the bleeding cake ). On the other hand, the lavender mousse cake had no traces of lavender in it, although it was branded as such; therefore, I don’t recommend getting it.
Some cakes seem to be better than others, but that’s ok. I think the ratio of good to “meh” still works in their favor.
Out of the macarons, I recommend the lemon-mint one and the lavender one (yes, contrary to the cake).
The prices range between 4-6 USD per cake and around 1.5 USD per macaron.

Address: 2 Bohdana Khmel’nyts’koho St. Kyiv

Opening hours: Monday- Sunday 10:00-22:00

Madame Josy –

Last but definitely not least on the list is this small coffee shop, which, aside from having an excellent patisserie section, serves the cutest breakfast types as well ( such as Croque Madame and croissant sandwiches).
I tried two of their desserts, and they were truly divine.
The first one was a great variation on Tarte Tatin- light and fluffy, sitting on its puff pastry throne, was an apple and cinnamon cube that practically melted in my mouth.
The other dessert was a white chocolate-covered violet mousse dome with a berry confiture center that made me do the “eating yummy food” dance.
Both made my day. It’s hard to believe that each of them costs around 4 USD.
Talk about getting your money’s worth.