The elevator in the Globus shopping mall on Kyiv’s central Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square now has a mysterious new button, marked “OB.”
Press that button, and the elevator rises to a hidden third floor under the glass dome that tops the center. The elevator doors open to a coffee shop with a long bar, and large windows overlooking the shopping mall. It looks like an average café, but it has its secret.
At the far end of the coffee shop, opposite the elevator doors, there is a large mural in the style of a QR code. Scan that code, and it reveals a password “Boritesya-poborete!” or “Fight, and you’ll win,” in Ukrainian.
Repeat the password to an administrator, who should be hovering nearby, and they will remove a section of the bar and open a hidden doorway into an antechamber. (For foreign visitors, it’s not obligatory to know the password by heart – it’s enough to read it aloud from a card provided the receptionist.)
Once inside the antechamber, you have to find another hidden doorway. It is in the wall to the right, which is covered with sculpted metal hands (which symbolize the years Ukraine spend under Russian rule). Look up – the section of the wall that contains the hidden doorway has a hammer stuck to the wall near the ceiling.
To get to the restaurant one should find a secret door in the antechamber. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
Push open the hidden door, and you will enter a fancy new restaurant owned by the successful Ukrainian restaurateur Dmytro Borysov. Named Ostannya Barykada, which in Ukrainian means “the Last Barricade,” this place specializes in Ukrainian national cuisine and serves dishes prepared only from local products.
Ostannya Barykada has three stylish dining rooms, each with different interior styling: One is in a loft style with a large bar; the next in gold and brown colors reminiscent of a private library, and the third, which is accessed via a curved stairway is built around the foundations of the St. Michael’s Arch monument on Maidan Nezalezhnosti. The restaurant also has a small shop selling Ukraine-made accessories and a range of souvenirs.
In all rooms the walls are decorated with photos or memorabilia from historical moments of Ukraine’s independence, such as pictures of Orange Revolution in 2004 or globes one of the activists wore during the Euromaidan Revolution in 2013-2014. The restaurant also touts itself as a place to promote Ukrainian culture.
Along with a stylish interior, Ostannya Barykada offers plenty of tasty dishes and a good range of alcoholic drinks, such as craft beer for around Hr 50, and fruit liqueurs for Hr 29-35.
For an appetizer, try a vegetable platter with walnut cream for Hr 69. Another tasty option is baked cheese with warm bread – but be careful not to get carried away: leave some space for the main course.
The top choice turned out to be a turkey with crushed potatoes for Hr 118. Another must-try is Bigos (Hr 98), also known as a hunter’s stew – finely chopped sausage stewed with mushrooms and shredded fresh cabbage and served in a loaf, like a burger. Compared to the first two dishes, the traditional holubtsi (staffed cabbage rolls) for Hr 98 were the least impressive (although they were quite okay).
Overall, the restaurant is on a par with the most popular place of its type in Lviv – the nationalist-themed Kryivka restaurant – but it has a more luxurious interior, and its menu perhaps outclasses that of Kryivka. Ostannya Barykada is well worth a visit – if you can remember how to get in.
