Roast & Brew Kyiv: The Breakfast I Still Miss
Some restaurants close and slowly disappear from memory. Roast & Brew isn’t one of them.
When I think about breakfast in Kyiv, I still remember the Mexican Breakfast at Roast & Brew. This little café gave me the kind of ordinary routine that becomes precious only after it’s gone.
First, the Sad Part
Roast & Brew closed in January 2018. I discovered this travesty a few days after New Year’s and added the bad news to the original article on January 15.
This is no longer a recommendation for somewhere you can eat today. It’s a record of somewhere I loved—and one breakfast I’d happily order again tomorrow.
The Café Behind the “Breakfast International” Sign
Roast & Brew, usually shortened to R&B, sat at 5B Baseina Street near Bessarabska Market and Arena City. It was in central Kyiv, but it still felt quiet and relaxed.
A surviving Kyiv venue listing dates its opening to August 16, 2015. A later restaurant-industry roundup independently places the opening in August 2015, so the café lasted only a little more than two years.
I’m glad I found it while it was there.
The Mexican Breakfast I Still Miss
I used to joke that the only possible improvement would’ve been a free poncho with every order. The plate already had almost everything else.
The Mexican Breakfast combined tangy ground beef, black beans, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and egg whites over two corn tortillas. It was hearty, messy in the best way, and much more interesting than another polite plate of eggs and toast.
The photo at the top of this article still does most of the explaining. Looking at it now, I remember the food—but I also remember knowing exactly where I wanted to go that morning.
- Brings the flavors of Ukraine and Eastern Europe into an everyday home kitchen
- Pairs generous comfort food with the family stories behind the recipes
- A colorful introduction to dishes that go far beyond borscht
A Menu That Traveled the World
At that time, international breakfast options felt much harder to find in Kyiv. Roast & Brew stood out because breakfast didn’t have to mean choosing between two familiar options.
Its “Breakfast International” idea sent the menu in every direction. A contemporary review published on September 6, 2016 preserved six dishes with prices, so I’ve archived them here.
| Dish | 2016 price | 2016 USD | 2026 estimate (UAH) | 2026 USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multigrain porridge with coconut milk and goji berries | ₴55 | $2.05 | ₴149 | $3.32 |
| Omelet with cauliflower, bacon, and truffle oil | ₴118 | $4.41 | ₴319 | $7.12 |
| “HELLO, USA” burger | ₴125 | $4.67 | ₴338 | $7.54 |
| Green salad with avocado and pine nuts | ₴100 | $3.73 | ₴270 | $6.03 |
| Mushroom cream soup | ₴70 | $2.61 | ₴189 | $4.22 |
| Green pea and spinach soup with salmon tartare | ₴95 | $3.55 | ₴257 | $5.73 |
These are the six priced dishes preserved in the review, not Roast & Brew’s complete menu. The English dish names are translations from the original Russian article.
The Mexican Breakfast was still my favorite, but in an old journal entry dated October 14, 2017, I admitted the Turkish Breakfast was closing the gap. Roast & Brew closed before it could steal the title.
- Explores regional Ukrainian cooking through recipes, homes, and personal stories
- Makes a thoughtful companion to articles about markets, dachas, and food traditions
- Beautiful photography turns it into a cookbook worth leaving on the table
Why Roast & Brew Felt Like Mine
The food brought me in, but the atmosphere made returning easy. R&B had fast free internet, genuinely good coffee and tea, and service warm enough to be memorable.
Back in 2016, it wasn’t common to hear English on the streets of Kyiv, so hearing it inside Roast & Brew immediately got my attention. I walked over, introduced myself to the two expats, and ended up joining them for breakfast.
They were digital nomads living in Kyiv and earning a living through SEO—helping websites appear higher in search results. That meeting led me down a very different path in life, and we’re still friends today.
Gone After a Little More Than Two Years
A 2018 roundup of Kyiv restaurant closures confirms that Roast & Brew closed in January 2018. It also remembers the café for all-day international breakfasts, specialty coffee, handmade desserts, and its bright interior.
That description is accurate, but it can’t explain why I miss the place. Restaurants become personal through repetition: the familiar table, the usual order, and the quiet satisfaction of knowing breakfast is already solved.
Roast & Brew is gone, and calling it Kyiv’s “best breakfast” today would be misleading. Calling it one of my best memories of breakfast in Kyiv still feels exactly right.
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