#bograch

We ate some fantastic food during our time in Ukraine—and even better, because food was pretty cheap, we were able to try a lot of different dishes. The Russian cooking stint I randomly went on last year (because I'm crazy) ended up coming in handy, since it meant I had some idea of what most of the untranslatable things on the menu were. 

The hostel we stayed at in Uzhgorod recommended a restaurant called Vertep to us. While the place was somewhat touristy, the food was still cheap and tasty—enough so that we went back a second time. Bonus: the touristy aspect meant the menu was translated into English. In Mukachevo, on the other hand, we picked a random restaurant which was also very tasty but which didn't have an English menu (meaning I got to puzzle through the Cyrillic so we could have some idea of what we were ordering—which was fun for me but which definitely took some time). 

^ Bograch (a meat, potato, etc. stew) in a breadbowl—probably the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. 

^ A pretty horrible picture of pelmeni (a Russian meat-filled dumpling) with cheese and mushrooms—also delicious.

^ Yes, you read that menu right—brains. 

^ . . . so of course I ordered them, because when else in my life am I going to have the opportunity to say I went to Ukraine and ate some brains for dinner? They actually tasted pretty good, although the texture of them was exactly what you'd expect (if you go around imagining what it's like to eat brains). Not entirely sure I'd order them again, but I regret nothing.

^ Ukrainian borsch (a beet-based stew). I don't really like beets, but man, I love borsch. 

^ Pelmeni again, this time with just butter on them. Even better than the cheese and mushroom version. 

We also had some vareniki (a potato-filled dumpling) with sour cream in Vertep, but I apparently have no pictures of those. They were good, but I like pelmeni better anyway.