Restaurants and canteens in Volyn, street food in Lutsk, and extraordinary facts about the north-western region - all this in a new video by Anton Ptushkin and Misha Katsurin. Find out what kind of hot dogs you can buy at Sobaka and how to cook the legendary octopus from the Shatsk Lakes

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Volyn is a corner of north-western Ukraine that is known primarily for its nature - dozens and hundreds of diverse lakes in a relatively small area. Perhaps someone else will recall the UPA army and the works of Lesya Ukrainka - yes, this all happened in Volyn too. However, today we are talking about the traditional cuisine of the region with a reference to a new video by You Tube food bloggers Anton Ptushkin and Misha Katsurin. Read the article to find out what the bloggers know about Volyn, which street food establishments they recommend visiting and which restaurant they go to to get to the Mediterranean Sea.

TOP 5 interesting facts about Volyn that you should know before trying traditional dishes

1. There is Little Volyn on the territory of Ukraine and Great Volyn, which occupies part of the territories of neighbouring countries.

2. It was in Volyn that the centre of the UPA, which fought against German and Soviet enslavement, was formed.

3. The world-famous Lesya Ukrainka was born, grew up and created the history of Ukrainian literature.

4. The first president of independent Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, was born in the village of Velykyi Zhytyn in the western part of the Rivne region (yes, this is also Volyn, or rather the former Volyn Voivodeship).

5. The deepest lake in Ukraine, Svityaz, is also located in Volyn.

Street food in Lutsk, the central city of Volyn

Traditionally, food bloggers start their journey with a street food tasting.

Hot dogs from ‘Sobaka’

‘Sobaka is the city's main hot dog restaurant. Anton Ptushkin and Misha Katsurin order a ‘market-station’ hot dog here. It is traditional: bun, sausage, Korean carrots, cabbage, mayonnaise and onions. By the way, onions in a hot dog are a Volyn specificity, as not all regions of Ukraine add them. Food bloggers say that the restaurant brings them back to their carefree youth - it's a kind of memory museum that takes them back to a specific moment.

"Lafa" - the whole city eats shawarma here

The review begins with the fact that the place is... cool. There are posters, warm blankets and a beer stand. Food bloggers order shawarma with chicken: pita bread, tomatoes, yoghurt-based sauce, fresh and pickled cucumbers, zucchini and sweet peppers - in general, a traditional garnish for chicken meat. Anton Ptushkin and Misha Katsurin note the special presentation of the shawarma, codenamed ‘grilled and striped beauty’. The place itself has a pleasant, cool, cheerful atmosphere - it's clear that they put their heart and soul into it, as the bloggers put it.

Dining room at the city council ‘Lutsk Narodnyi’

The only participant in the ‘Lutsk canteens’ nomination, the municipal institution ‘Canteen No. 26 at the Lutsk City Council’, impresses with its variety of dishes: pickles, roasts, different types of meat and compotes. It's not just the range of food that's ‘wow’ here, but also the prices - Misha Katsurin paid just (!) 120 hryvnias for a portion consisting of buckwheat, a steamed cutlet, cucumbers, belyash and compote. Belyash with mustard is a taste of childhood, so now you know in which city of Ukraine you can plunge into the past.

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Traditional Volyn restaurants

"Kurin: Volynians were the first to call compote a soup

‘Kurin is made in the form of a traditional mazanka hut. Everything here is in keeping with the style: cans of preserves, a portrait of Shevchenko, cart wheels, towels on the walls... And most importantly, there is a huge collection of traditional Volyn recipes. Anton Ptushkin and Misha Katsurin choose to cook khomula, a berry soup made from blueberries that is eaten only in summer: it looks like a soup but is actually a dessert. Khomula is served only with sour cream and eaten with vergun, a traditional Volyn biscuit that has, in fact, spread all over Ukraine under different names.

"Vintage: How to cook the legendary octopus from the Shatsk Lakes and get to the Mediterranean?

The restaurant is set in an old mansion with a terrace: there is an active trade in craft items and a selective selection of vintage crockery and furniture. The atmosphere here is unique, and the menu is impressive. The food bloggers were served grilled octopus - you can see the detailed cooking procedure in the video. The aesthetics of the restaurant are combined with the aesthetics of the dishes, creating a space for incredible impressions for visitors. It seems as if you have just been by the salty endless sea.

Do you want to go for an evening walk with torches, visit the battlefield of Berestets and hear the legends of ancient Lutsk? Book the Mystical Volyn tour on Visit Ukraine.

Photo: VSN

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