New restaurant brings tastes of Ukraine to Sandwell

The Ukrainian Sunflower Restaurant in Wednesbury brings the flavours of the Eastern European country to life, with a large range of Ukrainian and European dishes on offer.

The restaurant on Market Place was opened by Yuliia and Maksym Kryvenko, who moved to the town after leaving their home in Poltava in central Ukraine a year ago, and Yuliia said it was all about bring a bit of the homeland to the people of Sandwell.

She said: "We have a lot of traditional Ukrainian dishes, as well as things like mashed potato and pork chops, dishes that British people are familiar with, and we include hot drinks from Ukraine such as herbal teas and a few traditional drinks.

"The most popular dishes has been borscht, and other popular dishes has been varenyky and traditional dumplings and what people like about the food is that it is a different taste and not massively spicy, compared to some of the local flavours.

"A lot of the dishes are also boiled, rather than fried, but people enjoy what we cook."

Other dishes at the restaurant include Pelmeni (boiled dough with turkey mince), Chebureky (fried dough with turkey mince) and crepes with sour cream.

Ms Kryvenko said she and her husband had wanted to run a restaurant in Wednesbury, having been welcomed by the community, and after finding the right premises, decided to take the plunge and start it up.

She said it had become popular among the local community, not just with the Ukrainian population, but also with Polish people living in Wednesbury and an increasing number of locals and spoke about what the appeal was.

She said: "First of all, it's something new because, as far as I know, there's nothing like it in the area, so it's quite new and it brings a fresh flavour.

"Also, it keeps eyes on Ukraine as a lot of people may not have known where it was until the war, plus they can come and get to know who we are and what our traditions are.

"And, of course, they can taste real Ukrainian food and get acquainted with something new here."

To find out more about the Ukrainian Sunflower Restaurant, go to facebook.com/groups/567131152216029