Eating

The best meals in the Ukraine were in our apartment. You would not believe the tender care that was taken to make sure you had good, clean, and lots of food. The first meal each missionary received was an authentic Ukrainian meal. It was interesting to watch those new missionaries who wouldn’t try some of the food. Some of the salads were not touched, borsch wasn’t a favorite, and the egg plant carrot appetizers went untouched by many. The potatoes, meat, and bread were usually all gone and everyone loved the juices. Remember the juices? We loved the white grape and cherry Dar or J Seven. Actually, any of the juices were good even the crazy vitamin stuff. We also liked the Fantas but we got tired of them. We didn’t drink coke although when we first got there the missionaries tried to convince us that coke was consumed to kill worms. Doctor Nelson confirmed that coke had nothing to do with keeping the worm count down. The only time we drank coke was at a meeting with the Minister of Religion in Kharkov. He brought us in some coke and said, “I know you don’t drink coffee or tea so I got some coke for you to drink.” I just told every one present to drink the coke. It was the first time I had consumed a caffeine coke in ten years and it tasted wonderful. Our favorite restaurant was the Arizona in Donetsk. It was open for the first year and then closed. It was in the bank building down by the lake. Our next favorite was Norma’s in Kharkov. We ate there every time we were in Kharkov. We ate there almost every night it was so good. I would rate it as one of our favorite restaurants in the entire world. Good food and really good service. Next was the Irish Pub in Zap. Great schnitzels and lots of food. Good room to sit in also. A favorite place was the Chinese place in Dneper, it had the best sweet and sour chicken in the world. Seriously, some of the best meals we had were at this place. We also liked the Melrose and the McDonalds throughout the city. We ate at the one by Pobeyda a lot. Often three times a day. The McDonald’s in Sumy made a killing off of the missionaries. The missionaries would take bananas to the McDonalds and order a salad. They would dump the salads out and have the guys at McDonalds make a banana split in the salad carton. The manager or one of the workers was from New Jersey or some place like that and he really liked us coming in. On a Saturday, during or after English classes, we would spend a lot of money at the McDonalds in Sumy. Our favorite waiter was at the Moscow Hotel in Simferopol. He always called Sister McQueen “My lady” and he always brought us fresh bread with real butter. The food was OK but the service was great. The restaurants in Kherson were medium. The hotel’s restaurant was awful but there was one place where they had a fish aquarium that was kind of nice. The hotel in Zap was good and eventually Zap got a couple of good places to eat - the pizza place and the Irish Pub. At the end of the mission, we actually drove through Zap on purpose just to eat there. Zap used to have a real good Chinese place but it closed. We like the food at Tequila Boom and the Three Fats Guys but we didn’t like what was on the TVs. The Red Dragon and a few other places in Donetsk were good but I think we have covered most of the places there. There was a good Chinese place in Poltava where you could get a huge salad with lots of garlic. We did have a couple of good meals at the Kiev Hotel in Poltava. The memorable meals in Poltava were at the University. Elder Roberts taught the lady that ran the cafeteria how to cook hamburgers and fires. Gee, we had some good times there including a Thanksgiving meal that was great – she even made good dressing. When we could eat at members homes, we had a great meal at Brat Valodia’s house in Golovach. Sister Nadezda made a wonderful meal out of the things grown in their garden. Isn’t it interesting how food was a form of entertainment and relaxation in the Ukraine.