First, the elephant in the room: yes, Tatar Bunar is a Ukrainian restaurant, run by Ukrainian restaurateurs, and in the current climate, that fact carries a certain amount of emotional and political baggage.
But walk through the door, take a seat, and give it five minutes. That all starts to fall away. Because Tatar Bunar isn’t trying to make a point – it’s just trying to feed you. And it does that very well.
You’ll find it on Curtain Road in Shoreditch. It’s the work of Alex Cooper and Anna Andriienko, who opened the original in Odesa and have now brought it to London, naming it after Alex’s hometown of Tatarbunary, a small city in southern Ukraine. The London branch doesn’t reinvent what they’re doing there it seems, it just continues it, faithfully and confidently.
The space itself is warm, surprisingly large, and very deliberately styled: think Ukrainian farmhouse meets design magazine spread. Vintage rugs hang from the walls. There’s wood, there’s stone, there’s a big open kitchen cooking with live fire. It’s not pretending to be your grandmother’s house, but it certainly has heaps of rustic charm.
As for the menu, it doesn’t feel the need to bend to anyone’s expectations. This is traditional Ukrainian food, cooked with serious skill and not remotely Westernised. The Bunar Tartare – a beef and lamb mix that comes with a thick slab of bread – sets the tone early: hearty, unpretentious, and deeply satisfying. The pickled tomatoes are spicy, punchy, and almost addictive. There’s a giant varenyuk dumpling served with smoked sour cream, and lamb chops fresh from the fire that are as good as any you’ll find in the city.
Then there’s dessert: a creme brûlée that’s layered, generous, and large enough to easily satisfy two people. And finally, capping it all, there’s an all-Ukrainian wine list that, if you can believe it, pairs up extremely easily with the food.
NOTE: Tatar Bunar is open now, Tuesday to Sunday – you can make a reservation at their booking page.
Tatar Bunar | 152 Curtain Rd, EC2A 3AT
Want to meet the neighbours? Here are the best restaurants in Shoreditch…