Where in Minsk can you try solyanka?

Solyanka is a sour and spicy local stew, usually made with a thick meat broth base. Lots of different types of meat are added, along with pickles, green and black olives, lemon, and even marinated mushrooms. Don’t be afraid to experiment — try it and you’ll see how quickly your headache disappears!

The club Kvartira # 3 is open round the clock. It is located in a former furniture store, which is still apparent based on the interior.  There are loud parties here at night, where people smoke, which doesn’t necessarily make things more fun. On the other hand, during the day it’s very quiet, and you can order solyanka for only 36 000 BYR. The waiters bring the tasty soup relatively quickly,  and it comes with lots of greens, salami, and pickles. We even noticed capers in the mix. All in all, a great solyanka for hangovers.

Vasilki is a themed restaurant offering traditional Belarusian dishes. Unfortunately, many dishes here are prepared from frozen packages, but the home-style solyanka isn’t expensive, only 38,500 rub. It isn’t especially sour or thick, and there isn’t very much meat. There are some little pickles in the soup, and pickled black and green olives.  Unfortunately, there is no picture of the soup on the menu,  but it is served in a beautiful stylized dish. Although we must admit that it took our dishes so long to arrive that we got frustrated waiting. 

The meat medley solyanka costs 50 000 BYR. at Olivo. Smiling waitresses bring it almost immediately. The solyanka is sour, but there is a lot of broth and not a lot of pickles, olives, or meat (there is ham, smoked kielbasa, and tongue). All in all it’s nothing special, but if you experience an overwhelming desire for solyanka while you’re in the city, it’s certainly an option.

The price of home-style solyanka on Kuhmistr’s menu is 100 000 BYR. It’s thick, moderately sour, with a lot of finely sliced meat (including ham and tongue, among others), cucumbers, and large green and black olives. It comes with fresh bread, which is the perfect temperature to start eating. Delicious! 

“Meat medley solyanka” costs 65 000 BYR at Grunwald. It’s thick, with rich, hearty broth and more meat than any of the other restaurants we tried. We tasted kielbasa, ham, sausage and even kidneys. Needless to say, there were also cucumbers and olives with pits. The solyanka comes piping hot in a cute clay dish–highly recommended. Terrific solyanka!