Coffee & Cakes

The position of a venue in the list below roughly corresponds with the it’s distance from the city centre, the definition of the city centre being that part of Prospekt Nezavismosti that runs from Ploshad Nezavisimosti (Independence Square) to Ploshad Octyabrskoy (October Square).

Kafeynaya (Кафейная)
Komsomolskaya 34 (Комсомольская 34)
11:00-01:00 daily
This has been the site of one of Minsk’s most eccentric café’s for years. In it’s Soviet-era manifestation there was red velvet on the walls and mirrors on the ceilings. Nowadays you’ll find spoons (hundreds of them!) on the ceilings and crockery on the walls. You’ll also find a great range of coffee and the naughtiest deserts in town, including suet pudding.

Air Grip
Komsomolskaya 19 (Комсомольская  19)
10:00-03:00 daily
For great ice-cream and coffee head to this café located to inside the Pobeda cinema (entrance to the side). There are pictures of all their dishes so a lack of Russian won’t be a problem. The venue can be a bit stuffy in Summer and it’s definitely not to be confused with the nameless bar next door, which you enter from the rear of the cinema building.

Coffee (Кофе)
Kirova 8 (Кирова 8) To the left of the ticket office at the Dynamo Stadium
10:00-20:00 daily
Some of Minsk’s best coffee served by the city’s grumpiest barman in this tiny café so close to the Dynamo Stadium it’s actually in the ticket office. Once you’ve translated the warnings; “Don’t come in with pies or ice-cream”, “We don’t sell cigarettes or beer”, then try and enjoy a coffee under the barman’s suspicious gaze.

Moya Angliskaya Babushka (Моя Английская Бабушка)
Karl Marksa 34 (Карла Маркса 34)
09:00-23:00
With Miss Marple on the café sign and a picture of Benny Hill eating a sausage in the menu, My English Granny, is arguably the strangest venue in town. It’s also calm, cosy and well worth a visit. Sit on sensible hardback sofas while reading the huge menu that’s actually a photo album. 14 types of coffee and 10 types of tea. Readers of one local web-site rate this as the best cafe in Minsk.

Beze (Безе)
Prospekt Nezavisimosti 18 (Проспект Независимости 18)
10:00-01:00 daily
Just as Planeta Sushi set a trend for Japanese cuisine, this place showed that there was a market for café’s in Minsk where good quality coffee and cakes could replace copious amounts of meat and alcohol. Always busy and never disappointing. English language menu.

London (Лондон)
Prospekt Nezavisimosti 18 (Проспект Независимости 18)
10:00-23:00 daily
When Big Ben first appeared on Prospekt Nezavisimosti there was a shoe shop beneath him. Now there’s this small trendy café.

Café Jerz
Gertsena 4 (Герцена 4)
08:00-23:00 Mon-Fr, 10-23:00 Sat
Intimate little coffee bar, a bit hidden away in an unassuming street behind the cathedral. It has an outdoor seating area in a small courtyard from where you can watch the queues at the Czech embassy.

Gurmans
Karl Marksa 23 (Карла Маркса 23)
09:00-21:00 Mon-Fri, 11:00-21:00 Sat, Sun
This speciality tea shop in a cellar has a small café that always offers at least 30 varieties from the range in the shop.

Zolotoy Grebeshok (Золотой гребешок)
12:00-23:00 daily
Ulitsa Lenina 3 (Ленина 3)
Smart café in a central location that attracts a more sober crowd. A more refined version of Beze around the corner. Ideal for a quiet coffee.

Salodki Falvarak (Салодки Фальварак)
Prospekt Nezavisimosti 37 (Проспект Независимости 37) & M.Tanka 2 (М Танка 2)
Two cafés with cake shops. This is part of the Rakovski Brovar micro-brewery empire. No beer for sale in the café and no smoking either. But with so many tempting cakes on offer it’s still not the healthiest place in town. There is a separate summer bar a few metres away that always has a light and a dark beer available.

Shokoladnitsa (Шоколадница)
Krasnaya 14 (Красная 14)
08:00-23:00 daily
A few minutes east of Yakub Kolas square, on the street with the tram line. This small, bright  coffee bar offers an inviting selection of cakes and pastries, all on display near the entrance. Recently opened, it hasn’t taken long to establish itself.

Kvartal City (Квартал City)
Moskovskaya 9 (Московская 9)
07:00-23:00 daily
14 types of coffee, plenty of tea and pancakes with a superb range of fillings make this little café near Institut Kulturi metro station my favourite choice for breakfast. Inside it’s very basic but it’s dirt cheap and also one of the few places where you can watch them cook your food.

Coffee City (Кофе Сити)
Pushkinskaya & Vostok metro stations (Метро Пушкинская  и Восток)
11:00-23:00 daily
Two branches at opposites ends of the blue line on the metro. Coffee, tea, cocktails and light snacks including the token sushi selection.

Belarusian & Slavonic Food       European & International Food       Bars & Pubs       Coffee & Cakes