Gastronomic tour of Crimea: what local products to taste

Crimea is a territory of delicious food.  Everyone has heard of the famous Crimean wines, cheeses, seafood, sweets, and also peaches and, of course, Yalta onions ‒ this genuine sort is grown only in three villages near Yalta: Zaprudnoyeh, Lavrovoyeh and Opolznevoyeh. In addition, Crimea has a generous ethnic cuisine ‒ Crimean Tatar, Karaite, Ukrainian, Armenian, Georgian, Jewish, Greek. A special pleasure is to try terroir dishes. The principles of locavorism are:  the seasonality of the use of certain products, their naturalness, environmental friendliness, support of local producers and farmers. Many Crimean restaurants prefer to adhere to these traditions. 

SEAFOOD  

Fish  

Traditional Crimean fish: flounder, red mullet, horse mackerel, garfish, bluefish, silver carp, anchovy, Azov gobies and Kerch herring. Exotic lovers will appreciate the fox finfish, sea cat and dogfish.

The top “fishy” places include Balaklava, Sevastopol and, of course, Kerch – the fishing capital of Crimea. In addition, a large number of places with Black Sea cuisine are in Yalta and throughout the South Coast.

Oysters, mussels and rapana  

You can try shellfish both in specialized restaurants in seaside towns and on farms where the shellfish is caught right before your eyes.

The largest oyster and mussel plantation in Russia, “Krymskiyeh moreprodukty”, which is on the western coast, on Lake Donuzlav, welcomes guests. Here you can not only try seafood delicacies in the “Prichal No. 12” local cuisine restaurant, but also go on a guided walk around the farm, take part in a master class on opening oysters and even listen to live music.

At the foot of Cape Meganom, a small mussel farm “Bissus” treats guests to the catch of the day. Mollusks straight from the sea are served in the “Taste of Our Sea” café on the beach with the eloquent name “Oyster Beach”. On the South Coast of Crimea there is Yakhont oyster farm, which invites to unforgettable lunches and dinners in its two restaurants:  one, of the same name, is in the village of Katsiveli, the second ‒ “Drunken Oyster” ‒ is in Simeiz.  In Yalta, gourmets are welcome at the Doctor Whisky restaurant-enoteca: there you will be served both classic oysters and those with passion fruit cream or sweet chili pepper.

WINE

Crimea is rightfully considered one of the best wine regions in Russia. The local “sun in a glass” is very diverse: this is due to the climate, relief, and technology diversity.  Famous wineries, that have long celebrated their centenary, and young wineries from different corners of the peninsula invite you to try wines of different types and varieties. The wineries, in addition to tastings, offer tours of their territory and production facilities.

In Greater Yalta:

• “Massandra” is the cradle of domestic winemaking, a treasure collection of wines and one of the oldest wineries in Crimea, founded in 1898
• Modern multifunctional project is WINEPARK ‒ Wine Tourism Center

In the Bakhchisaray District:

• Ultra-modern gravity winery Alma Valley
• ESSE winery with a restaurant in the vineyards
• Lucky Winery is a boutique winery
• “Valery Zakharyin”
• Villa di Alma is the first certified organic farm in Russia

In the Sudak District:

• The oldest wine-making enterprise in Crimea, founded in 1878, is “Novy Svet” ‒ the House of Champagne Wines
• “Solnechnaya Dolina” is a winery, which traces its history back to 1888
• The Wine Park of the Ai-Savskaya Valley, which revived the oldest winery in Eastern Europe with an 800-year history

In the Theodosia District:

• The Koktebel vintage winery, which celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2024

In the Sevastopol Region:

• One of the largest wineries, dating back to 1889, is “Zolotaya Balka”
• Traditions of classic winemaking – INKERMAN vintage winery
• UPPA WINERY is a family farm producing biodynamic wine  
• Domaine Lipko winery – the brainchild of the talented winemaker Ivan Lipko
• Perovskikh Estate winery, dating back to 1834
• Mangup signature winery, which also has a venue for recreation and events – glamping, a sauna, a restaurant serving local dishes, and festival grounds.

In the Chernomorskoyeh District

• Kalos Limen is the only winery of signature wines in the Chernomorskoyeh District

CHEESE

Undoubtedly, the top three most popular gastronomic brands of Crimea, apart from seafood and wine, include a variety of Crimean cheese. It is prepared exclusively from local farm milk ‒ cow's or goat's. There are cheeses with the addition of purely Crimean ingredients ‒ wine, lavender, mountain herbs, honey, mint, pink salt. Original cheese dairies and eco-farms specialize in such delicacies, and most of them offer excursions, tastings and even master classes. Among the most famous and visited are:

In the Bakhchisaray District:

• “Markur” Cheese Dairy
• “With Peace for Cheese” Cheese Dairy
• “Nyusya” Family Farm

In Greater Yalta:

• WINEPARK Cheese Dairy

In Greater Alushta:

• “Wonderful Lavender” Cheese Dairy
• “Mountain Cheese Dairy”

In the Simferopol District:

• “Cheese Business” Craft Cheese Dairy  

In Eupatoria:  

• “Cheese Gift” Private Cheese Dairy

In the Sudak District:  

• “Kozá Yegozá” Eco-farm

In the Theodosia District:  

• “Tavrika” Cheese Dairy 
  

SNAILS

Crimea is famous not only for its "floating" delicacies, but also for its "creeping" ones. So, if you've never tried snails, now it is the time to do so. They don't have their own distinct flavor and easily adapt to the taste of the sauce they're cooked in. The “Mama Dema” snail farm, located in the village of Verkhnyaya Kutuzovka, not far from Alushta, invites you to try this mollusk in different forms:  baked in Crimean style in a creamy garlic sauce or marinated in a wild sauce. Guests are attracted by the fresh air and panoramic views of the mountains and the sea from a height of 400 m, excursions, various activities and the opportunity to celebrate their own holiday there in an unusual way.

Snail Farm 82, located in the outskirts of Sudak, in the village of Perevalovka, is also ready to share the secrets of caring for its pets. Original treats, in particular, Burgundy snails, are served in the tasting room with a view of the Sudak Valley, mountains and forest. And if you are going there with children, be aware that they will certainly be captivated by the contact mini-zoo with peacocks, ducks, turkeys, goats and lambs.

Another “horned” magnet is the “Ulitonka” family farm in the village of Otvazhnoyeh in the Kirovsky District. It was the first in Crimea to start breeding two types of Mediterranean snails: Helix Aspersa Müller and Helix Aspersa Maxima.

CHEBUREKI AND PASTRIES

Crimean chebureks are a separate art that came to us from the Crimean Tatar cuisine. In Bakhchisaray, the most “cheburek place” on the peninsula, we recommend visiting the Ashlama-sarai restaurant, in Eupatoria ‒ Karaman and Dzheval, in Balaklava ‒ the Cheburechnaya café, in the Baydarskaya Valley (Orli village) ‒ the Orli café.

Along with chebureks, which are deep-fried, many establishments offer yantyks: they are baked on a dry, hot surface and after cooking, covered with butter. It turns out to be a very tasty, and more dietary dish.

Tourists have also heard of the famous Karaite pies, the recipe for which belongs to the Karaites ‒ a small people of the peninsula. They are baked mainly from puff pastry with beef or lamb filling, in the shape of a crescent about 10 cm in size. The Karaman Karaite cuisine café in Eupatoria invites you to appreciate their unique taste.  In Simferopol, there is Uch-Yantyk Karaite bakery, offering, in addition to its signature treat ‒ "konvert" (envelope) with double filling, Karaite pies with beef or fruit.

HONEY

Experts call mountain honey the most valuable and useful, because bees collect nectar and pollen exclusively in the ecologically clean places of the region ‒ in the mountains. There, at an altitude of 350 to 800 m above sea level, many endemic plants grow. Among other popular types of Crimean honey there are sage and coriander, which can also boast of their healing properties.

And, of course, the region famous for its lavender vistas is doomed to produce “purple” honey – the most limited and expensive. An additional advantage is that the lavender is grown exclusively organically and such nectar contains even more vitamins. According to beekeepers, genuine lavender honey has a subtle floral-fruity aroma, a light-yellow hue, a delicate and not at all cloying taste, with only slightly perceptible notes of sourness and even saltiness, as well as an astringent lavender aftertaste.

TEA  

Aromatic herbal teas also help to feel the taste of Crimea. For example, "Our Tea" in colorful designer packages and with different flavors ‒ with rose, lavender, thyme, linden, bergamot, jasmine, chamomile, lemon balm, mint, oregano, etc. This line is produced by the “Herbs of the Mountain Crimea” family enterprise, based on the idea of a closed cycle. Herbs are collected in the Belbek Valley, on Demerdzhi, Ai-Petri and on the White Rock.  Only manual picking is used. In addition to teas, you can buy jam, balms, spices in the company stores in the Bakhchisaray District and in Simferopol. And everyone can register for a tour of the workshops with tasting.

The “Crimean Sultan” Confectionery Factory also produces its own tea. In addition to numerous Crimean herbs and fruits, technologists add freeze-dried berries to the composition ‒ currants, sea buckthorn, jujube, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries.

And in the village of Tabachnoyeh in the Bakhchisaray District there is a unique enterprise that has been growing and producing Crimean stevia for over 30 years – a healing herb and natural sugar substitute. It is used to make teas, syrups, elixirs, which are especially recommended for people with diabetes, metabolic disorders, obesity, etc.