The Best Cafés in Minsk, Belarus

With a delightful black-and-white interior, News Cafe seems like a step back in time. However, this is a cafe with Wi-Fi and a presence on Facebook and Instagram, adding itself to the modern list of good working spaces in the heart of Minsk, the Belarusian capital. News Cafe serves up modern coffee recipes, which can be sipped whilst reading the latest news – a newspaper and magazine stand contains local and international literature, hence the café’s name. On top of a well-prepared coffee selection, there are tasty cakes and pastries to accompany your cappuccino, latte or Americano. Other treats include a lunch menu featuring soups, salads and some salmon and pork options. The venue is also licensed for alcohol and stays open until midnight.

Union Coffee is actually a chain that has two venues in the city. While both cafés have some unique charm, the menus remain the same, and this is a place that has so much more to it than just coffee. The best of the two venues for the tourist is the one by the train station, making it a handy stopover when you are coming and going. You can expect to taste fresh coffee, good juices, a range of teas and a hearty food menu. The food menu is perhaps the most surprising part of Union Coffee. They have delicious burgers, tasty Belarusian pancakes (draniki), sweet pastries and all sorts of unusual items in both the sweet and savoury categories. As well as this, there is Wi-Fi and a window view of Minsk. It’s a gem of a place.

Zerno is a specialist coffee shop, perhaps dishing out the finest selection of coffees in the Belarusian capital. A fusion of coffee beans sourced from all over the world include some unusual coffee options such as Rwandan and Ugandan coffee beans. These fine coffees are intertwined with a menu which boasts lots of fresh cakes and pastries. It’s an artistic venue, too, with lots of framed pictures on the wall and an open-plan design. The outdoor seating area is popular in the summer months.

Elyana Cafe is a relaxing option that serves up great coffee and cake in a modern setting in central Minsk. The venue opens at 10a.m. and also offers a tasty range of local and international lunches and dinners. Waiters and waitresses are well dressed and friendly. On the lunch menu, try the green penne pasta with pork sausage or the seafood salad. For dinner, there are plenty of options including a salmon steak, pizza or steak tartare. Location-wise, it is close to the the art museum and Kupalovskaya metro station. Alcohol ranging from beers to wine to spirits is also served, and the venue stays open until 2a.m.

Surf Coffee is one of the coolest Wi-Fi cafés in Minsk. With fast Wi-Fi, a good selection of coffees and top-notch milkshakes, it’s a great place to get some work done, socialise or hold a casual business meeting. The interior decor lives up to the “Surf Coffee” title – as well as being a place to surf the Internet, there are surfboards on the walls. This venue also holds regular group events for socialising, using the slogan ‘Surfing never alone’. It is part of a larger chain of coffee shops that are also present in Russia. Coffee can also be taken away in disposable cups.

You Coffee is the place to go for delicious donuts and fresh coffee when you are in the vicinity of Lenin Square in Minsk. At You Coffee, well-trained baristas will serve up a fresh cup of coffee from their top-of-the-range modern coffee making machines. They can serve the coffee to you on a wooden tray with one of their donuts or a pastry of your choice. There is free Wi-Fi for those wanting to get online, and there are plenty of comfortable seating areas where you can relax with your friends. Tasty herbal teas are also served along with some fruit juices and special cakes.