Meals on the road – where is it tastier? Roadside dining

Gas stations have long ceased to be just fuel filling points, transforming into universal service complexes where you can buy groceries, exchange currency, have a meal, take a shower, charge an electric vehicle, and even drop off clothes for dry cleaning. Fierce competition drives the introduction of new formats, so the battle is increasingly not so much for fuel tanks as for consumers' stomachs. Many of us are used to grabbing a quick snack of hot dogs and coffee at gas stations, fast and convenient. But what about a full meal? Is it possible to eat well on the road, or should one prefer home-cooked food?

Experts from the Institute of Consumer Expertise answered these questions by testing the most popular food establishments created for motorists. In principle, such establishments should feed quickly, with quality, and at a relatively low cost, as well as provide other services, such as internet access. Just a few years ago, full-fledged restaurants at gas stations existed only in two chains - A la minute and Pasta Mia from OKKO and "Borshch" from KLO. Now the choice has become much wider, so experts and tasters had to "work hard" with their cutlery. The greatest variety of restaurants turned out to be at OKKO - the already mentioned A la minute (Ukrainian and European cuisine), Pasta Mia (Italian cuisine), and the recently opened new format Meiwei (Pan-Asian cuisine). Next came WOG (Restorio and WOG Cafe), as well as "Borshch" from KLO and Buta Café (Azerbaijani cuisine) at Socar.

For objectivity, it was also decided to visit the quite popular chain of roadside restaurants "Avto-gril" of the "Kozyrna Karta" network. Since the restaurants offer different cuisines, it was decided not to unify the list of dishes (for example, to check borshch everywhere), but to examine the most popular dishes that make up a full lunch. However, in all cases, it was a first course, a "popular" second course, a salad, and a dessert. Experts held two tasting commissions, where they gave scores for the taste of dishes, as well as points for staff friendliness, service speed, furniture comfort, internet availability, and toilet cleanliness. The result turned out to be quite gratifying for lovers of good food, although the scores still varied considerably. But let's take it in order.

First and foremost

A person on the road really needs a full hot lunch, which must include first courses. Ideally, the soup should be prepared on-site, not from a reheated semi-finished product, because this preserves both taste and nutritional properties. It should be noted right away that at WOG and Socar establishments, the first courses are semi-finished products; at the other participants, they were prepared just before serving. This factor affected the price (semi-finished products are cheaper) and the scores as well. The tasters liked the green borshch at A la minute for its large portion and rich taste; the Thai Tom Yum soup with chicken at Meiwei also received high marks. The latter is moderately spicy, suitable for both newcomers and fans of Thai cuisine.

The semi-finished first courses at "Restorio", "WOG Cafe", and "Buta Café" turned out to be not very expressive in taste and had small portions. The borshch at "Borshch", although served with pampushky, was a bit watery and again did not please with portion size. At "Avtogril", the first course (borshch with dumplings) was tasty but noticeably more expensive than competitors. Overall, the variety of first courses is quite large, and the richest assortment was found by experts at the A la minute restaurant at OKKO.

Main course and salad - for every taste

The selection of main courses at all tested establishments was quite wide, except for Buta Café, where the focus is on traditional Doner Kebab with different types of meat. The food is original but of the fast-food variety, without a side dish. At A la minute, experts appreciated the traditional chicken steak with mashed potatoes, which turned out to be hearty, tasty, and quickly served. By the way, such a dish is great for "refueling" children. The most original "second course" is, of course, at Meiwei. Udon with beef, which is a hearty noodle dish cooked in a wok with fresh vegetables and hoisin sauce. Scores are high. At Restorio, WOG Cafe, and Pasta Mia, the most "popular" dishes are pastas.

The tasters liked the Carbonara and Bolognese prepared at these establishments, although again, the dishes from the WOG chain were reheated semi-finished products. At OKKO, the Italian pasta is cooked in a wok. At the "Borshch" chain, consumers readily take simple deruny, which received a slightly lower score for too much vegetable oil. The portion is "childish"; it is unlikely an adult will be satisfied with such an amount of deruny. However, the chicken sausages with bigos at "Avtogril" can fill you up, but it's expensive (129 UAH, the most expensive dish in the test!) and you have to wait a long time.

As for salads, overall they all turned out good in taste and freshness, with carefully selected vegetables. Only the salad with Peking duck (fresh, juicy, large portion, with large pieces of Peking duck, dressed with plum sauce and sprinkled with nuts) from Meiwei smartfood stands out: a very tasty, natural, and healthy dish. Among the shortcomings, experts noted a slight bitterness in the Pasta Mia mix salad, a small amount of feta in the WOG Cafe Greek salad, and very small portions of salads at "Borshch" and "Avtogril", although this did not affect the price. Summing up, specialists agreed that the cuisines at roadside restaurants are quite decent, the food is natural and fresh, so, given the price, they completely "defeat" fast food.

For dessert

In terms of desserts, the Millefeuille cake purchased at the A la minute restaurant won a unanimous and unconditional victory. Impossible to stop eating! And, as usual for OKKO restaurants, a large portion, which is especially pleasant in the case of dessert. For the other participants, not everything is so rosy. At Restorio and WOG Cafe, desserts are pre-packaged and not particularly liked by the tasters. At "Borshch", the Napoleon cake was not fresh, slightly dried out at the edges of the plate. At Socar, they tried a national delicacy - Azerbaijani pakhlava with hazelnuts. The taste is very good, but a 20-gram portion is unlikely to satisfy those with a sweet tooth. At the "Avtogril" restaurant, there was an excellent cheesecake, of two pieces, but again the high price let it down. It should be noted that the choice of desserts should be approached carefully in terms of freshness, especially if you plan to feed them to children.

Intrusive service

As for service, it was excellent at all restaurants, with the maximum order waiting time not exceeding 15 minutes. Waiter service was present everywhere, and the record holder for serving time was the A la minute restaurant, where the order was brought just five minutes after the expert sat down in the chair. By the way, about furniture. At "Avtogril Myslyvets", a classic scheme with ordinary wooden chairs is used, which are a bit hard to sit on. But at gas station restaurants, cozy sofas with soft backs are installed, allowing you to relax after a long journey. As for another important place in an establishment on the highway - the toilets - everything turned out to be sterile. There were no problems with the internet either - everything worked quickly and clearly, so waiting minutes can be brightened up by surfing favorite sites or checking email.

The price issue

It's no secret that eating on the road often costs more than in a similar restaurant in the city. And here, chain restaurants at gas stations completely outplayed their competitors. Provided that the quality of dishes is very high, prices differed almost twofold! The smallest amounts were charged for lunches at the "Borshch", Restorio, and WOG Cafe restaurants - 122, 135, and 130 hryvnias, respectively. But it should be noted that the first has small portion sizes, and the second and third have semi-finished products. Next came A la minute - 158 UAH, Pasta Mia (178 UAH), and Buta Café (almost 180 UAH). It should be noted that the latter had a very small and therefore inexpensive dessert; otherwise, the check amount would have been at least 30 UAH more. The most expensive were "Avtogril" - 324 UAH and the Thai cuisine smartfood Meiwei (252 UAH). And if in the second case this is justified by the originality of the cuisine and the presence of "overseas" products in the dishes, in the first case, the "Kozyrna Karta" brand probably plays a role.

In the dry residue

The maximum score based on the totality of factors was received by the A la minute restaurant chain at the OKKO gas station network - 155 points. These establishments take a very balanced approach to pricing, while, apparently, not saving on ingredients. In addition, this chain is the most represented across the country, and often in remote regions there is simply no alternative (32 restaurants across the country). Key advantages: it's fast, comprehensive, high-quality, with a good children's menu. They cook directly in the restaurant, and most dishes are "from the knife" for each individual order. Slightly fewer points went to Pasta Mia and Meiwei, but these are more niche establishments with cuisine unique for Ukrainian roads. At "Borshch", Restorio, and WOG Cafe, the food is simpler and portions are smaller. Buta Café received high scores for taste and quality, but experts agreed that portions are still too small for an average lunch. "Avtogril" is positioned as a more premium place, so if you are not bothered by an average check of around 300 or more hryvnias per person, you can also have a tasty lunch there. And the main result of the study is that motorists have a wide choice, and no one will have to go hungry on the road.

Organoleptic analysis (taste, color, smell, freshness) – first courses.

Professional tasters and "people's" testers.

*- score reduced for semi-finished product

Organoleptic analysis (taste, color, smell, freshness) – second courses and salads.

Professional tasters and "people's" testers.

Organoleptic analysis (taste, color, smell, freshness) – dessert.

Professional tasters and "people's" testers.

List of dishes and description.

Service and amenities.

*- score calculated on the principle: 1 point for the longest time, and then one point for each subsequent place

Price (UAH).

Overall rating