Korchma “Zhandarmska Uprava”, Kolochava

Korchma “Zhandarmska Uprava” (“The Gendarmerie Station”) is a family-run tavern in the centre of Kolochava, one of the best-known tourist villages in Transcarpathia. The menu reads “Četnická stanice” in Czech and explains it in Ukrainian: “a Ukrainian tavern with a Czech character”. The name looks back to the interwar years, when Kolochava belonged to Czechoslovakia and gendarmes were stationed in the village – this is where Ivan Olbracht set his novel “Nikola Šuhaj, Loupežník” (Nikola the Outlaw), in which they play a major role. The tavern occupies the ground floor of an old building with thick stone walls; a memorial plaque on the façade honours the Carpathian Sich unit that operated in Kolochava in 1938–1939 under commandant Mykola Shymoni.

Guests describe the place as a carefully preserved piece of village history. Inside there is a timber ceiling, long tables with benches and a small museum on the shelves and walls: clay jugs, wooden kegs, old wrought tools, oil lamps, old photographs and clocks. The tavern seats around a hundred people, and there is a souvenir shop and a guesthouse with rooms. The owners often serve guests themselves and enjoy talking about local history. Google rating: 4.4 (over 200 reviews).

What to try

The cooking combines home-style Transcarpathian dishes with Czech touches – hence the menu in Ukrainian, Czech and English. Most praised are the Transcarpathian bograch (served “in a little bucket”, as reviewers put it) and the huge “Bear’s Paw” pork schnitzel, big enough even after a full day in the mountains.

• tokan with brynza and cracklings, Kolochava style – the local name for cornmeal porridge, made to a village recipe;
• halushky dumplings with brynza, varenyky with potato, brynza and cracklings, home-made pelmeni;
• garlic soup, a nod to Czech česnečka, mushroom soup and Ukrainian borshch;
• shashlik from the grill, fried home-made sausage with mustard to go with beer, baked potatoes with sausage and salad;
• bread with smoked salo, garlic and onion – a simple beer snack;
• drinks: Ukrainian craft beer, kvass, Carpathian tea in a one-litre iron mug with honey, Turkish-style coffee, liqueurs.

Below is a sample of menu prices; please check current prices at the tavern. Most dishes are cooked to order, so expect a short wait at busy times.

What else you can do

Zhandarmska Uprava is also a guesthouse for travellers: you can stay overnight, rent a bike and buy souvenirs. By prior arrangement the hosts organise troisti muzyky folk musicians or live music for celebrations, trips into the mountains in an old ZIL truck, horse riding and, in winter, sleigh rides, as well as transfers from the stations in Volovets, Mizhhiria or Khust. The tavern is a handy lunch stop between Kolochava’s museums, including the Old Village open-air museum.

Sample menu

Prices according to Google Maps, October 2026; please check current prices with the restaurant.

Practical information

• Address: 50b T. Shevchenka St., Kolochava (Khust district, Zakarpattia region), in the village centre by the main road.
• Opening hours (Google): daily 09:00–21:00.
• Phones: +380 67 305 6024, +380 68 091 4468, +380 67 713 2047.
• Price level: soups UAH 100–190, mains UAH 150–280; a filling lunch is roughly UAH 300–500 per person.
• Getting there: by car – take the M06 to Nyzhni Vorota, then via Volovets to Mizhhiria and follow the signs to Kolochava; by public transport – train to Volovets or bus to Mizhhiria, then a local bus to the centre of Kolochava. Parking at the guesthouse.

Please confirm by phone before your trip.

Website and social media: facebook.com

Photos: lh3.googleusercontent.com.