After we settled into the apartment and realized how limited the supplies were and after our visit to the Billa, I knew I needed to find another option for a shopping center.  We needed to find a few more pans so that I could cook and I knew that we were going to need to find options for actual meat.  After a bit of research, I found the MegaMarket, which was about 2-miles from the apartment.

The MegaMarket is almost like a Sam’s Club from back in the US. It’s a very large, warehouse type store.  It’s two levels. On the first level is a grocery store with a huge bakery, meat and deli counter, cheese counter, fruit & veggies, extensive alcohol selection.  On the second level is all home good; pots, pans, towels, sheets, toys, etc.

While in Kyiv, I made followed my US schedule, where on Sunday’s I would make my menu and then Nolan, and I would go to the store on Sunday nights. I purchased all our meat from the MegaMarket, most of our veggies, and then stopped back into the Billa though the week for small items like milk, eggs, creamer, etc.  I was also able to find a good selection of spices and seasonings at the MegaMarket, so we were able to keep up our Taco Tuesdays in Kyiv.

Here’s my research data on the MegaMarket:

• 13 apple varieties. The fruits and veggies were always well stocked and lasted through the week. I could pick up raspberries, and they would last a few days.  The vegetables always looked great too. We had a ton of carrots in Kyiv. Carrots seemed to be the go-to snack for Nolan.
• No pre-packaged bread. Everything was pretty baked and sliced. I didn’t get bread from the MegaMarket. I always went to the Billa for our bread.
• 21 milk varieties. The milk selection was pretty good at the MegaMarket. There were even organic options. I did, however, find it interesting that not all the dairy items were kept cold. None of the cream was in the refrigerators. All the cream was just on a shelf.  I couldn’t bring myself to risk it, so I always bought my coffee creamer from the Billa rather than the MegaMarket. Also, the MegaMarket offered a very large selection of Kefir. Kefir is a sour-tasting drink make from cow’s milk fermented with certain bacteria. I couldn’t bring myself to try it.
• 15 aisles, but this is very deceiving because there were 2-levels and the store was broken up in sections. For example, the alcohol area was a very large open area with lots of bins for the wine.  The bakery was also a really large open area with bins and shelves for all the freshly baked bread.

Other comments about the food and the MegaMarket:

• In general, I would say the food was very inexpensive.  I mean, really everything was reasonable in Kyiv, but I was always a little surprised with how cheap our Sunday trips to MegMarket were.  I think on average they were maybe $75 for a week of food.  We made a couple other small stops to the Billa to get bread or cream, but I would say we spend maybe $100 per week on food at the grocery store.
• Yogurt was everywhere. I honestly have never seen so much yogurt.  Yogurt of every varieties, size, flavor. Yogurt for days!
• In the frozen food area, there were bins of frozen fruits, veggies, and fish. It was a self-service section.  It was actually really interesting. All the vegetables and fruits looked really good, though we never tried it. I thought it was a cool concept. You scoped what you wanted into a bag, weighted it, and got a sticker like you would in the fresh produce area.
• I believe this is the source of my food poisoning. There was a fresh olive section at the deli, and they all looked amazing, and they were terrific, though, I’m also pretty sure they were the cause of my 48-hours of death.
  When we went to the MegaMarket, we almost always used an Uber. It was easy to walk to the MegaMarket, but because we went on Sunday’s as a weekly stock-up, walking back wasn’t an option.
• From what I could tell, the MegaMarket was by far one of the largest grocery stores in Kyiv. We did find most everything we wanted, but I would say the selection was still pretty limited and not many of the traditional US junk food items.
  For cooking purposes, I did end up buying a saucepan and a few Tupperware containers. Else, I rocked it out with 1-large pot and 2 saucepans in Kyiv.

Here are a few pictures from the MegaMarket:

^This is a look down the aisles, so you can see it’s very Sam Club like.

^Just some of the wine from the Wine Room.

^This is the self-scooped frozen food.

^THE olives.