Ponchikanots Yerevan

If you want to have a sweet experience in Armenia then go to Ponchikanots . Ponchik means doughnuts in Russian, and this place is a revived soviet café famous for its doughnuts. It was one of the first cafes in Yerevan in the 1950s. Actually, the coffee culture in Armenia was introduced in the '40s when Armenians from Syria repatriated to Soviet Armenia.

I like this place because it’s cheap and nice. Whenever I am short of money and want to have some coffee, hot cacao, doughnuts, cake or delicious ice-cream, I run here. There are two Ponchikanots cafes next to each other and I would recommend  to try the second one if you come from the direction of the Opera house, as they also have a candy shop with the best Armenian chocolate candies.

The dark chocolate and dried fruits covered with chocolate are definitely worth trying. Once you enter the shop and café, the bright, joyful interior and the long train hanging in the second floor, running across the railway, will catch your eye. The doughnuts are the best here, by the way vanilla is my favorite, but they also have chocolate, and, depending on the season, apricot, apple and cherry cream. On the other hand, this place isn't for you if you don’t like children noise, because it's almost full of them.

By the way, I was surprised to discover that the architect of this building was the first female architect of Soviet Armenia, who lived for 105 years.