В маленьком кафе нам дали по ложке варенья к сырникам и по чашке кефира.

Because в can take either the prepositional case or the accusative, depending on meaning:

• в + prepositional = location, in / at
• в + accusative = motion into, into

Here the sentence means in the small café, so we use the prepositional:

• в маленьком кафе

Also, кафе is an indeclinable noun in modern Russian, so the noun itself stays кафе in all cases, but the adjective still changes:

• маленькое кафе — nominative
• в маленьком кафе — prepositional

Нам is the dative form of мы (we). It means to us.

In Russian, the person who receives something is usually put in the dative:

• нам дали = they gave us / we were given

So in this sentence:

• нам дали = they gave to us

This is very common with verbs like дать (to give), показать (to show), сказать (to tell), принести (to bring), etc.

Дали is the past tense plural form of дать (to give).

Russian often uses a plural verb with no stated subject when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or just understood from context. In English we often translate this as:

• they gave us
• we were given

So нам дали literally looks like to us they-gave, but naturally means something like:

• they gave us
• we were served

The sentence does not name who gave it — probably the café staff — because that is not the important part.

Here по has a distributive meaning: one each, apiece, or a portion of.

So:

• по ложке варенья = a spoonful of jam each
• по чашке кефира = a cup of kefir each

This use of по is very common when talking about giving, handing out, buying, or receiving items in equal portions:

• по билету = one ticket each
• по яблоку = an apple each
• по чашке чая = a cup of tea each

In this sentence, it strongly suggests that each person got one spoonful of jam and one cup of kefir.

Because after по in this kind of distributive meaning, Russian often uses the dative singular:

• по ложке
• по чашке

That is why you see:

• ложка → ложке
• чашка → чашке

This pattern is extremely common:

• по книге = one book each
• по тарелке супа = a bowl of soup each
• по кусочку торта = a piece of cake each

So по + dative singular here means something like one unit each.

Because after a measure/container word like ложка (spoon) or чашка (cup), the thing contained is usually put in the genitive:

• ложка варенья = a spoonful of jam
• чашка кефира = a cup of kefir

This is similar to:

• стакан воды = a glass of water
• бутылка молока = a bottle of milk
• кусок хлеба = a piece of bread

So:

• варенье → варенья
• кефир → кефира

This is not because of по directly; it is because ложка and чашка function as measure/container nouns.

Here к means something like with, for, or served alongside.

Literally, к сырникам is to the syrniki, but in food contexts Russian often uses к to mean as an accompaniment to:

• варенье к сырникам = jam for/with the syrniki
• соус к мясу = sauce for the meat
• гарнир к рыбе = side dish for the fish

So the idea is that the jam was given to go with the syrniki.

Because the preposition к requires the dative case.

The basic form is:

• сырники — nominative plural

After к, it becomes:

• к сырникам — dative plural

So:

• к + dative

This is a fixed grammar rule. Compare:

• к чаю = for the tea / with the tea
• к кофе = for the coffee / with the coffee
• к блинам = with the pancakes

Yes, but it would not be exactly the same.

• к сырникам = for the syrniki / to go with the syrniki
• с сырниками = with the syrniki

Both can be natural in food contexts, but к often emphasizes an accompaniment served for a dish, while с more simply means together with.

So варенье к сырникам sounds very natural when talking about what is served as a topping or side for syrniki.

Russian word order is flexible, and both are possible. The version in the sentence is natural because нам is placed early as a kind of topic:

• В маленьком кафе нам дали...
  = In the small café, we were given...

This order helps set up who received the items before listing what was given.

If you said:

• В маленьком кафе дали нам...

it would still be understandable, but it may sound less neutral in many contexts.

Russian often uses word order for focus and information structure, not just grammar.

Normally it means one for each person.

That is the usual effect of по in this construction. Since the sentence has нам (to us), the natural reading is:

• each of us got a spoonful of jam
• each of us got a cup of kefir

If Russian wanted to say just one spoonful total for the whole group, it would usually be phrased differently.

Here are the main dictionary forms:

• в — in, at
• маленький — small
• кафе — café
• мы — we
• дать — to give
• по — one each / apiece / by
• ложка — spoon
• варенье — jam, preserves
• к — to, for, with
• сырники — syrniki, cheese pancakes
• и — and
• чашка — cup
• кефир — kefir

And the forms used in the sentence are:

• маленьком ← маленький
• нам ← мы
• дали ← дать
• ложке ← ложка
• варенья ← варенье
• сырникам ← сырники
• чашке ← чашка
• кефира ← кефир

It is singular here: in the small café.

The noun кафе is one of those Russian nouns that are indeclinable, meaning its form does not change across cases:

• кафе
• в кафе
• из кафе
• к кафе

However, words agreeing with it still show the grammar:

• маленькое кафе — nominative singular
• в маленьком кафе — prepositional singular

So the adjective tells you the case, while кафе itself stays the same.