Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: У меню є гарячий чай і тепле молоко.

Ukrainian uses в/у to mean “in/inside” something written or listed, so у меню literally means “in the menu.” The preposition на is used for surfaces or events (e.g., на столі “on the table,” на концерті “at a concert”), so на меню is not idiomatic for listing items.

Why is it у, not в, before меню?

Both в and у mean “in” and alternate for euphony. A common guideline: use у before a consonant and в before a vowel; choose whichever sounds smoother in context. At the start of a sentence before м (a consonant), у меню is a very natural choice, though в меню isn’t wrong.

What does є do here? Do I have to include it?

Є is the present tense of “to be” and, in this pattern, expresses existence: “there is/are.” The structure в/у + [place] + є + [thing(s)] is the standard way to say “There is/are … in …”. You might see a dash instead of є in writing (У меню — …), but plain omission in this existential meaning is less typical. In negatives, є changes to немає/нема.

Which cases are used in this sentence?

У меню: Locative (also called Prepositional). The noun меню is indeclinable, so it stays меню in all cases.
гарячий чай, тепле молоко: Nominative, because they’re the items that “exist” on the menu.

Why is it гарячий чай but тепле молоко?

Adjectives agree with the gender of the noun:

чай is masculine → гарячий (masc. nom. sg.)
молоко is neuter → тепле (neut. nom. sg.) Useful patterns: гарячий/гаряча/гаряче; теплий/тепла/тепле (masc/fem/neut).

Can I say гаряче молоко or теплий чай? Do they mean something different?

Yes.

гаряче молоко = hot milk; тепле молоко = warm milk.
гарячий чай = hot tea (normal for a menu); теплий чай suggests lukewarm/warm tea (not piping hot).
Avoid жаркий for drinks; use гарячий. For hot weather use спекотний or спекотна погода.

Can I put the place at the end, like Є гарячий чай і тепле молоко в меню?

Yes. Both orders are grammatical. У меню є … foregrounds the location; Є … в меню foregrounds the existence of the items. The first is the most typical pattern for “There is/are … on the menu.”

Does Ukrainian use articles here (a/the)?

No—Ukrainian has no articles. гарячий чай can be interpreted as “hot tea” or “the hot tea” depending on context; here, it naturally reads as an item available on the menu.

How do I talk about plurals and quantities for чай and молоко?

чай can be mass or count. For orders or varieties, the plural чаї is used: два чаї, будь ласка (“two teas, please”), різні чаї (“different teas”).
молоко is uncountable; use a measure word: склянка/чашка/порція молока (“a glass/cup/portion of milk”), дві склянки молока (“two glasses of milk”).

How do I make the sentence negative?

Use немає/нема and switch the items to Genitive:

У меню немає гарячого чаю і теплого молока. Here: гарячого чаю (gen. sg.), теплого молока (gen. sg.).

How are the words stressed and pronounced?

у меню́: u me-NYÚ
є: “ye” (as in “yes”)
гаря́чий: ha-RYA-chyi
чай: chai
і: long “ee”
те́пле: TE-ple
молоко́: mo-lo-KÓ

Could I use та or й instead of і?

і is the default “and.”
й is an euphonic variant of і, often used between vowels.
та also means “and” (and sometimes “but” in other contexts).
In this sentence, і is the most neutral; … чай та тепле молоко is also fine stylistically.