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Where are the best Cyprus restaurants?The best tavernas are hidden away. Come with us to discover our favourites.This page is all about the wonderful Cyprus restaurants in mountain villages.
We stress the word village as it is only in the traditional villages that you will find the most authentic local food as opposed to the mass produced meals in a lot of restaurants in the main resorts.
We're not saying there is anything wrong with the "fast food" in some of these places but the Cypriot way is to take time over a meal...try lots of different dishes...and relax. The best place to do this is to find your own special little Cyprus taverna up in the hills where the locals will welcome you with open arms and where you will eat like a king for a pauper's price.
Where to eat the best Cyprus foodOur "best of" Cyprus restaurant guide is currently limited to the WEST of the island as that is where we live. It also happens to be the most unspoilt part of the island,"far from the madding crowds" as Thomas Hardy would have said, so we accept that we are totally biased in our opinions...all of the Cyprus restaurants here are unique in one way or another so please DO give them a try on your next holiday to Cyprus. But first, we are SO lucky in Cyprus.
Now don't expect white table cloths or fancy cutlery in the mountain villages AND don't expect to be offered a huge menu.
Stop!
In our first few days on the island, we were told to avoid the local village tavernas by a local Cypriot as he didn't think their food was fresh due to the fact that many of them do not have a regular flow of customers. If you are unsure of going into a place with very few customers, take our tip and forget the menu...
Top Tip: Just ask the taverna owner what they are cooking that day and what is available for you to try. Whatever they are cooking, they will be eating themselves so you can be SURE it will be fresh. They will also be using seasonal fruit and vegetables so you can be certain you will never have the same meal twice. NB: Most of the village tavernas in the hills don't have fresh fish on the menu as they are not near the sea. So what is our BEST Cyprus restaurant?Well, we've tried lots on the island and have many we return to again and again but our #1 Favourite is still:
The taverna is situated opposite the co-op supermarket in the traditional stone village of Neo Chorio (pronounced Nay-oh Xhor-ee-o) on the Akamas peninsula. In the summer you can sit outside and watch the world go by whilst you enjoy your meal. That will usually include the wonder of regular traffic jams as delivery vehicles go head to head with cars, jeeps and the school bus just after mid-day. In the winter just sit inside the stone tavern itself where the locals hang out. Andreas has all the usual Cyprus specialities on his menu (beef stifado, afelia, sheftalia) but we usually just ask him to bring us a small meze (a variety of mixed dishes). We say small for a very good reason - you only have to look at Andreas to realise that small actually means very large! Depending on the season, Andreas will tempt you with a variety of unusual dishes - over the years we've had beans with wild "grass" (freshly picked by his grandma - only she knows which grass to pick), wild rabbit Kouppas-style and even snails (when it rains in November here, the snails come out in their thousands and you can just scoop them up in a bucket!). His Cypriot specialities are the best we've tasted too, especially the Afelia (slow cooked pork in red wine with coriander seeds). One word of warning - DON'T order the full Meze unless you can eat a 32 oz steak and still have room for more. We did order it once (the Meze not a steak) and couldn't believe how much food we had to leave - now we always make sure we ask for a "small" meze!
N.B. There are two stone taverns in Neo Chorio. Kouppas stone tavern is the SECOND one in the centre of the village nearest the church. We do have other favourite Cyprus restaurants, of course, especially those that do great meze lunches. Click on the links below for more "best Cyprus restaurants"
These are just some of our favourite tavernas and we'll keep adding to the list as we find new ones. If you have found a special Cyprus restaurant, maybe one that does exceptional mezes too, please share it with us via the form below and create your very own webpage about it! The restaurants in Cyprus that OTHER people are raving about
Where is your favourite Cyprus restaurant?
If, like me, you like to cook great food at home for family and friends, you probably have high standards as far as eating out goes. So good restaurants have to have fresh food packed with flavour via careful use of herbs and spices or simply to serve food in a unique way. YOUR Best Cyprus RestaurantsClick on the links below for best Cyprus restaurants all written by those who've been on this page.
RAJ Indian restaurant, Kato Paphos, Cyprus
AMBELOTHEA TAVERN, OMODHOS VILLAGE
TAO Restaurant, Kato Paphos
TAO Chinese and Japanese restaurant in Kato Paphos
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