Cyprus Restaurant Tips by ozalp

Archways: Classy

This is the peak point of Cyprus cuisine in our trip. We almost tasted every single special mezes on their menu. Some were beyond our imagination; some were beyond our taste limits.
It was a beautiful night. Our Cypriot friend was expecting her childhood friends to meet us there. So it turned into a girls’ night. We ate, we drank, we talked, we laughed… And I didn’t forget that place.
It is on the way from Kyrenia to Lapta, in Zeytinlik village. We drove in dark village roads until we saw this beautifully lit one storey building surrounded by olive trees. The road is only 15-20 minutes from Kyrenia.
The menu was incredibly rich. I’ve tried lots of new mezes here like dried meat and pickled quail eggs. You can see many of the mezes we ate on my photos. I don’t remember all now. We also ate “Seftali Kebab” again, which is never enough for me.
By the way, at the entrance there was a tree-like stand where some parrots standing. They were free but they didn't move a lot.
So, if you have time and energy, give a chance to this restaurant.

Favorite Dish: Seftali kebab, yogurt and some mezes I don't remember. I won't eact any pickled quail eggs, I suppose.

Address: Dereboyu Sok, No:5 Zeytinlik / Kyrenia

Comparison: more expensive than average

Other Contact: archwayrestaurant@hotmail.com

Phone: +90 392 816 0353

Price: US$41 and up

Rating: 4

Theme: Local

Website: http://archwayrestaurant.com/indextr.html

Dano Bakery: Cakes and pastries

It is a franchised brand, I think. We shopped from several different Dano’s. It’s like a patisserie plus market. We shopped for pastries, generally. They were for our quick breakfasts on the road but they are delicious. Also we bought some Con Coffee as a gift to our families here.

Favorite Dish: Salty pastries for breakfast except the ones with mint

Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: Several places. We usually used the one in Kyrenia.

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 3

Theme: Bakery

Grand Akpinar Patisserie: Patisserie

This is an old establishment; it’s been founded in 1935. We had our first breakfast here, because our friend recommended. It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside under the bright sun and had some grilled halloumi cheese, eggs etc. It was a nice place and it is adjacent to the Kyrenia port and castle.

Comparison: about average

Directions: In Kyrenia, on the road to Kyrenia Castle from Dome Hotel

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 3

Theme: Breakfast

Bellapais Gardens: Breakfast

We stayed at the summer house of a friend near Kyrenia. So we had our breakfasts in different places, usually on the road with some local pastries. This was our second “proper” breakfast. I use this word, “proper”, just to explain the situation because I do not prefer one to another. Yet eating Cyprus’ halloumi at the breakfast is bliss.
We came to Bellapais early in the morning. The monastery was not opened yet. So we had a breakfast here. Our table had a great vista of Kyrenia. We had some cheese, omelet, marmalades, olives and lots of tea. It was boosting.
Breakfast wasn’t so special but the place was nice. It is actually a boutique hotel and its restaurant seems very good. I sat in the lobby for a while. There was a fireplace and a rich selection of wines there. You can stop by for a drink here.

Comparison: more expensive than average

Directions: Bellapais

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 3

Theme: Breakfast

Website: http://www.bellapaisgardens.com/

Californian: Nothing special

This was an ordinary café/diner in Nicosia. We decided to eat our first dinner here, after trying to find Hamur. We had some chicken dishes and salads and shared those. Customers are generally youngsters and the menu is eclectic.

Address: Nicosia

Comparison: about average

Phone: 228 6259

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 3

Theme: Eclectic/International

Niazi's: I still miss the kebab

In Kyrenia, behind the old Dome Hotel, there is this famous restaurant. We dined here one night. The idea was having some salad, appetizers, grilled meat and wine. Since the famous kebab of Cyprus is “seftali kebabi”, we tried it, especially. Actually seftali means peach in Turkish, but I didn’t know that this kebab had nothing to do with peach at all. It is only a big meatball covered by the thin layer around liver, I assume. It is juicier than any other meatball or kebab I ate before. My friends are usually tend to eat light, so –thanks to all of them- at the end I had to eat all the seftali kebabs. It was such a delicacy! I think Niazi’s must be the best when it comes to seftali kebab.
Niazi’s deserves its fame. Also, do not miss yogurt in Cyprus.

Favorite Dish: Seftali kebab!!!!!

Address: Kordonboyu St. Opposite the Dome Hotel Kyrenia

Comparison: about average

Phone: +90 392 815 2160

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 4

Theme: Local

Website: http://www.niazis.com/

Hamur: Dough!

We landed in Ercan Airport, find our rental car and headed to Nicosia. Our first target was Hamur, a local restaurant mainly serves pastry. Hamur means dough. That night we were late, the place was closed. So we tried there again a few days later.
We ate some fried “borek” and “manti”, dumplings with yogurt sauce. Not my favorite type of meal, but it is a special place for our Cypriot friend. I’m not a carbohydrate type, I think. But if you like this kind of meal give Hamur a try. It’s in an old Nicosian house, with high ceilings, fireplaces in the rooms, inside a garden, on a tranquil street. Every room has a table or two. Since it was winter, rooms are heated by fireplaces. Decorations were modest, local handcrafts or old, primitive hand tools used for agriculture. The owner was very kind, atmosphere is warm and homely and the service was good.

Favorite Dish: In my opinion fried pastries with meat were better than the dumplings

Address: Nicosia

Comparison: less expensive than average

Phone: 03922280052

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 3

Theme: Local

Altinkaya: The classical

We couldn’t return home without tasting some fish in Cyprus. After all, we were on an island. So, we decided to visit Altinkaya near the “Cikartma Plaji”. This is the place where our friend's family used to eat fish when the live in Cyprus.
I love the fishes of Marmara, Aegean and Black Sea but am not very familiar to Mediterranean fishes and many of the fishes were not so fresh that night. Luckily there was a good looking “Sinarit” (help from dictionary: common dentex or porgy) to share with a friend. We also had several mezes and salad.
There was a group of people and live music that night. Cypriots like to drink and dance. They were crowded and noisy. We found it disturbing at first. But after some raki, we enjoyed the music better and joined the group in their dance. There was an amazing full moon that night. (We took many photos of it, also the photos of the monument of Cikartma Plaji.) So, we can blame raki or full moon for our behavior. But I think it was because of the full moon, since we found ourselves dancing in the middle of the road in Cappadocia, too. And we were completely sober that time.

If you stay in Kyrenia but do not have a car, you need a taxi to reach Altinkaya. If you don't want to see Cikartma Plaji and the monument at the same time, it is not worth to come here. I'm sure you can find anothe place in city center.

Favorite Dish: There was nothing special.

Address: Cikartma plaji, Alsancak Kyrenia Kibris

Comparison: more expensive than average

Phone: 03928218341

Price: US$41 and up

Rating: 2

Theme: Seafood