Being half-Cypriot, I’ve been travelling to Cyprus at least once a year my whole life. Here’s a list I’ve built up of my favourite places to eat on the island – when i’m not being force-fed by my yiayia (grandma).
Find a Google Map link here.
Notes:
📝 There’s still a lot of restaurants on my hit-list that I need to make it to. As my grandma lives in Nicosia and our family holiday home is near Paralimni, those are the areas I spend most my time. I haven’t explored Limassol much at all and do not often make it over to Paphos..
📝 Cyprus is big. You’ll need a car to get around otherwise you’ll be very limited on where you can go.
📝 In Cyprus a lot of menus have a meze option. This is where you pay a fixed price and get brought a small portion of almost every dish on the menu. This is normally very well priced too. There usually has to be a minimum of two people to order this.
📝 Zorbas Bakery is amazing. They’re everywhere. Great for pastries, cakes, sandwiches, coffee and some even have cooked items for takeout.
📝 Make sure you eat as much sheftalia as possible. It’s a pork sausage with onion & parsley wrapped stomach membrane. Sounds gross, looks gross uncooked, tastes incredible.
📝 If you are coming to Cyprus you have to try loukoumades (Greek doughnuts). There are only a few spots to get these (I know of); Pannikos in Protaras, Λουκουμάδες Κυριλλής (Loukoumades Kyrillis) in Nicosia and My Sweet’s in Limassol.
📝 Cyprus is split into six main districts so that is how i’ve decided to organise the restaurants below. This guide focuses mainly on the Nicosia, Larnaca and Famagusta Districts.
Famagusta District
1. Mousikos
📍Sotira. A beautiful setting and incredible meze. This might be my favourite taverna in Cyprus. For only €22 it includes fresh homemade bread, village salad, tahini, tzatziki, olives, pickled vegetables, fresh homade halloumi, kolokasi (taro), vegetables with eggs, snails, keftedes, papoutsaki, village pasta, sheftalies, loukaniko, pork souvla, chicken souvla, lamb kleftiko, grilled mushrooms, chips, cheese boureki with honey. Service is great too.
2. Spartiatis
📍Protaras. A seafood restaurant overlooking Konnos Bay (one of the nicest beaches on the island). If you have the appetite go for the fish meze at €24 per person for 12 seafood dishes, salad, fries, fried courgette, olives & dips.
3. Louis’ Sandwich Bar
📍Cape Greco. You know when there’s an old bloke with a moustache wearing a fedora, the sandwich is going to bang. ‘Louis Special’ at Louis’ Sandwich Bar, way out near Cape Greko, a popular viewpoint down this part of the island. A Cypriot sandwich comes with lountza (Cypriot bacon), halloumi, tomato, cucumber & mayo. This has added cheese and roast pork. Unreal. This beast costs only €6.
4. Karas
📍Kapparis. Another great spot for a seafood meze. They recently had a makeover and it looks great. It’s €29.50pp for most the menu. Spartiatis still edges it for me as the best seafood restaurant in the area as they’ve got better views looking over Konnos Bay but no complaints from me.
5. Old Simons Tavern
📍Sotira. Another lovely family-run taverna not too far from Paralimni.
6. Souvlaki Soukris
📍Paralimni. Το σουβλάκι του Σουκρή in Greek. The best souvlaki spot in this part of the island. Order by the skewer and they stack it on the paper on the table right in front of you. Make sure you try the pancetta.
7. ΚΟΥΠΕΣ & ΠΟΥΡΕΚΙΑ Κ & Δ ΚΑΡΑΠΑΣΙΗ ΛΤΔ
📍 Paralimni. Koupes are massive in Cyprus as a fried street-food snack. The crispy outer layer is made of bulgur wheat, flour, oil, salt & spices. The inside is stuffed with ground meat (mostly pork in Cyprus), onions, parsley & spices. I drove past this spot on the outskirts of Paralimni that only serve koupes fresh to order and they’re probably some of the best I’ve had. ‘ΚΟΥΠΕΣ & ΠΟΥΡΕΚΙΑ Κ & Δ ΚΑΡΑΠΑΣΙΗ ΛΤΔ’ if you’re looking for it in Google. Like all things in Cyprus they come with young green lemons to squeeze on top. You also find these pastries across the Middle East, spelt in different ways; kibbe, kubba, kubbat. The main difference with the Middle Eastern ones is that they come with lamb.
8. Isola Beach Bar
📍Ayia Napa. Yes, Ayia Napa is about as trashy as it gets but in my opinion Nissi Beach is still one of the most beautiful beaches in Cyprus, especially in off-season when it’s not too busy. Isola serve some surprisingly decent seafood dishes. Get the seafood orzo and baby squid.
Larnaca District
1. Stou Roussia
📍Larnaca. Although you can still get all your regular grilled meats, the menu here is quite different from your typical Cypriot menu. I loved the fresh pasta – one was filled with pork and the other was spinach ravioli. The grated halloumi on top reminds me of my yiayia’s cooking. The grilled oyster mushrooms were also 10/10. I ordered the fried celery leaves but I think they forgot them and by the time I realised I had paid. Tip – although it’s not on the menu, you can order half portions of the pasta.
2. Shiftouris
📍Larnaca. Shiftouris is a family-run restaurant that has been serving kleftiko in Larnaca for over a hundred years. Both the lamb chops and potatoes are baked in pork fat in a traditional wood-fired oven for hours which gives it all an amazing flavour. The meat is falling clean off the bone and the potatoes are so soft they are almost mash.
3. Efthimis Souvlaki
📍Larnaca. When it comes to souvlaki, Larnaca has a lot of great options but this is definitely one of my top spots. You already know by the length of the grill and number of tables outside that the kebabs here bang. I went for turbo size which was €9. The sheftales were great and the keftedes were massive and loaded more flavour than usual. It comes served the typical Cypriot way with tomatoes, cucumber, onions (I get mine without), parsley, tahini and a green lemon.
4. Takis
📍Larnaca. Takis (est 2003) is another of Larnaca’s top souvlaki spots. The sheftalia was excellent here – maybe some of the best i’ve had.
5. Peroutsios Kebab
📍Larnaca. A great souvlaki shack on the side of a busy road in Larnaca. The prices are low and portions are massive. Unfortunately it’s been temporarily closed for a while now and i’m not sure what’s going on.
6. Ο Γιατρός της Πείνας (The Doctor of Hunger)
📍Larnaca. I love a good Cypriot sandwich truck. €5.80 for the special at Ο Γιατρός της Πείνας (Doctor of Hunger), just outside of Larnaca. They’ve been around for thirty years although not in the same location. The sandwich contains roast meat, halloumi, lountza, bacon, sausage, pastourma, cucumber, tomato and mayo in a big soft seeded Cypriot roll. It’s massive. Great with a can of Keo on a hot day.
7. Lambros Fish & Kebab Tavern
📍Dhekelia. A seafood restaurant on the seafront between Larnaca and Protaras. They do English style fish & chips for the British army base nearby or with fried baby calamari. They also serve souvlaki and sheftalia.
8. Almar Seafood Bar
📍Larnaca. A nice modern seafood restaurant/beach bar near the airport. It’s a good spot to kill time before a flight. If there’s enough of you to share then go for the lobster spaghetti.
9. Valtou Rigani – Souvlakopolio
📍Larnaca. Another very good souvlaki spot in Nicosia and Larnaca. Build your order up by the skewer. They also have a restaurant in Nicosia.
Nicosia District
1. Odofragma
I know a plate of kleftiko hates to see me coming… Another great meze for only €22.50pp at Odofragma Ταβέρνα. This restaurant is right on one of the border crossings to Northern Cyrus. The meze includes salad, tahini, tzatziki, olives, halloumi, mushroom, feta in phyllo with honey, macaroni, lamb liver, tava, chicken and pork souvlaki, sheftalia, french fries, zucchini fitters, ofton kleftiko with bulgar and potatoes, and a semolina dessert. All of it was good but the highlights were the sheftalia and kleftiko.
2. Εστιατόριο Μπέμπα (Beba)
📍Nicosia. A modern Greek Cypriot restaurant with a nice garden in the heart of Nicosia. Book ahead to avoid disappointment. The seafood orzo, pork chop and zucchini fritters are all must-gets for me.
3. Kontosouvli
📍Nicosia. Kontosouvli – both the name of the restaurant and the item they specialise in. In Greece the word kontosouvli is often used interchangeably with souvla (big pieces of pork, chicken or lamb grilled grilled on the spit) but in Cyprus it is medium sized marinated pieces of pork wrapped in the stomach membrane sheftalia is cooked in, and then grilled over charcoal. The meze at Kontosouvli is €15 and gets you kontosouvli, sheftalies, pork & chicken souvlaki, keima (Armenian kebab, mushrooms, halloumi, potato, bulgar, yogurt, tahini olives and salad. My favourite items were the kontosouvli which had a nice crispiness to it and pork souvlaki. The restaurant is small, although in summer they put a lot more tables outside. It’s run by lovely couple.
4. Tavernaki Filippos
📍Nicosia. A beautiful family-run taverna in Strovolos. For €25pp we had salad, tahini, tzatziki, bread, olives, beetroot, halloumi, grilled mushroom, egg & chips topped with cheese & olives, zucchini fries, grilled chicken thighs, beef liver, lamb chops, lamb kebab, pork tenderloin, pork souvlaki, sheftalia, snails, macaroni, and a dessert. All round a very good meze and a lovely setting. I had to start with the dessert first at that was standout – a spongey, syrupy, semolina cake stuffed with custard.
5. Fanous
📍Nicosia. A popular spot for Lebanese food in Nicosia Old Town. Get the meze at only €16 per person. Everything is delicious and service is friendly too.
6. Syrian Club
📍Nicosia. Previously known as Syrian Friendship Club. Again I recommend going for the meze so that you can try everything. They also have a sister restaurant in Nicosia called Sawa.
7. Taverna Aneipota (Ταβέρνα Τ’ Ανείπωτα)
📍Nicosia. Go for modern Greek food in a relaxed atmosphere. Did you know snails are popular in Cyprus? In both Greece and Cyprus, snails (stewed in tomatoes & onions) are considered a delicacy and have been eaten for thousands of years. Other dishes at Ταβέρνα Τ’ Ανείπωτα included zucchini fritters, a slow-cooked beef pasta, pork souvlaki, and a Cypriot take on a Mille-Feuille.
8. Ta Fanaria tis Maroullous
📍Agios Epifanios. A traditional Cypriot taverna on the road from Nicosia to the mountains. Known for it’s Sunday souvla (big pieces of meat cooked on the spit). Must book ahead if you’re going on Sunday as it will be heaving with hundreds of people. It’s open every other day of the week serving traditional dishes but much quieter.
9. Souvlaki Andrea
📍Nicosia. Another great spot for souvlaki in Nicosia. Here they serve delicious mixed sheftalia & tender pork souvlaki. I will never understand why munching on half a raw onion with your meal is normalised in Cyprus though.
10. Piatsa Gourounaki
📍Nicosia. The best souvlaki in old town. Only open in the evening. Always buzzing. The shefali is amazing. They bring you free mahalepi (dessert) to finish.
11. Giagia Viktoria
📍Nicosia. A good bakery with all the classics but famous for their bougatsa. Get one of each; sweet & savoury.
12. Honest Bread
📍Nicosia. A very good modern Cypriot bakery. The pastries here are beautiful mix between Cypriot and French. The tahinopita is the best i’ve had.
13. Avo Armenian Food
📍Nicosia. A good bakery with all the classics but famous for their bougatsa. Get one of each; sweet & savoury.
14. Pyxida Fish Tavern
📍 Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca. One of the most well-known fish restaurants on the island. Get the fish meze at €25 a person for a bit of everything.
15. H Aπάντηση (Apantisi)
📍Nicosia. On Google maps it’s called H Aπάντηση but in English Apantisi. Another great souvlaki spot in Nicosia. As always I recommend the sheftalia.
16. Loukoumades Kyrillis
📍Nicosia. An old school loukoumades (Greek doughnut) spot in Nicosia.
17. Ofton Kleftiko Kyriakos
📍Nicosia. An epic spot for kleftiko in Nicosia.
18. Valtou Rigani – Souvlakopolio
📍Nicosia. Another very good souvlaki spot in Nicosia and Larnaca. Build your order up by the skewer. They also have a restaurant in Larnaca.
Paphos District
1. Viklari
📍Paphos. An epic spot for souvla served in a castle about thirty minutes north of Paphos. There’s no menu. It’s €12.50 per person (2020 pricing) for crispy & tender pork & chicken souvla, fries, salad, bread & greek yogurt. You also have amazing views of the sea and all the tables are made from heavy stone. You have to drive along a dirt road for ten minutes or so to get here. Ignore the first set of cars parked and continue up the hill to loop back round to the restaurant.
2. Oniro by the Sea
📍Paphos. A beautiful spot for sunset just north of Paphos. It’s a great spot for a cocktail but I’d pass on the food as it’s a little underwhelming and overpriced. Make sure you book ahead to avoid disappointment, though they do hold some seats for walk-ins too.
James Dimitri 