The best restaurants Southern Nicosia

Le "rendez-vous des petits cochons" (Πιάτσα Γουρουνάκι) is a restaurant easy to spot thanks to its sign adorned with a plump piglet. It serves all kinds of grills and souvlaki, mostly pork, but also chicken and lamb, not forgetting falafel for vegetarians. Side dishes include mezzés, fries, salads, mushrooms, Greek and Cypriot cheeses, beers, ouzo, wines, etc. The decor and terrace are really nice, but it's often very crowded in the evenings. And reservations are not possible.

Formerly a small café for hookah-loving Middle Eastern spies, this club has become the benchmark for Lebanese and Syrian cuisine in Cyprus. Frequented by English-speaking expatriates, a few tourists and Nicosian families, the place is huge, a little kitsch and very green. Efficient and friendly, the staff serve up an impressive mezze menu with tabbouleh, shish taouk, kebab, fattouche salad, hummus, cheese rolls, lamb chop, eggplant caviar and mahalepi for dessert, all at incredible speed.

Next to the Ledra Street checkpoint, this is the place where everyone goes, in front of the Ledras Street checkpoint. Live music and a (gently) politically incorrect menu. You'll want to try some Smyrna soutsoukakia ("for those who remember", from the time when Greeks lived in Turkey) or a German salad ("souvenir of 1940"). And for those who don't know, the menu includes a short speech about the life of the owner, a Greek emigrant. But, above all, apart from this amusing diversion, the food is good.

A good address in the centre of Nicosia, not far from the many shops in the pedestrian street Laiki Geitonia. In a beautiful setting and a beautiful atmosphere by the Cypriot musicians, you can taste local specialities and French cuisine. The hotel Rimi (1 star) offers a good value for money service.

An excellent address where people from the neighbourhood come to pick up the evening meal, where couples or groups of friends come to eat before playing moths. On the terrace, but especially in two large rooms on the first floor of this large traditional house, you will not be given a menu. It's up to you to order among the local classics: brochettes, mezze, baked lamb, etc., accompanied by a simple but tasty salad. The quality of the ingredients and preparation makes all the difference with other establishments.

This is a welcoming tavern in the heart of Laiki Yitonia, close to the tourist office. The establishment is property of the municipality and presents the specialities expected to discover Cypriot cuisine: mezze, kleftiko, moussaka… everything on a sound background of sirtaki and zorba.

An unexpected Polynesian restaurant in the heart of Nicosia. Of course, tahitiens lagoons are far away. But the map allows you to discover some typical flavors of these regions, within the framework of the beautiful Castelli hotel.

Lovers of Italian cuisine will find their happiness here. Fresh products. The decor is also very pleasant at the Holiday Inn.

Excellent Indian cuisine in a decor and a pleasant atmosphere.

An Italian in a refined decor, in the very visible oven (hence the name). Italian cuisine right, without surprise, at very honest prices. And the recipe works since the place is often caught. Superb view of the pedestrian street. Do not forget a visit to the toilet, with a very successful decor.

A sympathique walk with a multitude of choices. Salty pancakes are as delicious and copious as sweet ones. On the edge of the old town, this place is also frequented by locals and tourists. The location is rather modern, and its terrace also makes it possible to enjoy the sun in summer. Affordable prices.

A little eccentric in the old town, here is a well-kept, modern Chinese restaurant with good service.

To offer you a rich meal in this excellent tavern, you will need to take a few kilometres to reach the village of Tseri in the south of the capital.

Under the name of Aegean, the one that gives his name to the sea in which he threw himself, believing that his son Ariadne was dead, defeated by the Minotaure. It is a popular and lively tavern in the evening, with a very nice courtyard.

Right next to the courthouse, in the middle of the lawyers' and notaries' street, the "de la cuisine du marché" restaurant goes straight to the heart of the matter. Customers come here to discuss current affairs in a bistro setting. The quick-service menu includes yoghurt, salad and a choice of 15 local or Turkish recipes. We recommend the kıbrıs köftesi, well-flavored meat and potato dumplings, and the herse, a kind of wheat risotto with chicken.

The restaurant is of little interest (international cuisine), but the garden and cocktail bar of the complex (The 74 Bar) are very pleasant. But we are in the middle of a buffer zone, between sandbags, barbed wire and abandoned houses riddled with bullet holes... The Chateau Status complex opened in 2007 at the check-point of the Ledra Palace, just next to the western walls of the old town and in front of the former hotel occupied by the Blue Helmets, where family celebrations, company seminars and drinking parties are organised.

In the pleasant Arabahmet district, this vegan café-restaurant is housed in a bric-a-brac British colonial house, easy to spot with its... giant shoes. In the courtyard, in the shade of the palm tree, the tables are covered with appetizing plates: vegan breakfast, grilled vegetables, chickpea dumplings, quinoa salad, French fries, soy "cheeses"... All with gluten-free options. It's good, fresh and inexpensive. And the establishment also doubles as a bed & breakfast (Alashia Inn).

This restaurant (Εστιατόριο Μπέμπα/Estatorio Bemba) serves good Cypriot cuisine that's barely been revisited and beautifully presented, as well as beef cuts. The menu changes daily. If you stick to local classics (mezze, Greek salad, baked lamb, orzo...) or beef pappardelle, you'll get away with not too much. But if you opt for an American chateaubriand or an Australian wagyu entrecôte, then prices really take off. Terrace, retro decor, fine wine list and attentive service. Reservations recommended.

Opposite Akadimias Park, this warm, red-walled French brasserie is run by Gatienne Thibaut, a Ch'ti who has lived in Cyprus since 2003. In the dimly lit dining room, you'll find mussels marinière, homemade pâté, quiche, pork with maroilles, Charolais beef rib, baked camembert... The menu also occasionally features carbonnade, beef bourguignon, steak tartare or semi-cooked foie gras. For dessert: crème brûlée, cheesecake... All accompanied by local wines or Beaujolais.

The "Evroulla restaurant" (Εστιατόριο της Ευρούλλας/Estiatorio tis Evroullas) is located in the pleasant stoa Klokkari, a covered passageway between the two main pedestrian streets Ledra and Onasagorou. It serves well-executed Cypriot and Greek classics: mezzés, feta salad, halloumi with sausage or mushrooms, sieftalies (pork cracklings), souvlakis and grilled meats. The menu is short, the fries are crisp and the service is fast. You can continue in the stoa, at the Pieto bar, with a coffee, a cocktail..