Restaurants cuisine du monde Southern Nicosia

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.

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..

A little off-center, the "Old Power Station" restaurant (Παλιά Ηλεκτρική/Palia Ilektriki) is part of the Nicosia Municipal Arts Center (MiMAC). It boasts a courtyard that's very pleasant in summer, and a room with a contemporary design. Mediterranean-inspired seasonal cuisine is served here, as well as traditional Cypriot meat dishes with a twist. Sunday morning brunch, interesting selection of Greek and Cypriot wines, cocktails with or without alcohol. Closed February-March.

It's a strange proposition to come to Nicosia-Nord for "paella", shrimp and squid "à la portugaise" or spaghetti "à la napolitaine". But this restaurant has a unique location: its terrace overlooks the chevet of the Selimiye mosque, allowing diners to admire the splendid Gothic buttresses of the ancient cathedral and the domes of the Mahmoud-II library. Tourist clientele, romantic evening atmosphere, small wine list and efficient service. Sometimes closed out of season.

This "authentic Armenian restaurant" (Άβο Αυθεντική Αρμένικη Κουζίνα/Avo Afthentiki Armeniki Kouzina, Avo's Armenian Food) is in fact a fast-food joint: here we serve lahmajoun, the oriental "pizza" rolled with lamb meat that's swallowed in three bites. For a complete meal, try the souvlaki with lightly spiced meat served in a thin pita with parsley and tomatoes. Souvlaki is available for one or two people. It's fresh, and really inexpensive!

Open since 1938, this very good "Cypriot taverna" (Ζανέττος Κυπριακή Ταβέρνα/Zanettos Kypriaki Taverna) is set in the Ömeriye district, a stone's throw from the mosque and hammam. Under the arches and in a décor with vintage photos, a unique menu of mezzés is served here. It's pantagruelic and the wine is included: snails, vine leaves, tahini, salads, pancetta, calf's liver, pork in wine, Cypriot bulgur, lingot beans... Twenty-three dishes in all! And very few customers manage to eat it all.