Description: So there I was with a party of Brits, eating Japanese noodles in a Spanish-Portuguese restaurant in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, while a Bolivian played pop hits on a pan-pipe. Never before have I been so unsure what to pick for 'Type of Cuisine'!
This schizophrenia is perhaps symbolic of its location. It throws light from its windows across a picturesque square nestled under the walls of the Selimiye Mosque. This building used to be St Sophia's Cathedral, and its butresses and narrow arched windows are the sort of Gothic edifice you would find in northern France. Its peaked roof is missing though, and two tall minarets flank its facade.
The Portuguese chef runs an impressive operation here. The interior is brightly-lit, modern and spotless, with artistic photographs on the walls. Entertainment was provided by the aforementioned Andean who performed along to backing tracks of recognisable hits - 'Yesterday', 'My Heart Will Go On' etc. Not personally my idea of entertainment, but at least it enabled us to amuse ourselves by thinking up the most unusual requests we could unsuccessfully ask him for - a tie in the end between The Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up' and Chas & Dave's 'Snooker Loopy'.
There is an extensive menu. The tapas is of great quality, but obviously the shrimps, mussels and calimari are no good for those on a kosher diet (though the haloumi, sliced steak and salad would be). From the main courses you have a choice of Hispanic dishes (such as the paella which has to be shared by at least two people and takes 45 minutes to prepare - so at least you know its fresh!), Italian (I went for tagliatelle with mushrooms and king prawns), and the Asian fusion noodle dishes, which looked as good as anything you might get at Wagamama's.
I can honestly say that the food here was great. The tapas dishes were pretty small however - but then I suppose you should expect that really. For instance the king prawn dish featured only three of them (among six of us)in a piquant sweet-chili-ish sauce. Personally I would recommend the mussels! They also do a mean jug of sangria!
Again, the king prawns were not really in evidence in my main course. I eventually uncovered both of them. So I was left feeling a bit shortchanged by my meal (at over €14 I was expecting more seafood than what I got). The tagliatelle was nice, don't get me wrong, but I felt it was slightly overpriced for what I got.
A final gripe would be the service. They refused to serve us a jug of tap water, and instead brought small bottles of mineral water, which added to the bill. Also it took one of my friends a good twenty minutes and speaking to three different members of staff before he finally got his beer. In their defence it was a busy saturday night with a number of birthday parties in (to whom they sang while presenting cake), but it certainly spoiled the meal for one of the party.
Still, the food was good, and certainly out of the ordinary for north Nicosia. It is also in a very attractive setting. I would go back again - but this time I think I would have the paella...
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