Eat Like Ushi

Interestingly for a warm Mediterranean country, Cyprus doesn't seem to have a lot of gelato. I saw a few of the fluorescent ones near the beachside but those have never interested me. And there was a few vans in places but didn't look at those. I had trouble finding any artisanal ones in Larnaca, although apparently there's some around Limassol (where we didn't stop).

On the last beach day with some unexpectedly warm weather in Paphos, we ended up at Coral Bay beach for some sun and water. During the rest I found Davinci on my phone. Oddly Google maps had it located more inland but so be it. After a short drive amongst fields, a dead-end road leading to the side of a bridge overpass, I gave up and turned back. But as fate would have it I saw it along the main street of restaurants leaving Coral Bay. It was a joy to park and cross the road and see the flavours in front of me.

Sicily pistachio had a deep green flavour with an even darker mix on top (unsure what that was and didn't get any in my serve). It wasn't the strongest pistachio flavour but still reasonable. The dark chocolate was intense and mildly sweet - a really good one. There are lots of other flavours too but the 2 flavour cone for €3 was suffice and the cone had essentially been stuffed with the dark chocolate.

A good experience with a twist of adventure.

There aren't many brunch specific places to eat. Well none of what I associate as classically brunch - which is fine, because you don't travel somewhere expecting or hoping to find the meals of where you left from. But it seemed a good idea to try a nearby and well reviewed (by local Cyprus blogs and sites at least) of how a foreign place is developing their scene.

Enter Omikron, a brunch place with healthy breakfast, hot brunches and drinks.

On this glorious sunny Saturday lunch, the balcony was full of people (locals and a few tourists) enjoying themselves of the warm shade. Cigarettes sadly filled the air and the mix was people in suits, young females with LV and a few families too. Strangely everyone was drinking a blended coffee drink but out of a takeaway container - what's the point of that? Less washing?

The coffee/vanilla blend with choconut wasn't available and so a normal latte (which wasn't overly bitter) was ordered. I spotted the deep berry coloured Dragon Drink smoothie (blackberries, morello cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, red currants) €4.8 across the room and had to get one myself. It was simple, tangy and very berry.

Pancakes seem to be a specialty of the place. Sweet & Savory Balance €6.7 had a stack of pretty good pancakes with a bit of (not-very as advertised) crispy bacon in between and maple syrup and a melting butter knob on top. Fine but too sweet for me generally.

I ordered The Ultimate €8.5 which is essentially a full English. Two fried eggs (I wanted poached but forgot to ask) were a bit overcooked and so the bottom yolk had boiled, the crispy bacon wasn't crispy and had way too much fat ratio, the sausages were actually very nice and flavoursome (as expected for meats in Cyprus), and the beans, tomato and mushrooms were all standard. I'm not entirely sure what the breakfast sauce was but some kind of tomato with mayo I think. It was quite a disappointing meal overall.

I wouldn't go back. But if I was there again, I'd order a drink and maybe the croissant sandwich (Crescent Shape).

One of the great culinary delights in Cyprus is the meze procession. It's well known that for around €15pp, all the Cypriot taverns will serve around 15-20 dishes with all the local highlights and delights. Classically it is heavily meat based, but vegetarian and fish versions exist also. It starts with bread and dips, salads, then moves onto meats and grills and fillers, before ending with dessert.

The big problem is that for the large part even though it is great value, it is too much and a waste of food. We discovered this by simply ordering normal meals and so never were game to try Cypriot meze (although we did a Lebanese one).

Ta Perix is the only place I've seen that balances this by having a meze menu where you select what you like. It's similar to yum cha - just Cypriot and without the carts (to be fair many yum cha places are menu only). It meant I could happily avoid the dips and salads (nothing wrong with them, just I wanted to try other things) and focus. Unfortunately there's no seafood, which is a big glaring omission to me. But after you park, upon exiting the car you can smell the charcoal meat fumes in the air. It's great.

- Pickled quail eggs €1 for 2 - tiny little boiled eggs in a slightly chilli vinegared oil. Tasty;
- Salted sardines €1.5 - extremely salty/potent and great with the warm Cyprus bread. Reminded me of a very strong anchovy but also with the added texture of the bones and rest of the fish. Really enjoyed this;
- Charcoal wild mushrooms €3 - they didn't have wild mushrooms so served us normal ones instead. Simple unseasoned flavour;
- Zucchini flowers stuffed with feta €2.5 - a simple classic in thicker than usual batter. It was ok;
- Stuffed aubergines €2.5 - really liked this circles of aubergine deep fried;
- Charcoal pork chop €8.5 - I was craving to try a pork chop with reputations that taverns serve them bigger than the plate. This was a more modest sized one with the most basic flavour simply of pork. It was quite soft too without much graininess and no stringiness. The lemon went well with this;
- Charcoal baby pigeon €6.5 - really flavoursome with some marinade spices and grilled until charred. Similar to the Chinese quails except bigger;
- Boiled Cyprus traditional pasta €3 for 2 (they said it would be a half serve but charged us for a full one. I'm sure the size was a full one too...) - a thoroughly cooked (not al dente but also not mushy) pasta probably with butter and salt;
- Pourgouri €2 for 2 (they said it would be a half serve but charged us for a full one. I'm sure the size was a full one too...) - a type of wheat boiled and lightly seasoned with some tomato.

To finish off a hot slightly sweet cheese puff was served. A nice touch to end on.

Everything was served with some olive oil and a bit of chopped parsley. And there was a bit of lemon to squeeze too.

Unfortunately big snails and Jerusalem artichokes were not in season.

Overall it was a decent meal. Certainly not the best flavours we ate during our trip, but it allowed us the most variety which is important. It's a local tavern in a residential area and warrants support!