It's that time of year again....

[juliesewell]

We will be in Paphos for one night only very soon staying at The Annabelle in a seaview room (courtesy of my employers) as we wouldn't normally pay those prices!

So, we're looking for somewhere to eat in the evening - within walking distance and after the last time, we're not too keen on trying restaurants that are on the harbour.

Checking the top restaurants on TripAdvisor and some are too far away plus I don't eat Chinese or anything that covers meat in sticky BBQ style sauce - I need some help!
Reasonable/Mid priced menus - we're on a "Freebie" so not prepared to give an arm and a leg for dinner and bear in mind this is likely to be the last time we will eat anywhere in Paphos so we would like it to be memorable - but for all the right reasons

We've been to the Gourmet Tavern and quite enjoyed it.
I have earmarked The Curry House for a place to visit.
We went to the Alea Café bar but only for drinks one evening - it seems to be a good place for lunch but not sure about dinner... too noisy, maybe?

Anyone who can give some other suggestions please? We're prepared to walk 20 mins or so in either direction from The Annabelle but we don't want to be driving anywhere and we only use taxis on New Years' Eve

Thanks in advance!

[Dohajane]

Les Amis, The Lodge. Check them out on Trip Advisor

[Carrot]

Ficardos ?

[CHRISARTEMIS]

Agapinor is one of my favourites with a varied menu you could always have a drink in Flintstones on your walk up to it.Les Amis and Gabors are also great restaurants.All three do set menus between €13-€20 Euros

[Carrot]

The Windmill ?

[travellin'gal]

If you like genuine Thai food, try Baan Thai Kitchen.
It's a 10 minute stroll from the hotel, and doesn't serve anything remotely like meat covered in a sticky BBQ sauce.
Trisha

[juliesewell]

I tried Thai curry once in Bodrum - it wasn't too bad.
I just hate Soy or anything that is cloyingly sticky or sweet so won't go anywhere near anything that serves BBQ ribs or stuff like that. Chinese is a definite "no, no"...

Will take a look at the suggestions so far - thank you!

[Hiraeth]

Have lost my post

Ficardo has very good fillet steaks and their sea bass is always fresh

Happy island Moussaka is usually fresh not the one I made earlier and frozen, they have excellent homemade chips and their
Sea bass is also good
Porto Bello does a very good pizza
These 2 are next door to each other across the road to The Almyra

Ficardo is further along on the same side as The Annabelle towards where the Amathus was just a few yards before

Enjoy your stay in Pafos

[juliesewell]

Thank you!

More to add to our list

[June]

I like Mother's when looking for a reasonably priced meal. Octopus Stifado to start with followed by the daily special.
Simple food cooked well, typically Cypriot of the old school. Complimentary liquer, their Amaretta and wine is their own. Nice setting, again simple but pretty.

[Ageing Rocker]

Baan Thai Kitchen opposite Paps at the harbour would be my very first choice too (I think less than 10 minutes walk from hotel ).

[lincoln]

Or the new Tea for Two?

[juliesewell]

Tea for Two is a breakfast "thing" so we won't be needing that as that's already included
McD's and KFC is a couple of times a year thing and not somewhere we would go for dinner as such - lunch or brunch is about as good as it gets. And if we wanted either of those, we could just stay home as we have one of each within 10 minutes from our house.

Me and hubby just went through the menu at Baan Thai but other half doesn't like coconut curry sauces and the only other was one with peanuts, which made him run for the hills so - it looks like we will head for The Curry House. Although, Thursday (the new Friday in our house) is usually curry night for us at home which would mean a double curry night. Neither of us really have an issue with that We do like our curries "hot" but with taste so - any recommendations? I generally go for a Jalfrezi but it has to be full of fresh chillies. Vindaloo is fine (heat wise) but can often be lacking in any kind of taste. And for me, the only kind of curry has to involve chicken!!!

I don't really eat pork unless it's in souvla or souvlaki form (only because it smells so good on the BBQ) - I still cannot even look at pork, whether it be a chop, steak or sliced. A very severe illness from it as a child left a long lasting memory Other half loves it though!

We don't want to eat in the hotel restaurant. Neither of us are great fans of dressing for dinner or pretentious stuff which often goes with it. Last time when we checked the restaurant out, it was full of folks dressed up to the nines. Plus, we're only there for 1 night and fully intend travelling light... I'm much happier in a pair of jeans and sandals than sticking on a "posh frock" and heels. I'm generally found on my knees with a camera stuck to my face, remember!

In 2014 we went with friends (5 of us) to the Blue Mare on the harbour and were extremely disappointed. Even our friends who had been very recently were unhappy with their meal and that the prices had also increased rather handsomely in the space of just four days. My T/A review pretty much said it all. Out of 5 meals, only one passed the test plus an hour to wait for our main courses to arrive did little to curry any favour. Maybe it was just an "off night" but sadly, it's one we have no notion to give it a second chance.

I think we've always been spoiled with our favourite Limassol restaurant, Neon Phaliron..... It has a very extensive menu which fulfils most of our choices with the exception of a curry and think we shall definitely give that one another whirl before we depart the island because it's going to be a fair old while before we plan a return trip.

Is it wise to book at The Curry House for a Friday evening at this time of year, does anyone know? It's been on our list for a while so it would be rude not to....

[Ageing Rocker]

If you are looking for really good quality take a drive along the coast road then inland to Kissonerga, Tweedies - IMHO the best restaurant in Paphos. Check out their website

[J B]

Although you said you didn't like the ones along the harbour (sorry ) have you looked at Theo's?

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g190384-d3317370-Reviews-Theo_s_Seafood_Restaurant-Paphos_Paphos_District.html

[juliesewell]

Have you considered fasting until you get back to Limassol?

Maybe a few crackers to tide you over.

Just a thought.

Nah, I get migraines if I don't eat regularly.....
And fancy making a mention of the "T" word

How did you get on at the Alkisti Hotel in Larnaca, by the way? We still have to make time for an overnight in Larnaca before we leave Cyprus.

[explodingaardvark]

You sound as if you are prime candidates for 'Come dine with me' when you get back to UK. Each candidate on that programme seems to dislike everything that the other candidates offer.

[Macattack]

If you like Sea Food then you can't go wrong with the Ocean Basket. I would also recommend Tweedies in Kisonerga.

[Linda Newman]

Suite 48? The Muse?

[Memory man]

I would second the recommendations from carrot & Hiraeth

Fikardos.

[juliesewell]

I can't picture or place Ficardo but looking at the directions from Hiraeth further up, I'm thinking it's heading away from the direction of the harbour, is that correct?

I seem to think the Amathus was the first hotel we would have hit after exiting the highway and the roundabout near the seafront before making a right towards the harbour.

We generally prefer to dump the truck in the car park when we're there and then just head out on foot rather than drive....

[juliesewell]

The Alkisti was just fine for an overnight stay! It is only a bedroom, no food at all but clean and overlooked the church square. The Opera looked better, imo.

We ate in the little cafe across the street.

Larnacca is really lovely, we had a nice couple of days their. Certainly going again, later this year.

Thanks for the feedback - I'm quite taken with the looks of the Opera and yes, we've always liked Larnaca and if we hadn't had to seek work here in Cyprus, we would have happily chosen Larnaca for our residence over Limassol.

We would like to be able to look out over the square by St Lazarus church too, hence our choice of location for one night...

The voucher I get as part of my Christmas present from my employer is a choice of one night at The Annabelle or The Almyra. We've stayed once at the Almyra but much prefer the feel of the The Annabelle - much less clinical

[lincoln]

The restaurant that we like the best in Paphos is ...ROMANTICA close to the Aloe Hotel. Never had a bad meal there and the staff are attentive. Big choice of international fare.

[Hiraeth]

Hi Jules

Ficardo you turn left out The Annabelle past The Almyra, Alexandre The Great, the beach car park, the Amphora it's just beyond there, the entrance is a corridor with Lights either side, next door up is an Affican themed restaurant, hope that helps, front of house is their son Lenos and daughter Maria.

[juliesewell]

Thank you, we will take a look when we pass that way in the daytime!

[Memory man]

I'm sure it's turn right at front main entrance out of the Anabele.

[Hiraeth]

Hi Jules sorry it's a right senior moment never been good with left or right !!!
Thanks Memory Man .....

[jagwheels]

Have had meals at most of the restaurants mentioned over the years & could also recommend many of them but best meal of the day for me when on holiday is breakfast because my normal one is very simple but I bet The Annabelle will put on a lavish affair so hope your company has paid for B&B. Enjoy your treat because it's better than a plastic clock I once received

[juliesewell]

Aha! Glad to hear I wasn't going a bit daft in the head as to where the Amathus Beach Hotel is/was located (does it still have the same name or even, is it still there?) so at least that's helped us out a little.

We haven't spent a great deal of time in Paphos (other than the odd night or so) since we got married from the Anemi Apts at Paphos Town Hall over 16yrs ago. Evelyn there put on a magnificent spread for us free of charge and the First Choice contracting department covered the cost of the photographer, wedding album and the wedding car all without us knowing until we arrived on the "Island of Love...."

These odd nights here and there provided by my employer are all an added bonus to allowing us to sit back and relax once in a while. Having 2 dogs and one of them is 13yrs old means we can't really spend more than one night away from the house without putting them in kennels and that's something we prefer to avoid as much as possible these days.

Don't worry jagwheels - our voucher includes (and I quote) "one night in one of the Sea View Rooms at Almyra or Annabelle for two persons including a sumptuous breakfast".

I think we ain't gonna starve

This will be our 3rd time using the voucher option.
We've had one night at the Almyra and this will be our second stay at the Annabelle, which in our opinion has a more friendly feel about it. Although the check-in procedure was a little tiresome on our last stay. We went through 4 different people at the Reception from arrival to reaching our room!

When we go, we're happy to chill out as much as possible so hoping for a little sun, a read of my Kindle on a sunbed, a meal out and a nice breakfast to top it off before heading back "home" to Limassol.

Only 8 more work "get ups" until I'm out of employment for a number of weeks in Cyprus before we make our way back to Blighty.... And I have to say that strangely enough, we're both very much looking forward to that!

[juliesewell]

Well, we've been and gone and are safely back home in Limassol.

We got to the hotel before 1pm on Friday and although check-in isn't officially until 2pm we were given our room straightaway - after a glass of lemonade and a cooling towel.

We were on the 4th floor with views across the swimming pool and to the harbour but I'm so furious because I left my rucksack with my camera equipment on the side in the living room, so I only had my mobile to capture photos. Grrrr

Room 404 interior


My reading seat


As the sun went down


Breakfast - this morning


This morning on the balcony, a cool wind - but some people were in the pool


A little walk after breakfast - the taverna at the Almyra Spa Hotel


On Friday we had lunch at The Gourmet Tavern - fillet steak burger with fries (€7) and 1.5L glass of KEO €2,20


And for dinner, yes - we did go to The Curry House (this was after we wandered during the daytime and checked out some of the other nearby places).

I'm very pleased to say that this is the best curry we've both eaten in a restaurant in the 12yrs we've been living in Cyprus.

So our evening was memorable, even though one particular restaurant on the seafront where we went for a drink before heading to The Curry House told us he wouldn't eat at any of the Indian restaurants as he had seen the Bangladeshi chefs and they were dirty.
Needless to say, it meant we weren't going to eat in his establishment after that remark...

I went for the jalfrezi but asked for them to up the heat from medium to hot and hubby chose the vindaloo. Along with very nice garlic nan and the boiled rice was cooked to perfection.
Both dishes were delicious and we complimented the staff on the food as well as having a discussion with them about where we should visit on our next trip to India....

We may have to pay it another visit before we leave!

[Alan Else]

Aren't you all doing what I was told you'd get sued for, you're all giving recommended places which is what my post meant.
I never said criticised places I meant establishments of all types that are recommended by members.

[juliesewell]

I don't see TripAdvisor getting sued?
Take a look at some of the stuff that gets posted there, that will be a real eye opener for you!

[Alan Else]

Sorry I didn't mean you Jules, previously I posted about recommending establishments etc, I said nothing about critical posts regarding establishments of all types to avoid, my post was about recommending not slagging, I fully agree with you regarding trip adviser where you can really slag off some place/thing.

[trevnhil]

Deleted.

[Alan Else]

Trev in my post I never said places to avoid I said Recommended. I never said slag anyone/where, but some of the replies implied that I had just as this post you've made implies.
You cannot get sued for complementing which is what I said would help people, if you can it's a strange world.

[juliesewell]

Trev in my post I never said places to avoid I said Recommended. I never said slag anyone/where, but some of the replies implied that I had just as this post you've made implies.
You cannot get sued for complementing which is what I said would help people, if you can it's a strange world.

Alan Else
Which comment that you say you made are you referring to?

[Alan Else]

Jules, the comment that I made was in the topic "Is This Cheeky Or What"
I said that I thought it would be a good idea to post recommendations of places to use/visit/etc, I never said places to avoid, some members implied that I said places etc to avoid and that you could be sued which may be true but my post was purely about recommendations nothing more nothing less.
Alan

[juliesewell]

Ah, okay - I found it.....

If the forums started a list of shops, services etc to be recommended or avoided surely some of these unsatisfactory practises would end when these people realised what was happening.

You stated the words "recommended" or "avoided" and it's the "avoided" which causes the issue - although, as we said it seems TripAdvisor don't have a problem with that. They do use a disclaimer though which puts the comments back at the feet of the person who writes their review/feedback on attractions, hotels and restaurant services.

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

But, there is already a dedicated area on this forum where members can "recommend" restaurants and bars: viewforum.php?f=27

[jagwheels]

Have no intention of getting into the semantics here but sounds like you both had a great time

Incidentally you forgot to mention breakfast

[juliesewell]

A very relaxing experience, made all the better by the excellent Indian restaurant

I wasn't exactly enamoured with the breakfast, neither was hubby.... he said the bacon was tasteless and the sausages were those little chipolata type ones which are not breakfast sausage.

No chef on hand cooking eggs or omelettes and no pancakes But, there were 3 types of eggs available for those who like a fry up (not my cup of tea).

Plenty of other stuff but they made a hash of putting the correct crockery with the right kind of food It's not really rocket science and it's not as if they're new to serving breakfast to a few hundred people on a daily basis.... they did have souszoukko though, so I was happy with that. I stuck to fresh fruit, yoghurt and cereal plus a brew (hot thermos flask of water and a couple of teabags each on the side).

For the service, you cannot really fault the hotel but until it brings the bathrooms fully up to date The Annabelle is not a 5 star hotel. Our sink had a crack running from the overflow almost to the plug hole, the bath was far too narrow to be able to stand up and turn around in it safely to use the shower/s. Yes, I said "showers" of 2 different kinds with 3 different controls. Sort of a half update/refurb job and it's 2yrs since we were there last and they still haven't fully refurbished the bathrooms. It's sad really, but we wouldn't give the Annabelle or the Almyra a 5 star rating. They've been resting on their laurels for far too long....

[juliesewell]

Just in case anyone is worried about my comments, they've already been made directly to the relevant person (at their own request) to the hotel

[jagwheels]

Quote: "No chef on hand cooking eggs or omelettes and no pancakes"

Pretty basic stuff but admit where we stay on holiday in Paphos they don't do "proper breakfast" sausages but bet Knott End Cafe does them to perfection. Catering for a wide range of nationalities for breakfast I imagine can be challenging but no excuse for no chef

Nice to hear you enjoyed the overall experience

[juliesewell]

It was time we got a chance to relax - because once I finish work next Thursday, it's time to start packing the boxes. Can't say I'm looking forward to that....

And yes, a 5 star hotel and no eggs being cooked at breakfast is pretty appalling
Especially when we got that a few months back at the very end of the summer season in a 4 star rated hotel in Limassol.

As for sausages, well - you can keep 'em! My other half likes them but I worked on the Deli counter in the Rochdale Asda stores for a number of years before I started working full time for the Inland Revenue in 1976.

Can't stand the smell of sausages now. I can just about manage a cold sausage roll but has to have lots of white pepper and brown sauce

[juliesewell]

Just in case anyone is worried about my comments, they've already been made directly to the relevant person (at their own request) to the hotel

And I got a reply

First of all I would like to thank you for taking the time to give us your detailed comments regarding your recent stay at Annabelle, both positive and negative. It is very much appreciated as we believe through our guests’ feedback we can implement the necessary measures to improve our standards even further.

All the departments concerned were notified about your valuable comments and rest assured that all of us here will do our utmost to ensure that many of the detailed issues will be rectified, and once again, thank you for bringing these to our attention.

Concerning Annabelle Hotel, our aim is to improve the hotel and its gardens and I can assure you that despite the fact that the hotel remains open all year round with high occupancy, our refurbishment schedule is ongoing and certainly many improvements will be noticeable on your next visit.

Our buffet restaurant Fontana, where breakfast is served has undergone a major refurbishment and by the weekend we will be able to served breakfast from our new buffet with live cooking stations and certainly pancakes are part of the menu, along wiht other items cooked in front of guests.

We hope you will consider this satisfactory and I am sincerely looking forward to welcoming you back to Annabelle.

[jagwheels]

Many thanks Jules for the update.The Hotel has ackowledged your concerns & trying to correct them. Anyone who admits to making a mistake & rectifies the problem will always get my vote

Back to the sausages & I'm sure hubby has already sussed it out. Greggs at Knott End on Sea. Yum yum

[juliesewell]

You must have privy to certain information - as far as we're aware, there is NO Greggs at Knott End on Sea But, if you have inside info, please point us in the right direction!

[jagwheels]

OK so I'm a 100 or so miles out. One I was thinking of is close to my bowling club Anyway thought you were too busy packing to read the rubbish I often write

[juliesewell]

Started to do some packing but as we still have no confirmed date, I can't get myself in gear to continue with it. My plan is the packing will start in earnest when I finish work - that's this coming Thursday.

We're unlikely to hear anything now from UK until Wednesday at the earliest so hoping to make the most of any time (and weather) we will have whilst still here in Cyprus. Reckon it will be end of April before we go and my laptop is coming with me so I shall be at the end of the keyboard for a while longer yet