Bars & Pubs

Coming up to their first anniversary in Cyprus I asked Nicola to tell me about the Menu ... Nicola said; "We sort of split it into three cuisines, Fresh Fish, Fresh Sushi, and Vegan Platters & Snacks ... Our head chef has been with us since day one, his qualifications and previous experience in Cyprus, the very best Sushi eateries, including Sushi La and Wagamama" ... I was suitably impressed!

Fāinā told me "We originally opened a French restaurant in Makarios Avenue, introducing Lebanese cuisine after 2 years, but when we moved our restaurant here we switched to a Lebanese Restaurant with just a few French dishes as our customers were mostly locals.  These days its a more varied international mix as more and more tourists have discovered us.  As the years past, we found more and more of our customers were asking us to cook French cuisine for them".  She laughed and said "ha! but many restaurants cook Frogs Legs, but none can cook them like ours!  And, then she added; just wait til you try our Duck!"

I asked why their beers are so good;  Taras explained, "The biggest difference of Craft Beer is it has more flavour and taste, mainly because it's not filtered or pasteurised, making it a much richer flavour.  Craft Beer is like a finger print because we never brew our beer in a bad mood, that's how we are here at Octo and we hope you are just like us" …

My initial interest was to find out about their gins, Aris explained, "it's what originally brought us back to Cyprus, 'to create a quality craft gin'.  Our initial inspiration was the aroma of The Troodos Mountains after a long dry summer when it first rains and we wanted to capture exactly that and put it in a bottle and we called it Aoratas Dry Gin which in fact last year won a gold medal. 

Most nights, you'll find up to 12 gorgeous dancers and hostesses, from all over Europe, to keep you company if you buy them a drink ... The girls are always in the mood to party, they're just waiting for a good reason, and the more you party, the more they do and the girls love to dance, so they're happy to dance on the poles, tease with a lap dance, give you a wicked Fire show, or maybe a little private dance?

Pretty much every Friday and definitely every Saturday, and the day before a bank holiday they host live Rock gigs with big name international bands and the very best local Greek and English Rock Bands ... they even squeeze in a little Rhythm and Blues, Indie, Folk, and the occasional Reggae and Disco night too ... I've even caught them doing The Candy up on stage ... adding a bit of live comedy these days ... You'll love it here !

Still one of the oldest, most classic and much loved pubs in Larnaca, after over 30 years ... the décor, all wood, prints and rock memorabilia everywhere, the courtyard out back all traditional and delightful. It's Cypriot, Rock hospitality, all the way!  with music ranging from Classic Rock to Jazz and Rhythm & Blues, and even occasionally, a little Reggae ... I just love this pub!

Specialising in sound, light, and automation, without doubt Andreas' expertise is evident, with many top bars and clubs trusting in his knowledge and experience, to be honest, I've never met anyone who knows audio better than this guy, and listened with interest as he critiqued the sound and light system at Ministry of Sound in London on our visit a few years back, ask him to tell you about it ;) 

This is as traditional an English pub as you’ll find in Cyprus.  It’s on a corner for starters, with wooden decking and comfy seating outside on the shaded, decked, beer terrace, inside its cosy, with lots of dark wooden beams, bar stools, pictures and railway memorabilia and a gorgeous open fire for the winter, to warm your brandy on … with regular eat-in clients and a successful entertainment programme ...

It's classy, chic and unique, it's spacious, the designer obviously minimalistic with a touch of finesse.  Outside there's a large terrace, partly covered, with comfy bench sofas and seats, huge umbrellas, dropping down to lush gardens, with mature trees creating the shade, overlooking the sea, with gorgeous architectural lighting by night ... inside its all stone pillars and wood with classy finishing, stylish lighting, high ceilings, cool touches and condiments to compliment, all creating an ambience that puts them up high in my favourite eaterie rankings.