Bars & Pubs

I was delighted to be invited to catch Bill and Ems, aka Dejavu, playing live at Lithos Bar & Grill in Larnaca.  On that night they were joined by Andreas, their drummer, and as a trio, they go by the name 'Strings Attached'  I really loved this gig so much, especially their covers of Fever, and Hotel California, so I grabbed the chance to ask Bill if we could get together for a chat.

There's 8 different Cocktail Mixing Competitions that will be held over the two days, with big cash prizes to be won.  At the exhibition will be around 20 Booths, where members of The Cyprus Bartenders Association can present their services and local products, anything from glasses, and bar tools to craft beers and award-winning wines and spirits ...

Times have changed as far as the fascia goes, but for the past 28 years, the service is still exemplary and the cuisine is as traditional as it gets.  It's a family-run restaurant, from Luigi's warm welcome to the homemade Cypriot specialties using mum's secret recipes and the lovely touch of complimentary seasonal fruit, grown in dad's orchard, that they'll bring to your table for afters.

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. 

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 ...

Standing proud at the top of Hero's Square, right in the heart of Limassol, a place where people gather, in days of old a mix of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, apparently once a red light district, now a mix of popular stylish bar's and eateries, and as the decline of cinema in the 80's inspired the new Rialto Theatre, that launched in 1999 and helped to develop the area into a hive of activities, cultural or not!