6 Best Restaurants in Cyprus

This restaurant has not only the most delicious food in Paphos (with some vegan options), but it is also the most charming place to dine. Everyone from locals to tourists in the know come to experience owner George's inventive Cypriot cooking, which includes a preponderance of fresh, seasonal, and often organic ingredients, and lots of options for vegetarians. St. Georges has no written menu, just a prix-fixe offering of mezedes—a seemingly endless parade of small plates from cheeses to vegetables from the restaurant's own garden to meats smoked in-house, along with tasty homemade wine. The friendly servers will keep bringing the food until you tell them to stop.

A classic meze tavern, which opened in 1938, Zanettos is tucked into a side street in Nicosia's atmospheric Old City and filled with a mix of tourists and old-timers. The restaurant dishes up plate after plate of fresh and tasty food for a low, fixed price. Pictures of Cypriot celebrities embracing the chef and his son stare down at you from the walls as you devour superfresh salads, salty halloumi cheese, and tangy olives; hearty veggies like beets, potatoes, and mushrooms; tender meat dishes such as chicken kebabs and veal; and even succulent snails. Be sure to save room for dessert: Lebanese mahalepi, a unique rose-flavored creamy concoction.

It's worth venturing a block inland from the beach for well-prepared Cypriot food in a charming traditional setting—an old tavern that was formerly a livestock pen, now decorated with overhead grapevines and a waterfall. Mandra is especially known for tender souvla (lamb cooked over charcoal and served on a skewer) as well as a filling meat meze for a fixed price; they also offer a tasty prix-fixe seafood meze for a bit more. Vegetarians will appreciate the veggie moussaka, a rarity in meat- and fish-centric Cyprus.

If you're looking for a simple, inexpensive meal with pretty views and friendly service, you can't do better than Mattheos, a tiny family-run lunch place near Faneromeni Church. Relax in the square at one of their five or six tables (or inside, if the weather's poor, though the atmosphere isn't as lovely), and choose from a short menu of fresh offerings that may include a legumes plate (white beans, celery, parsley, potatoes, zucchini, and onion, or whatever is available) or tender lamb served with okra and spinach. The smiling owner will bring you her complimentary dessert of the day as a final treat. Though tourists have definitely discovered Mattheos, it still remains a respite of calm within the often-frenetic Old City.

This meat-centric restaurant is popular with locals for both lunch and dinner; it's well-known for its homemade mezedes and other Cypriot specialties. If you're daring, opt for the liver and intestines of lamb, the salted pork, or the lamb's head. To play it safe, you can't go wrong with the tavas—pieces of lamb and beef cooked with potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and spices; the souvla (roasted pork in wine); or the moussaka. But best of all for those with hearty appetites is the mezedes—plate after plate of salad, olives, cheese, seafood, and meats, all for a reasonable fixed price. Sit on the terrace for lovely views of the sea.