Published · 7 min read · Facts checked 9 October 2026 against the sources below
Cyprus food has borrowed from Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Italy and even Britain over the centuries, and the result is Mediterranean: olive oil, lemon, yoghurt, charcoal grills and slow ovens. The best way in is a meze, a long meal of small dishes that keeps arriving until you surrender. We name no restaurants here, only dishes and drinks, so you can order with confidence wherever you end up, or eat well when you are cooking for yourselves at a villa near Coral Bay, Cyprus.
How a Cypriot meze works
Meze (plural mezedes) is less a dish than an evening. It is a social event built from many small plates, usually around 15 to 20 and as many as 30 in some places. You order "meze for four" and the kitchen decides the rest.
It arrives in waves. First come olives, bread and a village salad with dips: tahini, tzatziki-style yoghurt, taramosalata and skordalia, a garlic dip. Then the warm plates: grilled halloumi, lountza (smoked pork loin), and in season wild greens or asparagus cooked with egg. Then the main event, meat or fish.
A meat meze builds through grilled pork and chicken, loukanika sausages and slow-cooked dishes such as stifado and kleftiko. A fish meze brings grilled and fried local fish, calamari, cuttlefish and octopus. Either ends with fruit, often watermelon, or glyko, fruit preserved in syrup.
A few things help:
- Pace yourself. The first rounds are the easiest to over-eat. The grilled meat comes late.
- Say what you don't eat when you order. A good kitchen will adjust the plates rather than leave you picking around them.
- Book ahead for weekend evenings in summer.
Traditional Cypriot dishes to order
If you would rather choose plate by plate, these are the traditional Cypriot dishes to look for.
| Dish | What it is |
|---|---|
| Kleftiko | Lamb roasted slowly in an outdoor wood-fired oven. |
| Sheftalies | Minced pork wrapped in caul fat and grilled over charcoal. |
| Souvlakia | Grilled pork served in pitta with salad. |
| Afelia | Pork braised in red wine with crushed coriander seed, eaten with pourkouri (bulgur pilaf) and yoghurt. |
| Ttavas | Lamb with potatoes, tomato and cumin, a Sunday dish often cooked in a clay pot. |
| Koupepia | Vine leaves stuffed with minced pork, rice and mint; better the next day. |
| Makaronia tou fournou | Baked pasta with mince and béchamel, topped with halloumi. |
| Moudjendra | Lentils and rice with caramelised onions, eaten through Lent; vegan. |
| Pourekkia | Pastries filled with halloumi and mint, part of a meze table. |
| Loukoumades | Small fried dough puffs soaked in syrup, the classic sweet to finish. |
Kleftiko has a story behind it: its name comes from the Greek verb for "to steal", a reference to livestock theft. Traditional ofto kleftiko has been on the island's inventory of intangible heritage since 2019, and it is still the dish of family gatherings and weddings.
Specialities of the Paphos region
The Paphos region has dishes you will rarely see outside the district: resi, a pilaf of wheat and slow-cooked meat; trachanas, a dried mix of wheat and sour milk boiled into a thick soup and served with cubes of halloumi; tsamarella, goat meat salted, spiced with oregano and dried in the sun; and pseftika, courgette flowers stuffed with rice. For something to take home, Geroskipou, just east of Paphos, makes loukoumi (Cypriot delight), the first Cypriot food to get EU protection as a geographical indication.
Halloumi, and why the name is protected
Halloumi is the island's best-known export: a semi-hard white cheese kept in brine, often with mint, that holds its shape on a grill. Cypriots eat it grilled or fried, but also cold, with watermelon in summer or with bread and olives for breakfast.
Since 1 October 2021, halloumi (Hellim in Turkish) has been a protected designation of origin. Only cheese made on the island of Cyprus to the agreed specification can be sold under the name in the EU. The specification allows some cow's milk alongside the traditional sheep's and goat's milk, so check the label if you want the traditional style. To cook it, slice it about a centimetre thick and grill or fry it hot and fast until it is golden on both sides, then eat it straight away, before it firms up.
Commandaria, zivania and the brandy sour
Three drinks are worth knowing.
Commandaria is a sweet dessert wine made from Mavro and Xynisteri grapes left to dry in the sun after picking. It takes its name from La Grande Commanderie at Kolossi, a crusader estate, and the name goes back to the 12th century. It is made only in 14 villages on the southern slopes of the Troodos. It has EU protection too, and its traditions are now on UNESCO's intangible heritage list. Expect dried fruit, honey and caramel; drink it in a small glass with dessert or cheese. Our Troodos Mountains guide covers a day in the wine villages, and our guide to Cyprus wine covers the dry wines and the wineries near Paphos.
Zivania is the island's grape spirit, distilled from the skins and pips left after winemaking, a practice that goes back to Venetian rule. It is very strong, so it is served ice-cold from the freezer in small glasses, as an aperitif.
The brandy sour was invented in the 1950s at a Troodos hotel for King Farouk of Egypt. It is Cypriot brandy, lemon, a dash of bitters and soda or lemonade over ice.
For mornings, Cyprus coffee is made in a small pot called an mbriki and served with a glass of water and never with milk. Order it sketo (no sugar), metrio (medium) or glyki (sweet), and leave the grounds at the bottom of the cup.
Eating in at the villa: markets, supermarkets and a barbecue
Many groups eat out on some nights and cook on others, and a meze-style table is easy to put together at home.
Markets. The Paphos old town has a Municipal Fruit Market where producers come in early with home-grown bananas, avocados, rocket and dried wild oregano, alongside fresh fish. Closer to home, Peyia has had a Sunday-morning village market with local producers and crafts (09:00 to 13:00, in the car park near the football club, when last listed). Dates change, so check the Visit Pafos events calendar (opens in a new tab) before you go. Our Paphos old town guide has more on the market.
Supermarkets. For the everyday shop, our Paphos shopping guide covers the large supermarkets near Paphos, their Sunday hours and what to buy on the first day.
The barbecue. The villa has a traditional stone BBQ beside a covered outdoor dining area, so a barbecue night is easy. Souvlakia, sheftalies, halloumi and corn on the cob are the easy wins. In summer, the Department of Forests asks for particular care when lighting charcoal for barbecues. Keep water to hand and never leave the coals unattended. Between 1 June and 30 September it bans tools that make flames or sparks in and within 2 km of forest land.
The kitchen is fully equipped, with an American fridge-freezer that copes with a big shop for 6 people. If you would rather arrive to a stocked fridge, ask for our grocery pre-stock when you book, tell us what you would like waiting, and we will price it in your quote.
Vegetarians, Lent and allergies
Cypriot menus look meat-heavy, but the meze table is full of vegetarian food: the dips, salads, halloumi, pourekkia, stuffed vegetables, beans and pulses. Ask for a vegetarian meze and most kitchens will build one.
Vegans do well during Orthodox Lent, the seven weeks before Easter, when many Cypriots give up meat and dairy. Lenten food such as moudjendra, tahini, hummus, olives, vegetables and lagana bread is everywhere then, and octopus and cuttlefish are allowed in Lent too. Outside Lent, watch for yoghurt and halloumi in otherwise plant-based dishes.
For a celebration dinner, a meze is hard to beat because nobody has to choose. Our celebration villa page has more on hosting a group.
Where to stay
Villa Prasino is a private villa in Peyia for up to 6 guests, with a traditional stone BBQ, a covered outdoor dining area and an outdoor bar with fire pit seating, so long dinners at home are easy. The 6 × 12 m diving pool and hot tub are there for the afternoon before. Coral Bay beach is about 5 km away and the Sea Caves about 2 km. See our villa for celebrations, check availability and rates, and when you know your dates, send us a booking request.
