eStilo

Amathountos 194, 25636357, LEMESOS (LIMASSOL)
Mon-Sun 18:00-2:00
Food: [rating:3.5] 3.5/5
Service: [rating:3] 3/5
Ambiance: [rating:3] 3/5
It took some time but it seems that tapas have arrived in Cyprus. After Two4Eight which has more creative tapas and Vino Cultura in Nicosia which has at one point reached a respectable standard, eStilo in my opinion could be easily included in the best tapas of Cyprus.
It is inside the very popular Uptown Square (where one can also find Zen Room, Chesters & Chi Lounge) in the central courtyard. There are a few high tables as well as a some lower ones and they are all outside (hence the restaurant is only open in the summer). The ambiance is buzzy and elegant but at the same time casual and relaxed. The fact that you are outside but away from the street noise is another reason to visit it. The loud music makes it more like a bar/restaurant (even though it was a bit too loud at times, especially if you are sitting in the centre rather than on the high tables that we were on).
As far as food is concerned, fortunately it met most of our expectations. The menu is complete and includes a selection of tapas, charcuterie and cheese platters and a meat & poultry section. The crispy scampi served in a cheese filo were excellent and so were the pomegranate prawns. You know when a dish is good if, regardless of how big it is you feel you can have 5 more. The “gavros” on dakos bread was also very good, with the dakos being soft enough (and small enough) to eat in one go. Although the lamb empanadas were very tasty, we definitely thought there should have been 4 portions instead of 2 at the price of 9.30€. Finally, the pork tortilla was my personal favourite. The only dish I didn’t really like was the suckling pig as I imagined a dish of super soft and tender baby pig, but instead it was cold and looked more like a pâté with a very strong smell of pork. Another problem is that we weren’t really full after having 6 dishes and could have had another round. Nevertheless, we decided not to be greedy and enjoy our drinks in the nice courtyard instead of stuffing ourselves on that nice Friday evenining.
Our bill, however, did not reflect the conservative amount of food we had at eStilo. We paid around 40€ each with wine and a couple of other drinks. Despite the bill being a bit high, I am more than happy to pay more for good quality food and very nice ambiance, rather than average standards that seems to be quite common in Cyprus. At least at eStilo you can try different dishes and a more creative selection. Even if you don’t like tapas, in Uptown Square one can order anything from Chinese from Chi Lounge, Japanese from Zen Room and pub food from Chesters.