Aperitivo

Kennedy Ave 1, 22100990, LEFKOSIA (NICOSIA)
Mon-Sun 10:00-2:00
Food: [rating:3.5] 3.5/5
Service: [rating:3] 3/5
Ambiance: [rating:2.5] 2.5/5
After almost five months of Cypriot and Proud it is time to finally write a full review of the all time famous Aperitivo buffet lunch. It has been called the best value-for money, a restaurant with unbeatable quality, great for business lunch and probably one of the busiest places in the city. For me it was hard to believe that a nightclub would be such a popular lunch place, especially since it is quite dark in both lighting and colour of the decoration. Nevertheless the comments were surprisingly good so I decided to pay it a visit.
The buffet looked inviting as it had a salad section, that included 4-5 salads, a small  “make your own salad” section and a cheese/gourmet part for starters. There was also a main course section with pasta, meat and pulses (including veggie dishes) as well as a dessert section. Now is probably the right time to mention that I am not a fan of buffet restaurants for one simple reason: I am so greedy that I fill up my plate with all kinds of vegetables, dips, fish, meat and other main courses which I end up not enjoying. Fortunately it wasn’t exactly the case but I really tried hard to contain myself.
I started with the salad buffet, which, wasn’t the best one I had ever had but the fact that I put 3 different types of salad could have played a role. Apart from that, I liked the fact that you could make your own despite the fact that the ingredients for that were limited.
What surprised me with the whole buffet concept was the quality of the main section. The pasta with octopus was surprisingly good (and I never put pasta from a buffet as I think the quality is heavily affected) and the mustard steak and Asian chicken were extremely tasty and tender. I didn’t have grilled vegetables or potatoes as a side because of the pasta but I would like to try them next time. The only dish I didn’t like was the mushroom risotto that was more like basmati rice with mushrooms but decided to ignore it.
The dessert buffet included a selection of fruit, 3 types of cake (chocolate, fruit and carrot cake), a traditional baklava, and my all time favourite, frozen yoghurt, which was what I was looking for in the past year (you can imagine my surprise when I found it at Aperitivo!). The reason I liked that particular one was that, apart from the all-you-can-eat factor it was pure yoghurt without having blended fruit in it but I had the option to add Smarties, chocolate biscuits, fruit or liquid chocolate on top.
When I caught myself enjoying my lunch at Aperitivo it felt like a guilty pleasure, not because the food was not good, but because enjoying a lunch at a commercial nightclub with a buffet type place is part of the “not supposed to like it” type. Nevertheless, apart from my conscience our lunch was fulfilling and most importantly, fantastic value for money as 17€ for a rich buffet lunch, an espresso and a bottle of water seemed fair.