Stasinou 16, 22376584/99408022, LEFKOSIA (NICOSIA)
Mon-Sat 19:30-23:00
Food: [rating:4.5] 4.5/5
Service: [rating:4] 4/5
Ambiance: [rating:3] 3/5
Even though I don’t go as often as I would have liked to, I do try to go whenever No Reservations changes its menu. It is worth mentioning that, the dishes change every 15 days but every season they have a complete turnaround of their menu with a brand new selection of dishes. They do this to be able to keep up with seasonal ingredients and this in itself makes it obvious that there is something special about this place.
I found that the space has improved since the last time I visited it. It is still quite simple, but the food is so good that the décor is really not that relevant in this case (which is not what I can say about most of the restaurants in Cyprus where décor is the only thing that shines).
We, as expected, ordered the full tasting menu as it is only 35€ for 15 small dishes. The only dish I asked them to take out was the ox tongue with which I have had an extremely bad experience and hence stopped eating (my best Proud Cypriot friend told me it is like chewing your own tongue, which is the exact feeling I got during my last ox tongue tasting experience).
It is important to mention that out of three different menus that I tried at No Reservations, this was the best, so whoever hasn’t been yet it is definitely a good time to go!
The canapés with Robiola, traditional Cyprus candied fruit and mustard was excellent and so was the radicchio cream with gorgonzola and walnuts. The shrimp with pancetta and potato cream was also excellent with a perfectly sweet but also savoury taste and the tortellone with ricotta, spinach and porcini mushrooms was excellent, it had a smooth filling and was not too heavy. The lamb in filo pastry (which I imagined substituted the “kleftiko” we had last time) was also very good and full of flavour. The only d
ish out of the nine (main) ones which I didn’t like was the duck which was a bit chewy for my taste. I also thought that the halibut with zucchini (that was in fact good) was a bit neutral in terms of taste.
What really surprised me was the 5 mini desserts that were, in my opinion excellent without being “overly gourmet”, i.e. merely sweet and overly-complicated. The caramelized pineapple crumble was fantastic (and the reason why the Proud Cypriot friend who is supposed to be allergic in sugar ate two portions of it), the pannacota with berries was also good and tasted like berry yoghurt, whereas the Chocolate guanaja shot was close to a shot of nutella. The pear tart was also good but I preferred the Amaretto ice cream that came with it.
What is even better is that all of the above with 2 drinks costs around 40€ per person, as the price for the very good wine by the glass that I had was 5€ per glass. The extremely friendly hostesses also kindly gave us a discount as, despite having ordered the full menu, we took out a couple of dishes.
A dinner of this range could easily cost more than 60€ a head but the fact that the owners, decided to keep it fair and retain their fantastic value for money policy allows us to return again and again!
I found that the space has improved since the last time I visited it. It is still quite simple, but the food is so good that the décor is really not that relevant in this case (which is not what I can say about most of the restaurants in Cyprus where décor is the only thing that shines).
We, as expected, ordered the full tasting menu as it is only 35€ for 15 small dishes. The only dish I asked them to take out was the ox tongue with which I have had an extremely bad experience and hence stopped eating (my best Proud Cypriot friend told me it is like chewing your own tongue, which is the exact feeling I got during my last ox tongue tasting experience).
It is important to mention that out of three different menus that I tried at No Reservations, this was the best, so whoever hasn’t been yet it is definitely a good time to go!
The canapés with Robiola, traditional Cyprus candied fruit and mustard was excellent and so was the radicchio cream with gorgonzola and walnuts. The shrimp with pancetta and potato cream was also excellent with a perfectly sweet but also savoury taste and the tortellone with ricotta, spinach and porcini mushrooms was excellent, it had a smooth filling and was not too heavy. The lamb in filo pastry (which I imagined substituted the “kleftiko” we had last time) was also very good and full of flavour. The only d
ish out of the nine (main) ones which I didn’t like was the duck which was a bit chewy for my taste. I also thought that the halibut with zucchini (that was in fact good) was a bit neutral in terms of taste.What really surprised me was the 5 mini desserts that were, in my opinion excellent without being “overly gourmet”, i.e. merely sweet and overly-complicated. The caramelized pineapple crumble was fantastic (and the reason why the Proud Cypriot friend who is supposed to be allergic in sugar ate two portions of it), the pannacota with berries was also good and tasted like berry yoghurt, whereas the Chocolate guanaja shot was close to a shot of nutella. The pear tart was also good but I preferred the Amaretto ice cream that came with it.
What is even better is that all of the above with 2 drinks costs around 40€ per person, as the price for the very good wine by the glass that I had was 5€ per glass. The extremely friendly hostesses also kindly gave us a discount as, despite having ordered the full menu, we took out a couple of dishes.
A dinner of this range could easily cost more than 60€ a head but the fact that the owners, decided to keep it fair and retain their fantastic value for money policy allows us to return again and again!
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