Pindarou 6A, 22004001, LEFKOSIA (NICOSIA)
Mon-Thu & Sat 12pm – 3.30, Fri 12pm – 3.30pm & 7.45 – 11pm, Sun Closed
Food: [rating:3] 3/5
Service: [rating:4] 4/5
Ambiance: [rating:3.5] 3.5/5
Before visiting this new restaurant I had heard some mixed comments. One person said it was a fantastic little place, a proper “cookshop”. The owners are the cooks and run the place themselves. They prepare a short, seasonal and international menu with innovative and special dishes. Another person had told me that although the place was cute the food was not quite there yet. I stand somewhere in between.
Situated on the lower end of Pindarou street it is rather central but not in the limelight, something which I liked. The place is small and cute. I particularly liked the rustic wood effect that was great for a cold, winter lunch date. It reminded me something between a chalet and an English grandma’s house. My proud Cypriot friend and I also liked the fact that there are merely 4-5 tables but it was so small that it was still buzzing on a Wednesday.
The menu, which is seasonal, is on a single A4 page and comprises four salads and ten main dishes. At a first glance it looked rather interesting and different. The salmon “gravlax” salad with mango, avocado and a sage and orange dressing drew our attention, and so did the creamy penne with “coummandaria” sausage. While trying to choose my lunch, however, I found that all the salads except the Greek one contained either a fruity dressing or fruit as an ingredient, something which I am not keen on as it makes it too sweet for my liking. The main dish choices had more variety with a large selection of vegetarian dishes as well.
We were served some home-made bread in a lovely pot with home-made dip which was quite promising. That was in fact the point where it showed that attention to detail and love was put into the food preparation. The salad with rocket, apples, oranges and walnuts with hot camembert and a berry dressing that we ordered as a starter was refreshing but a bit too citrusy. Having said that I did love the melting camembert effect.
I ordered a pork chop as main course which was marinated in herbs and was served with a potato puree and grilled vegetables. It was flavoursome and quite aromatic. I would prefer a more savoury rather than the slighly sweet potato puree. The grilled chicken on the bone with melted cheese that my proud 
Cypriot friend had was tasty but not as well-cooked as she would have liked.
If I had to grade the Cookshop in more detail I would say that it gets full marks for ambiance and vibe, it scores high in creativity and on their ability to offer something different, and also on product quality. I thought it doesn’t score as high on flavour. I don’t know if it is my taste buds and my preferences but that was my first impression. Given that everything else was very well done and well presented I would definitely give it a second shot and support these young people that have clearly have a lot of love and passion for food.
Finally the prices were fair with all main dishes being between 7-11.50€
