Paphos Castle
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When I'm on holiday, I tend to plan my days around food… You know you must be on holiday when one of the hardest decisions to make is about what to eat and where! I'll even find myself thinking about what I might fancy for dinner even at breakfast. Craving aubergine on my last day in Cyprus, it was obvious - moussaka!
I love moussaka. I love it because I love everything in it - mince meat, thick cream, cheese and, of course, aubergines!
If he reckon's it's good, it's got to be good - The Hondros Taverna
Hondros Taverna
As well as adorning the menus, Hondros (the man in the vest above) also stands proudly as the sign outside the taverna.
Walking around the popular Kato Paphos area, I couldn't help but be drawn in by a rather large man complete with cigarette, white vest and cap looking at me. Admittedly, on paper, he doesn't sound particularly appealing. Let's face it, you don't read that and think Brad Pitt! But something about him worked for me…
It wasn't just me either, Hondros Taverna, the place he was smiling from was popular! Perhaps it's a look that says 'hey, you want good food? This is where you get good food.' But I wasn't hungry yet so I carried on walking. Several hours, a stroll around the immense Archaeological Park and a glass of ouzo by the harbour later, I was.
Chilling with a glass of ouzo at the harbour
Right on the waterfront, La Boite 67 is a good spot for an aperitivo drink.
And although there's a whole plethora of restaurants and bars at the harbour that would make for a pleasant evening, I couldn't stop thinking about the large man wearing a white vest. So I headed back to Hondros Taverna.
Located right by the large car park, it's not as beautiful spot as the harbour where you can overlook the sea and castle. But it has a large terrace with lots of lovely greenery, a large stone oven and spit roast. In fact, if I hadn't been thinking about moussaka all day, I totally would have been sold by the tantalising smells of the spit roast where they had several juicy looking chickens spinning slowly round. A couple near me had it though and it looked amazing and if I had another day, I'd have absolutely no qualms about heading right back here to try it (if you do, feel free to let us know what it was like in the comments below…)
Spit roast in the terrace
I loved the inside of the restaurant too. Very much touted as a traditional taverna (they say it's the oldest one in town!), there is extra interest with the various paintings, murals and scribbles from happy customers that fill the walls. You might not be served by a man with a white vest but you might find yourself sitting by a few of his friends.
Hondros' friends?
Everything about it was welcoming, cosy and friendly. More importantly, they had moussaka on the menu!
To start though, I had their tzatziki with freshly baked bread, which was great. The tzatziki tasted fresh and was full of flavour. I could taste the garlic, mint, yoghurt and lemon without any of them overpowering the others.
Tzatziki and bread
Here is my moussaka…
Moussaka
It looked and tasted beautiful. At the bottom was a thin layer of sliced potato, followed by aubergine, mince mean, more aubergine and topped of with a thick layer of béchamel sauce and cheese. It was exactly what I was looking for and the salad with slices of radish was a great accompaniment.
And I couldn't leave without something sweet to finish so here's a look at my baklava before I polished it off.
Sticky and crumbly baklava
Amazingly sticky and crumbly at the same time!
As for the man in a vest - inside, you'll find out his name is Giorgos and he first opened the restaurant up 60 years ago. You also learn that Hondros was his nickname, which means 'fat man'. Thankfully, Giorgos or Hondros can rest happy that the people behind it now are doing him proud.
Finding Hondros Taverna
Hondros Taverna
96 Apostolos Pavlos Avenue
Kato Paphos
Paphos
Tel: + 357 26 934256
A look inside...
Located largely away from where most restaurants and bars are by the harbour, Hondros Taverna is easy to find. It's just a short walk from the Harbour on the main street going towards the Tomb of Kings. Keep walking past the large car park by the Archaeological Park and there is another car park beside it. Hondros Taverna is just on your left after this car park.
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