A Lesson in SPANISH

The one thing I like about Nicosia is the old town with its aging architecture, teeny tiny windy streets and the little cultural spots dotted around in unexpected places. The other thing I love about the old town is out of the ordinary cafes, bars and restaurants you find there.

Well actually, I would never find them, because old town Nicosia is somewhat a maze of one way streets. But luckily for me, I have a friend who is as good, if not better than the Cyprus Time Out magazine. She knows all theses cool coffee shops, beautiful bars and amazing restaurants, which is perfect as anything to do with food is a winner for me!

So on Friday night we ventured into the maze of old town Nicosia in search of Casa Vieja. She may be the Time Out guide but she is not Google Maps and after tackling the one way streets and making two rounds in the car we found parking (a triumph in itself on a Friday night in Nicosia) and tucked down a side street was Casa Vieja. Set in an old Cypriot style house, Casa Vieja is a warm and cosy little Spanish themed hideaway. The decor has been done perfectly, with warm walls, beautiful paintings and tiled tables (which I would have taken home with me if I had a Mary Poppins handbag).

And the Menu seems like it has been handpicked to get your mouth watering from the first line. A perfect amount of dishes offering meat, fish and vegetable Tapas options and of course Paella, which is important. If you open a menu and are bombarded by a million and one things its almost an effort to pick something to eat when the choices are endless. But Casa Vieja has it down to T.

We took a Paella (which be warned takes 40 minutes to make so beware if you are super hungry) and several other tapas dishes which in hindsight were a bit unnecessary. The other thing I like in a restaurant is a generous portion. And Casa Vijea certainly delivers that....with eyes bigger than our stomachs we had to leave half of our paella untouched. But the final defining point of this place which gave it a big thumbs up from me....they box up any leftovers to take home!!

And with a few glasses of an amazing Spanish wine, this place is definitely to be visited. I would reccommend a reservation as its not huge (being a converted house) and it is popular with every table full when we went.

Unfortunately, I was too busy eating, drinking and absorbing the atmosphere to take photographs, except of my boxed leftovers.

But I would definitely hunt it down and visit, not just for the paella or the sangria, but for the Spanish experience in the heart of Cyprus.