Discovering Kyparissos this month was really down to social media brainwashing. Obviously, my algorithm favours restaurants, but Kyparissos kept coming up, and I didn’t know the name at all.

After a little research, I realised it was a restaurant I had driven past so many times on my way into Kathikas, but for whatever reason I had never turned into the car park. Upon arrival, the algorithm hype melted into genuine delight. This restaurant revealed a level of cooking that made me grateful I had followed the digital breadcrumbs all the way to its door.

The restaurant is huge, with green taverna chairs matching the tablecloths. The interior on the night we visited was spotlessly clean, and it was definitely too cold and wet to sit in one of the outdoor areas dotted around the restaurant. At the back, as you park your car, you’re greeted by row upon row of vines leading to the restaurant and spectacular views. The menu is extensive, offering all of the Cypriot favourites. A particularly nice touch was the first page, with photos of the four generations involved in the restaurant since it started in 1960, and an explanation of how it all began with their grandfather announcing he would open a taverna after a family barbecue. Wow – how it has grown over the intervening years.

As part of the menu, there was a daily special of spinach pie, so we bypassed the selection of hot and cold small dishes and started with that to share. Complimentary toasted bread splashed with olive oil and herbs was served with gorgeous olives and a very tasty tahini on the side. The spinach pie’s arrival at the table was a lesson in excellent food presentation, and it applied to everything on the menu.

I have never seen a pie look so enticing. They split it into four parts on a chopping board and scattered cherry tomato halves and cheese crumbs over it. Beneath the whisper-thin sheets of filo pastry was a wonderful filling of spinach, soft herbs, and cheese, creating a decadent, savoury, velvety centre. The four of us quickly demolished it.

Choosing our main courses wasn’t easy and took much deliberation.

The first main was Spicy Lamb Meatballs, served over a Greek pitta with the freshest finely cut salad, tzatziki, and fries in a little basket. The meatballs were a winner and captured Kyparissos’ ethos: high-quality, fresh ingredients expertly cooked in the kitchen. The meatballs had real aromatic depth, were bold and indulgent, and were seared to a smoky crust. With the other ingredients on the plate, it offered perfection in textures and flavours.

Two of us decided to try the Souvlaki in both pork and chicken versions, as others had praised it online. The best Souvlaki is all about the purity of fire and the patience to produce it. You want your meat to be kissed by the charcoal, not smothered by it. The Souvlaki at Kyparissos was juicy, tender and a generous portion. Both dishes came with salad, traditional pitta, and homemade fries with tzatziki on the side. Both were the finest examples of this traditional dish.

Our final main course was the Marinated Chicken, which was three pieces of chicken breast. It was crispy where it needed to be and succulent inside. Chicken is always highly attractive when the flavours sink deep into the meat and is richly seasoned. The Kyparissos version had a slow infusion of lemon, garlic, and fragrant herbs, resulting in tender, aromatic chicken with a whisper of smokiness. Everybody at the table was delighted with their choice and individual dish.

Rather embarrassingly, before we could order our pre-selected homemade desserts to share, a plate with four pieces of delectable orange cake was placed in front of us on the house. As we ordered two more desserts to write about, you could see the waiter’s face betraying his thoughts of greedy people! Still, we were glad to share an Anari Surprise and the Kyparissos Chocolate Cake – a word of warning that desserts here are definitely designed to be shared. The Anari dessert was very different to versions we have enjoyed in the past: like little mince pies with a filling of Anari cheese lifted by the strong flavour of Cinnamon. The chocolate cake was light and fluffy, with a velvety, decadent chocolate topping, served with ice cream and cream.

Combined with excellent service throughout the meal and a bottle of the house red from the family vineyard, the whole experience at Kyparissos was superb. A family-run taverna like this deserves every bit of praise. It is the kind of place where the cooking is heartfelt, the flavours are excellent, and every plate feels like it’s been carried from someone’s home kitchen.

I look forward to returning, either to try their full meze, which you just know would be pretty special, or their set menu Sunday lunch, which includes a variety of dishes for €25. Kyparissos is certainly a little piece of gastronomic heaven in the hills.

VITAL STATISTICS

SPECIALTY Cypriot

PRICES Cold Starters from €4.00, Hot Starters from €9.50, Salads from €10.00, Main Dishes from €15.50, Sunday Set Menu €25.00.

WHERE Leoforos Aki Kleanthous. Kathikas, Paphos. Main road up from Peyia.

WHEN Open every day except Wednesday. 1 – 11 pm. Reservations recommended.

CONTACT 99 557 545

Paphos honoured journalist Sevgiul Uludag in an event on Thursday, for her contribution efforts to establish the fate of people who went missing in Cyprus.

Uludag’s investigative reporting, which aided in locating graves of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, was celebrated at the Paphos literary and arts centre for Cyprus Missing Persons Day.

Uludag, who died in June at the age of 67, was remembered for promoting truth, humanity and justice across dividing lines.

The programme included a screening of a film by Panicos Chrysanthou about the journalist and an address by centre president Stelios Sofokleous.

In a career which spanned over four and a half decades, Uludag devoted herself to the cause of Cyprus’ missing, the more than 2,000 people left unaccounted for after intercommunal violence in the 1960s and the Turkish invasion in 1974.

She became the first Cypriot to be awarded the international courage in journalism award in 2008, while also winning the European citizen’s prize in 2014 and being nominated for the Nobel peace prize in 2019.