We attended a dinner gathering of several U.S. fellows in the same program as Prof. Now this is the third time we have gone out without the kids because dinner was scheduled for 8 pm. (This is, dare I say, the most number of times we have gone out without the kids in a year! Boy, Cyprus certainly has changed me in more ways than I thought.)
According to The Rough Guide to Cyprus, the place “started out as a four-table café for (allegedly) Syrian secret-services personnel to smoke their hubble-bubbles has grown into an ample garden restaurant, with seating under three parallel tents.”
Prof and I arrived early before our other friends arrived, and we got to watch the staff make fresh pita bread and Syrian flat bread.
I watched the staff place the dough on this round heating contraption. He then slapped the dough with what looked like a large round cushion to get that toasted brown look on the Syrian flat bread.
The staff was very friendly, even teasing me in Greek, Arabic, and English all in the same sentence.
I saw a man smoking something on a silver pipe that looked a little sketchy, but Prof said it is a hookah. And once our group arrived, we sat down for what was to be an incredible dinner.
Meze Dinner
For a group of 11 adults, we ordered meze for 8 people and that was plenty of food to go around. Now, there were only two male adults, and the rest women, so you might want to take that into consideration if you have a largely male group going out for dinner.
(meat platter of beef, lamb, and chicken)
My full glass of red wine, which is also the fullest I have ever had.
And can I say that the food was delicious? It was even better than Zanetto’s.
I know, we had our special anniversary dinner at Zanetto’s, but the flavors at the Syrian Arab Friendship Club was much more flavorful without all the salt.
For More Information
Address: Vasilissis Amalias 17, Nicosia, Cyprus 1101
Phone: +357 22 776246
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/syrianclubcy
