Review of 'O Kypreos'
Since O Kypreos opened we have talked about going but looking at the menu we were not overly inspired so it was only now, a year later, that we decided to give it a go…on a rainy Saturday evening in January. Despite wanting to visit early in the evening, this small restaurant on Hospital street, just around the corner from St. Mary's Church, was packed so it was just as well we reserved a table.
On entering the restaurant we waited by the door for a few minutes to be seated. There is a small bar to the back of the restaurant beside which is the entrance to the kitchen. The main dining area is divided in two with a large brick-faced, arched column that appeared to have an alcove for a television but was, thankfully, absent. The wood-topped tables are reasonably well placed around the slightly dimly lit room and the walls are modestly decorated with a couple of non-descript Greek/Cypriot pictures. Each table has one of those small battery-operated lights that are useful to those of us going blind when we try to read the menu.
We were shown to a small table for two in the back corner beside the toilets (only one male and one female stall) and had a look at the menu. It is a tri-fold glossy affair divided into “Cold Starters - Meze”, “Hot Starters - Meze”, “From the Firepit”, “House Specials”, “From the Sea”, “Vegetarian Dishes” and “Side Dishes” on the back. As you might expect, the menu features the flavours of Cyprus with dishes from both Greece and Türkiye (the two countries that at one time claimed the island). Prices are reasonable and there is a good selection to choose from.
There was a bit of confusion about the drink menu when the waiter realized we did not have a drink menu but rather an empty bill holder on the table, but, eventually we landed the drink menu from which I ordered quite a nice, but VERY tart, non-alcoholic cocktail “Passionfruit Punch” (£5.50) while my companion ordered a pint of Pepsi.
To start we ordered the “Falafel” (£8.85; “Pureed Chickpeas, Onions, Parsley, Garlic Patties mixed with Spices, Deep Fried on a Bed of Houmous”) from the “Hot Starters - Meze” menu, where all items come with bread, in this case a four pieces of bun and two slices of pitta. This is always a good test of whether a restaurant knows how to cook and in this case they passed with flying colours. The Falafel was crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and had a delicately spiced flavour. The houmous was also wonderful - smooth, not over seasoned, and easy on the tahini. The bread was also very good with the bun crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside (a theme, it seems) while the pitta was wonderfully soft, both served hot. We are glad we only ordered the one starter (meze) as it was quite a good size…
We waited quite a long time for our mains. While we were waiting I overheard the neighbouring table talking about the wait with what appeared to be the owner. The owner indicated he would go into the kitchen to see what he could do. Later when we were getting the bill he did apologize to us explaining that everything was cooked to order and they were quite busy. I could forgive this as the food was quite good indeed and worth the wait.
For my main, I ordered “Lamb Moussaka” (£19.50; “Layered Courgettes, Aubergines, Potatoes, seasoned Ground Lamb, topped with a Bechamel Sauce and a Tomato Sauce with Cheese. Oven baked. Served with a Traditional Village Salad”) from the “House Specials” which was served VERY hot in it's cooking pot. This, of course, was another test of the restaurant to see if they could do a good job of this Greek speciality. It passed though it was a tad bland…once my scorched taste buds could actually taste it. There was a good amount of meat in the dish and the Bechamel was quite light with only a slight amount of cheese adding a bit of tang. The aubergines were cooked beyond recognition and added only a slight amount of texture to the dish.
My side salad was a simple affair (I got an olive, but my companion did not) but tasted perfectly fine with only a very light hint of a dressing. I would have preferred more than just the taste of vinegar.
My companion ordered the “Lamb Guvec” (£20.95, also available as chicken; “Oven Baked Lamb or Chicken with Onion, Mixed Peppers, Mushrooms, Tomatoes & Garlic, Topped with Cheese. Served with Rice & Salad.”) also from the “House Specials”. This was a good sized portion with LOTS of large chunks of tender lamb and a tasty sauce. Putting the rice into the dish allowed her to soak up the juices and flavours while the side salad was a copy of mine (minus the olive).
From what I could see of the dessert menu written on a small black-board plaque, dropped on the table if required but stored here off to the side, there were not a huge number of options (ice cream, cake…) but we were not interested anyway having filled ourselves with the other courses.
At £59.55 for the two of us, with no tip added to the bill (though I insisted one be added when presented with the card machine) it was quite a good value considering the size and quality of the cooking. The service was friendly, prompt, and helpful, though I have to say it was fairly noisy when full making conversation slightly tricky but still possible.
We were impressed and will be back again to try some other options on the menu.
Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2026-01-31
Cuisine: Cyprus
Address: 7 Hospital St, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5RH ENGLAND
Public Transport: 
Nantwich
Location: Cheshire (England) - Nantwich
Map:
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Telephone: +44 (0) 1270 489605
URL: https://www.okypreos.com/