Restaurant review: Shiftouris, Larnaca

I have been craving two things. Some well-cooked, traditional Cypriot food and to get out of the house. Luckily, I managed to find myself the perfect way to satisfy both of these.

A while back I had been told the Shiftouris restaurant was somewhere that I had to try. But circumstances being what they are, sadly I did not manage to go. But it was welcome news to learn that this traditional little taverna is currently offering take-away.

Shiftouris is a proper, old school taverna. No frills but quality food. It wouldn’t take long to decide what to order for a couple of reasons. One being that the menu has only a handful of options. To be more precise, Kleftico, souvlakia (chicken and pork), sieftalies, loukaniko, pourgouri, halloumi and potatoes. As simple as that. The second reason it wouldn’t take long is because there is really no decision to make. If you’re going to Shiftouris it’s because either you have heard about the kleftico and want to see if it lives up to the hype or, you’ve been to Shiftouris and know that the kleftico is as good as everybody says it is!

Shiftouris is a family-run business that has been in operation for over 100 years! Staying in operation for that long by serving such a limited variety of food can mean only one thing. It’s good! The restaurant is in the heart of Larnaca, away from the tourist and other more popular areas, which means Shiftouris doesn’t depend on tourism and manages to survive off local customers.

Shiftouris is offering only take away at the moment, they don’t deliver. If you do want Kleftico, it’s best to decide and order well in advance. If you call at dinner time expecting to go pick some up in 20 minutes, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment as it is likely they will have run out. Seeing as it is a dish that takes six to eight hours to slow cook in one of the huge clay ovens that they have, it only makes sense to order in advance.

The portion sizes are more than generous. A very substantial piece of meat accompanied by absolutely fantastic oven-cooked potatoes. If you were to order a meat dish of that size in a restaurant in the centre of town or in a tourist area, you would expect to spend close to €20 at least. Shiftouris offers this perfectly cooked, fall off the bone, melt in the mouth dish for a shockingly low price of only €8!

As if the low price and great food isn’t good enough, the family who run the restaurant are extremely friendly. Although I was a first time customer, they seemed pleased to see me and made me feel like I was a regular who had been going there for years.

When I got home with the food, it was still piping hot so, no quality lost on the journey home. We thoroughly enjoyed our kleftico and I will most definitely be going back for more!

VITAL STATISTICS

SPECIALTY Kleftico

WHERE Shiftouris, Leontiou Maxaira, Larnaca

WHEN Tuesday-Saturday 12pm-11pm, Sunday 11.45am-5pm

CONTACT 24 669422