Restaurant review: Street Food Yard, Nicosia

Cravings are difficult to explain. They hit you suddenly and you have no choice but to either resist or give in to them and find a way to placate your wishes. There is no halfway measure. Or so I thought…

The night I tried Street Food Yard my craving was Mexican. Not the refined, authentic and complex Mexican, but the American, slightly inaccurate and “dirty” version!

However, the best available choice to me was too far and too expensive, so frankly I was just about ready to give up.

Then I remembered that the cool kids nowadays, apart from ordering food, can also check menus on food apps such as Wolt and Foody. So I did.

Street Food Yard, with its Mac n cheese fried balls and chilli lasagna came closest to my wishes, plus it’s in Aglandjia, a stone’s throw away from my place. Why not?

First things first, the place is a summer spot, with its cool graffiti, arcade gaming consoles, bar area and breezy patio. During any other season it loses part of its appeal.

But I digress, onto the food.

As mentioned, the Mac n cheese fried balls stood out immediately when I checked the menu. Stuffed with pulled pork, maybe too little of it, and accompanied by marinara sauce, they were exactly what I expected, street food at its best, deep fried with a generous amount of coating and the right amount of satisfying.

Along with my faithful dining companion we also ordered the pork belly bao buns and the chicken tacos as starters.

The first were perfect, the meat melted in my mouth and the teriyaki sauce, usually a strong flavour, instead balanced it out, perhaps also thanks to the spring onion sprinkled on top. The buns, however, were over cooked and slightly hard at first bite.

The chicken tacos were another solid entry but they could have done with less mayo. They were also topped by kataifi, an original choice that I appreciated, my dining companion less so.

Onto the main dishes.

Just to make it clear, I don’t normally order so much food, but one needs to try as many things as possible to have a clear opinion about a place… yes, let’s stick to that!

We shared a double truffle burger and, hang tight, a chilli con carne lasagna.

The burger was the most American-resembling dish I have tried this side of the pond, bar the provolone cheese inside it, which, anyway, did not overwhelm any of the other flavours. What hit me the most was the actual bun, as it had a distinctly sweet aftertaste. Not something we Europeans are accustomed to but in the US literally everything has sugar in it, bread included.

As for the ‘lasagna’, although extremely far from what the original dish actually is, I appreciated the fact they tried to make it as different and quirky as possible.

Instead of sheets of pasta, it was in fact layered with tortillas and doused in much more béchamel than its Italian cousin. Generous and filling, the strong chilli, it goes without saying, went perfectly with the tortillas.

We were also offered a complimentary plate of churros, a nice touch, but after such a heavy meal, it was impossible to fully appreciate them. The butterscotch sauce, however, tasted great. They will remain as a memento for another visit, which will probably be in the summer after a day at the beach, with less food but more drinks on our table!

VITAL STATISTICS

SPECIALTY: American, Tex-Mex, pub style

WHERE: Street Food Yard, 1 Athalassa Street, Aglandjia, Nicosia

WHEN: Daily 6pm-2am

CONTACT: 77770503

HOW MUCH: €7-12 for a starter, €9-15 for burgers, €9-17 for mains