Bayroot, Nicosia

Maybe you’ve dined at places so perfectly run they feel like a well-oiled machine. Maybe you’ve also eaten at spots that seem to have launched after watching a 15-minute YouTube video titled ‘How to Be a Restaurateur’.

Perhaps the first felt too manufactured, too streamlined, too corporate; the second, wildly out of its depth.

Please find enclosed, for your consideration, Bayroot Lebanese Restaurant.

This restaurant, which moved in 2025 from its cosy Strovolos hole-in-the-wall to a new Acropolis address, is surreal enough to belong in a 1960s episode of The Twilight Zone.

The setting alone deserves its own review. Perched on the corner of two of Nicosia’s busiest arteries, the outdoor space is immense, made all the more obvious by how sparsely furnished it is.

Six tables occupy a patio big enough for a half-court basketball game. Five are clustered together; the sixth sits in lonely exile, occupied by shisha smokers.

We choose one of the five. Within seconds a young waitress hands us menus heavy on photographs but light on drink options: no wine, no arak. A peek inside reveals a bar stocked with exactly five bottles of beer, proudly displayed on the upper shelf, and a separate shelf of shisha supplies. That’s it, nothing more.

We order a fattoush salad, a falafel platter, deep-fried cauliflower, a mixed grill, and the Bayroot labneh (strained yogurt with olive oil, and a “house twist”).

Everything arrives at once, family-style – a decision that can be charming or chaotic, depending on execution. Luckily, this time it’s the former.

The low point is easy to spot: the cauliflower. Instead of the bright, lightly crisp palate cleanser we hoped for, it lands as limp florets and assorted vegetables drenched in oil, more ordeal than appetizer.

The fattoush redeems things with crisp pita shards, fresh vegetables and a well-seasoned, lemony brightness that erases the cauliflower’s gloom.

Then come the falafel, arguably the dish by which most Middle Eastern restaurants are judged. These came out looking picture-perfect with a golden, crunchy crust and greenish-yellow interior that, unfortunately, promised a little more than they could deliver.

The texture and colour were both right, but the salt simply bulldozed all the other spices, overwhelming the entire offering with such a basic error.

The three-skewer mixed grill (tawook, lahme and kafta) rights the ship. Juicy, perfectly seasoned, served with a side of fries and a parsley-onion mix, it’s the kind of plate that elicits a thoughtful ‘mmm’.

And then the labneh. Saved for last, but it deserves centre stage. Thick, tangy yogurt swirled with olive oil, crowned with fried cashews and shards of crispy garlic. The interplay of creamy, nutty and fragrant is frankly otherworldly. There is nothing subtle, delicate or ethereal about it. This is the blunt force trauma equivalent for the palate, but it works so well. I would happily order another pint of beer and a stack of pita and spend the evening with nothing but this dip.

Bayroot is a restaurant still in the process of finding its footing. The space feels half-finished, the menu incomplete, the bar a distant afterthought. Yet amid the missteps are flashes of brilliance – chief among them that unforgettable labneh and a grill that shows real potential.

If you can forgive the rough edges and embrace the surreal, you’ll glimpse the restaurant it’s trying to become. And that, in its own way, is a journey worth tasting.

VITAL STATISTICS

SPECIALTY Lebanese cuisine

WHERE Bayroot, Ifigeneias 48, Nicosia

WHEN Daily 12pm – 10.30pm

CONTACT 94 042642

HOW MUCH €4.50 – €8 for starters, €5.50 – €9 for sandwiches, €7 – €15 for mains