Illustrative image · Not a meal photographed at a named restaurantA TABLE TO SHARE
Your first Cypriot meze in Paphos: ordering, portions and where to start
Meze is a meal of shared small dishes that arrives in stages. Choose it for an unhurried introduction to Cypriot cooking, then agree the type, number of diners and total price with the restaurant before the first plates arrive.
| Option | Choose it for | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Meat meze | A meal built around varied meat dishes alongside smaller plates. | The dishes and serving sequence depend on the kitchen. |
| Fish meze | A seafood-led meal with a different selection. | Do not assume the meat-meze price or the same inclusions. |
| Vegetarian meze or individual dishes | A meal chosen around your dietary needs or appetite. | Ask what is actually prepared without meat or fish; vegan needs are different. |
Think of it as the meal, not a starter
The appeal of meze is tasting several things without choosing a single main course. A table may start with bread, dips and salad before other dishes arrive, but the exact selection belongs to the restaurant. Seasonal ingredients and the kind of meze change what you receive.
Our recommendation for a first visit is to order the agreed meze and let it develop before adding separate starters or main courses. Eating all the bread immediately can leave little room for the later dishes. Choose an evening when conversation and dinner can take their time.
Agree how many people you are ordering for
Ask whether the menu price is per person, whether a minimum number of diners applies and whether everyone at the table must choose the same type. These are restaurant policies, not universal rules for meze. A printed price beside “meze” is not enough to establish the bill for a family.
For two adults and children, explain who wants the full meal and who would prefer a separate dish. Agree that arrangement before ordering. If one person wants fish and another vegetarian food, ask how the kitchen handles the combination; do not assume every restaurant can split a set menu.
Choose the setting as well as the menu
Hondros offers a starting point near the harbour for traditional taverna cooking and meze. It can fit a Kato Paphos evening without turning dinner into another cross-town trip. Use the restaurant page for its location and current contact details.
For an Old Town outing, keep the restaurant choice separate from an assumption that every traditional kitchen serves a fixed meze. Laona’s changing home-cooked dishes, for example, make sense as an alternative when you would rather choose an individual plate. A Cypriot meal does not have to be meze to be worth seeking out.
Vegetarian, vegan and allergies need specific answers
A table of small plates can hide ingredients as easily as a single main dish. Ask about stock, dairy, eggs, fish and shared preparation according to your own needs. Do not assume that removing the grilled meat creates a suitable vegetarian or vegan meal.
Explain allergies directly to the restaurant before ordering and again when seated. If the kitchen cannot clearly describe the proposed meal, choose dishes or another venue that it can explain. Our vegetarian and vegan guide provides another starting point, but a directory label cannot replace the kitchen’s answer.
Keep the extras and the journey simple
Ask whether drinks and dessert are included in the menu you select. Compare the final expected bill rather than the number of small plates: more dishes do not necessarily make a better meal. If you want a lighter dinner, ordering individual dishes can be the better decision.
Choose a restaurant in the area where you want to spend the evening and arrange the return journey if you travel further afield. For a guided countryside day with tastings and lunch, the food-and-wine excursion below is a separate experience. For making food yourself, consider the halloumi workshop.
Prefer a guided food day?
Troodos food and wine tour from Paphos
A separate food-and-wine excursion with a meze lunch listed. Choose this for a guided countryside day; a restaurant meal in Paphos needs no tour booking.
Check dates on Viator ↗Choose your date and party on Viator for current prices and availability. Booking and payment take place there.
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