We were at a social function in the centre of the capital when I was asked if we had reviewed La Spaghetteria which was open and close by. I must have passed it a thousand times and not seen it. Any number of friends and relatives, particularly those with an Italian leaning, have dined there and mentioned the home made pasta in all its forms.The establishment has been there for years and obviously serving the customers to a reasonable standard, or so one would expect... Read on

In the heart of the bustling Phinikoudes promenade are countless options for tourists and locals to sit down and relax over a coffee or a bite to eat. As the weather gets better and the days get longer, outdoor seating as well as a beach view are a must. For a place that offers all this and more, Segafredo is a must-visit café for the approaching season.Situated beside the Sun Hall Hotel near the start of the Phinikoudes, Segafredo is a café that offers superb quality Italian coffee and top class food at extremely reasonable prices to suit the current climate. The food on offer is worth a try; convenient options like sandwiches and wraps are made to perfection while more elaborate dishes are made to serve everybody’s needs... Read on

Miraculously, I enjoyed a new taste sensation in Ayia Napa this week. It was new for me anyway. I’m flummoxed to how I failed to notice that top notch Polynesian cuisine has been served in the resort since 2003. I blame the location, but more on that in a moment.So, my friends, for the first time ever in this column we are off to the South Seas. ... Read on

Feeling obliged to take some foreign colleagues out for drinks towards the end of their stay led me to choosing Café Mercedes for a number of reasons. I had asked them whether they wanted trendy or laid-back, although I fearfully knew the answer would be trendy. Wanting to go somewhere I had never been before but not wanting to be too far from the local laid-back bars like Brewfellas and the Weaving Mill, I chose Café Mercedes for our excursion... Read on

 In the past Kathryn Bigelow has made a point of stating that she is a filmmaker, rather than a female filmmaker. She didn’t mention the fact that she was the first woman to get a Best Director Oscar when she received her Academy Award for Hurt Locker. Of course she has a point, on one level it can look a tad patronising to point out a woman’s gender when she does well. We would never do that if a man won a Best Director Award. Why would we? They always win. Or they always did until she won. No such luck with Zero Dark Thirty though. But you have to wonder how this film is different, better even, than it might have been because it was directed by a woman... Read on

Anyone who has ever lived with someone with a mental illness will probably recognise the humour in this film. In fact, I would think most people would find it pretty funny; it is even laugh-out-loud hilarious at times (more so at the beginning than the end, it has to be said). There is nothing intrinsically amusing about two central characters recovering from a mental breakdown, but often the situations that arise out of misunderstandings and odd perceptions that those characters have, and the things they say, can be very funny. Listing competing medications over dinner for one... Read on

You know how it is. You sit down, the waiter hands over the menu, you read and think, ‘Okay, nice’ but deep down what you really desire even from a short menu are dishes that proffer some genuine level of stimuli for ones often recalcitrant taste buds. Believe me (please) reading the Almond Tree menu is akin to browsing through a culinary equivalent of the Kama Sutra - here you are introduced to flavour combinations which are both unusual, even adventurous, yet all are deliciously tempting and do promise hidden pleasures far beyond the bog standard we are often served... Read on

Saripolou Square in Limassol’s old town centre is a vibrant space where charming bar restaurants abound; it is a sort of ‘social’ melting pot, busy day and night, frequented by students, hipsters, young families with children, and even the elderly. The ambience, however, is decidedly ‘young’. The latest addition to this busy square is Just Kitchenbar, a place that shares all the defining characteristics of its location... Read on

 Hard to know why The Sessions is being shown at the Cyprus multiplex, since it’s neither a brand-name sequel nor a remake nor even a star vehicle. This is actually a low-budget indie (it cost around $1 million; G.I. Joe cost $185 million) on a decidedly grown-up subject, being the true story of Mark O’Brien (John Hawkes), a man in an iron lung – crippled, not to say paralysed, by childhood polio – who, at 38, starts to think about experiencing sex for the first time, and arranges a number of sessions with a “sex surrogate... Read on

 ... Read on