Restaurant review

Colosseum

Eyes up

Easy to miss, the Colosseum restaurant in Paphos is well worth the trip
IT’S always much easier to sit down and write a sizzlingly bad food review, mainly because there is such a limited vocabulary available when it comes to describing good food whereas with bad food there’s no such poverty of language.

But, people don’t really want to know where to go to experience a dodgy dinner. It’s always the reverse, they want to know, when planning a meal out, that there is a fair chance they will not regret the decision.

So when one discovers an establishment that doesn’t muck around with the food, is friendly, wholesome, reasonably priced and with excellent wines then we feel moved to shout about it.

The food language at the Colosseum is pure Italian; well half really as Nico Charalambous, chef and owner of the restaurant, is only half Italian. But it’s the all-essential cooking half inherited from his mother.

Most readers who know Paphos will be scratching their heads saying ‘where is the Colosseum Restaurant?’ And ‘if it’s been open for three years, why didn’t we know about it’? It’s because many of us browsing for bruschetta, bolognaise or bisteca barolo rarely, if ever, cast our eyes higher than street level and so miss out on the town’s many attractive roof-top restaurants.

Another reason for not venturing higher is the always present fear factor. ‘What if I make my way up all these stairs and it turns out the place is a veritable culinary wilderness and I’m trapped?’

It’s winter and the splendid roof-top area of the Colosseum is closed so you make your way into what looks like a cosy reproduction of a classic Ristorante: soft lighting, plenty of room between tables, candles and full silver service. Mercifully there’s no piped muzak, just a calm quiet environment where one can pay homage to some seriously good wines and tuck into a good variety of classic Italian nosh.

We started with a small meze of appetisers, voting high points for the Gorgonzola-stuffed mushrooms, even higher for the Melanzane Parmigiana, a simple dish to muck up even though most kitchens turn out a sour and sad, mushy mess – here it was cooked to perfection.

Nico is justifiably proud of his marinated raw fillet of beef in the form of a delicious Carpaccio al Parmigiano. The Piccata Picanti, pork fillet with chillies, tomato sauce and rosemary was a big hit with my dining partner. I plumped for the equally tasty Pollo Colosseum, which combined chicken, green peppers, mushrooms, and cream, served with a portion of juicy risotto.

At the table next us, a party of four English couples were enjoying what must be the most bargainous set menu meal in the whole of Paphos. For the remarkably reasonable price of £7.95 they were able to select from four starters, then from six main courses, which included a fresh grilled sea bream, pepper or gorgonzola steak, then puddings, plus a free bottle of wine per four diners.

Here portions are hearty, the quality is good and every dish we tasted had that definite home-made sauce and fresh, stock-pot flavour. No doubt about it, we will be returning, not only for the food but also to experience the excellent ministering of the waiting staff in the delightful form of Olga, who also doubles as an accomplished piano player.
But, fear not, she does not sit there all night furiously tickling the ivories so you then give up on the power of speech as yet another Sinatra ditty abuses your auditory system. It’s only at the end of the evening that you are treated to a little Bach or Beethoven and very nice it is too.

Speciality Good sauce combinations.
Kids welcome.
Seating inside-40 outside 60
Where 101 Daneas Street, Olympian Complex, Kato Paphos (next door to the Theofano Hotel)
Contact 26 913278
Booking advisable
Price