Ta Piatakia
Little plates… big flavour!
Limassolians are divided into three groups: those who know about Ta Piatakia Restaurant; those who don’t; and those who’ve heard about it, but never been. Not even open five years, this restaurant rivals anything New York, London, Paris or Tokyo could offer. If I seem a little biased, I’ll admit it – I am. I have been many times and am yet to have even an inkling of a bad experience. Everything from the atmosphere to the d?cor, background music, restaurant layout, service and most important of all, food, oozes a good time. Allow me to elaborate.
We’ll start with the fact that it’s small. There couldn’t be seating for more than 30 to 40 at a pinch, with the tables placed close together to give a cosy atmosphere.
Background music adds to the atmosphere without being overbearing. There are literally hundreds of little plates (Ta Piatakia means little plates in Greek) attached to the walls and dangling from the ceiling, tastefully augmented by vivid paintings (by the owner himself) and equally vividly-coloured walls. The stairs lead up to a small sitting area and the cellar. Wine prices are clearly marked on all the bottles (a reasonable £8.50-£12.50 for local and £11-£15 for imported) and you are invited to go and choose your wine from the selection, which allows you to read the labels and/or peruse the wine books on display if you wish.
Waiters come to take drinks orders almost the minute you sit down at the table, which has a paper “top cloth” to allow an easy change from the inevitable spills of the evening. Funnily enough, this practicality does nothing to detract from the overall impression. Drinks are served immediately and menus provided.
Roddy, the owner – originally from South Africa – is the master chef behind the restaurant and although each of the dishes on the menu are lovely, it is the specials that most people go for, taking advantage of the opportunity to taste Roddy’s combination of unusual flavours for the day. He takes all orders personally, gleefully and passionately explaining in detail each dish, most containing local produce.
So, what did we go for? Well, to start with there’s the deep fried celery leaves, ever-so-lightly spiced, crisply-coated celery leaves and a must. We followed this with aubergine dip and pita bread, large green olives in an orange and ginger sauce, feta parcel with honey (an unusual salty-sweet dish), and seasonal salad, which changes regularly but on this occasion comprised rocket and cos lettuce leaves, pomegranate and kefalotiri cheese with a honey and mustard dressing. Fabulous and extremely refreshing.
Since each dish arrives in small portions, it’s easy to choose a wide variety. Personal experience had taught me to order the duck: succulent pieces of duck complemented by the sweetness of walnut. Roddy recommended the slow-cooked pork with quince and although I wouldn’t normally order such a dish, I did and was pleasantly amazed at the tenderness of the meat and the sweet tang of the quince. Another of the day’s specials that caught our fancy was the kebab of five prawns in fresh coriander, ginger and chilli sauce, which though small, were again, delicious!
As accompaniments, we chose the smooth, creamy concoction of mashed potato with dill, colourful and flavoursome grilled vegetables, and mushrooms with commandaria and rosemary – all scrumptious. A small plate of baby octopus was being served at the table next door and looked so good we took one of those too!
For dessert, we chose a digestive cherry sorbet tower with mixed berries and a not-so-digestive (but absolutely magnificent) pavlova with cream and hazelnut/chocolate topping. Individually divine, we couldn’t help but mix the two together for a truly delectable finale to the meal.
Large teapots of hot water arrived along with a huge wooden box holding every tea available from which to choose, when we ordered our tea.
Now for the true pearl to this oyster: the price. As most dishes are between £2 and £5 with enough to share between two, you choose how much you want to eat and spend.
Theoretically it’s possible to get just one dish, one drink and maybe a salad which could total under a tenner… but I challenge you to be able to limit yourself to that once you get inside! If you haven’t already been, go.
VITAL STATISTICS
SPECIALITY Meze
WHERE Ta Piatakia Restaurant, Nikodimou Mylona Street, Limassol
CONTACT 25 745017
WHEN 6pm – late. Closed Sundays
BOOKING Essential
PRICE individual dishes £2 to £5
