I always thought steak houses were dominated by men, men eating nothing but meat. So it was a relief upon stepping into Andria steak & grill restaurant that women were also seated at tables celebrating with their menfolk.
Chef Stelios Nicolaides and his brother Marios first opened 15 years ago in Coral bay as a snack bar and slowly developed into this meat lover’s destination. It’s a restaurant of quiet ambition set on land that belonged to their grandfather and although most would now hardly believe that this busy tourist strip was once just one large vineyard there is land that has been set aside to supply the restaurant with all its fresh vegetables and seasonal fruits so Stelios can boast the only regular purchases made for the restaurant are ketchup, mayonnaise and beef. In addition of course there is also a very good selection of fish and chicken dishes as an option.
Two friends who relish nothing better than sinking their teeth into good quality beef joined me to test drive some of the popular dishes on the menu. We began with an amuse bouche which here was very good: served in little glass dishes packed full of flavours and it worked well in awakening any recalcitrant taste buds. There is a daily blackboard of ‘specials’ and these include steaks, chicken, fish and prawn dishes plus a range of cocktails (do bust out and savour the Porn star beverage) then there is also a selection of imported flavoured ciders.
We started with a delicious plate of Carpaccio accompanied with very tasty rounds of Bruschetta plus a basket of homemade bread, there followed a refreshing dish of salmon Ceviche which again came laden with flavour, then it was on to the main course. Stelios believes that if one is serving the very best beef then this has to be accompanied by the very best sauces, and when I asked him what he loved cooking most I wasn’t surprised when he said it was his home made sauces. We all agreed that this love was indeed reflected in the perfectly cooked fillet steak served with a really excellent mushroom sauce. Chef’s other sauces include a Blue cheese, pepper and a zinging garlic sauce to partner your Rib eye, steak Rossini, T bone, fillet or Chateau Briand.
The blackboard menu offered a new one to me and when I asked what a Tomahawk steak was a few minutes later Stelios arrived at our table sporting a wooden board on which rested the bone Rib Steak weighing in at 1.2kg and cut from the fore-rib with the entire rib bone left. The long bone is then French trimmed, leaving a rather amazing presentation – as it is bone in Rib steak it has quite a large amount of inter-muscular fat which gives it stacks of flavour when cooked.
The resting period is vital for steaks and the Tomahawk requires at least 10-15 minutes to allow heat from the bone to re distribute across the meat so one is delivered of a lovely succulent juicy steak, which although quite expensive coming in at twice or triple the cost of a boneless rib eye there seems to be a good number of devotees out there who make a regular pilgrimage to Andria for this somewhat ‘primal’ feast.
The question would then be after consuming this would a pudding be out of the question? Sad then if you miss out on the crème brulee or the cheesecake served with fresh fruits and last week I was treated to chef’s very own home grown blackberries which was a real treat. Okay this is not a ‘cheap’ dinner but again here the motto is indeed true. You do get what you pay for, and at Andria it will always be quality and great flavours with every bite.
VITAL STATISTICS
SPECIALTY Steaks/Surf and Turf/chicken and fish/grilled prawns
WHERE Andria steak& grill restaurant, Coral Bay, Paphos
CONTACT-26 622622 or 99 545556, www.andriarestaurant.co.uk
HOW MUCH from €30 upwards depending on the cut of meat etc.
