Bar review: Swimming Birds, Nicosia

Plastic bottles contribute greatly to plastic pollution. That’s why I always applaud places such as Swimming Birds for offering free drinking water in a glass jug.

The welcoming café-bar opened last month by two women whose friendship and love for coffee brought them together in Palia Elektriki street next to the old Nicosia town hall.

I sat at the bar with a friend, impressed with the printed menu, curious about the homemade iced-tea but decided to go for something different. A chocolate negroni is one of the signature cocktails which – to my excitement – came with a chocolate shell floating in it. Slurping my chocolatey alcoholic beverage with great satisfaction – sweet but not excruciatingly so – my friend enjoyed a local IPA called Humor. While I admit I was tempted by the delicious-looking feta and spinach quiche sitting invitingly on the bar, I made do with the crackers drizzled with olive oil and oregano that came with my friend’s beer.

The café turns into a bar after 7pm according to the owners, but more munchies for the hungry ones are always available, while at night you can find cheese and meat platters to go with your wine.

The place is a perfect balance between old and modern, on our right inside the bar was a big brick wall but on our left a minimal black and white corner with small terrazzo tables.

In an attempt to find the bathroom, I discovered a small cozy garden in the back for smokers etc. The theme must be summer despite the cold weather, judging from the beach chairs and a beautiful shell ashtray – deja vu.

 

Swimming Birds

Where: 5 Palia Elektriki street, Nicosia

When: Monday to Friday 7.30am-12am, Saturday 9.30am-12am

Contact: 22 019257

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.