Best Mexican Restaurant - East Of the Border?

If you happen to be visiting the Mediterranean region, specifically Cyprus, and suddenly feel like you are missing your regular dose of good ol' Mexican cooking, then be sure you drop by one of the best restaurants in Pafos. Lucky for you that restaurant happens to be Mexican, and the name is Dos Pesos Casa Mexicana Restaurant, located at 32, Tombs of The Kings Road, in the tourist area of Pafos, area which is otherwise known by the locals as Kato Pafos.

My husband and I are regular travelers and like to visit different countries every year, so last summer we picked Cyprus, which is located in the Mediterranean Sea. Cyprus is also called the "Island of Love", known as such because according to ancient Greek mythology it is the birth place of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. The myth says that Aphrodite was born off the sea foam (or "aphro" in Greek) in the region of Polis Chrysochous, district of Pafos.

Well, one fine, typical sunny Mediterranean day, we were strolling from our hotel apartment in Kato Pafos, down to the beach to catch some rays, and happened to notice the bright orange arches of an attractive restaurant. As we approached we noticed that all the table tops had colorful tiles and were nicely complimented by similar colored napkins and paper flowers. It is at that point that we looked up at the sign and realized that this wasn't your typical Cypriot restaurant, but actually a Mexican restaurant! In the middle of Pafos, of all places!

We were both very excited about our new discovery and decided to give Dos Pesos Casa Mexicana a try that evening. After all we had been touring the island for a few days and felt like we had enough of Cypriot and Greek food. Mind you, I'm not complaining about the Cypriot cuisine, which is actually very delicious, but we are avid eaters of Mexican food and felt like we were missing the spice already.

I must say we were very impressed both by the food and the service. Chatting with the friendly waitress we learned that this is a family owned business. The owner himself is a local but the wife is a Native American who grew up in Mexico City so the food had that authentic Mexican twist to it. Among their vast selection of delicious dishes the most popular one was their fajitas, served on sizzling plates. Most of the customers were being served fajitas, whether chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, vegetarian or a mixture of any choice. Those sizzlers were being sold like hot potatoes!

And oh, their Margaritas! I can't say enough about their Margaritas, which apparently are well known in town (and for a good reason, I might add). They were so good that I think I can dare to say that they were even better than some I've had back home. Besides your regular lemon/lime Margarita they had a variety of other flavors including kiwi, watermelon, strawberry, and peach (the first night we were there we noticed that the couple sitting at the table next to us tried all the flavors on the same night!). Us? Well we were a bit more conservative and decided to try a different one each night we went there. They were all superb and refreshingly welcomed in the hot summer nights of Cyprus.

The only (minor) drawback was that the prices were a bit on the high side (for our traveling budget) but we enjoyed it so much that in the 5 days we spent in Pafos we ended up having dinner there 4 times!

We felt very much at home surrounded by the Mexican décor, modern music (in Spanish) and friendly atmosphere, and authentic Mariachi "sombreros" brought all the way from Mexico, that one could borrow to have their picture taken.

This was our first time in Cyprus and we really enjoyed our stay there and admired all the beautiful places we visited. The scenery was just spectacular! But we were so impressed by this particular Mexican restaurant that I felt the compelling need to write a few lines about it.

So for those of you who have the travel bug, if you are ever in the neighborhood of Pafos, Cyprus don't forget to try at least once Dos Pesos Casa Mexicana Restaurant in Kato Pafos for an unforgettable "south of the border" evening in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea!