Rous restaurant
Nicosia, Cyprus (visit: 10th January 2020)
Rous – our culinary heritage...
What better way to explore flavours than by exploring the flavourful history that our beautiful island has to offer!
As a celebration of our 5th year anniversary we decided to head over to this authentic restaurant which I had heard good reviews about and had recently opened close to the heart of Nicosia.
Trust your gut instinct they say, and I did. I knew I was in for a good journey when I called to reserve our table and asked if they had any options which were gluten free. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were more than happy to accommodate and also if you check their website you will note that they provide different menu options for pescetarians, vegans and vegetarians. I love how transparent they are with prices also on their website. Therefore, we went all in for the “Full Story”. I highly recommend opting for the wine pairing also. 4 glasses of amazing Cypriot wine which beautifully paired with your dish as the story unfolded.
The night began with, what appears to be a candle but it is actually wax made out of calf fat which melted beautifully for dipping your bread which of course was homemade and you had options to choose from. Along with this came the medley of sausage with turnip and celery …. and a treasured box with a perfectly-sized chestnut cream tartlet – that was a first for me but it was an incredible appetizer. Moving on with the story …
I very much enjoyed the celeriac soup with truffle. The truffle wasn’t overpowering in flavour and the texture of the soup was surprisingly comforting and tasty.
This was followed by an extraordinary dish with eel, sour milk bavarois, lountza pollen, anchovy and garlic cream, champagne and caviar.
Next up was aromatic mushroom tea with halloumi cream. The idea of combining halloumi with mushroom tea may seem odd to you at first glimpse but, as they say – don’t judge a book by its cover. It really takes you out of your comfort zone in a welcoming and intriguing way. The pork belly dish with vanilla was also nice and tender, although I requested it without the black beer sauce. The foie grass creme brulee served as a lovely interval between the appetizers and the main dishes. In fact, given the soft texture and impeccable flavours, it was a smooth transition to introduce what was next to come.
The portions were quite generous. The duck fillet with raisins, cashew nuts and topinambur cream and lemon leaves powder – cooked medium rare – was most probably the best duck dish I had ever tasted. It was exquisite- exploding with flavours and the cook on it was on point!
This was certainly a memorable night and we will definitely be back soon to explore more dishes…again and again.
