Nicosia, Cyprus has a seriously cool café called The Gym…

Truth is once you leave behind the small labyrinth of markets filled with tourist tat that greet you in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, you’ll find yourself in what could be a high street anywhere in the world. The same old chain shops and eateries line the roads, there’s even a McDonalds right next door to a Starbucks and not far from there, one of many giant branches of Costa Coffee. But before you either start to rejoice at the familiarity of the options or sigh for the lack of independent businesses, keep going towards the end of the stretch of where most people venture, to The Gym, a ‘gastro bar’ which offers a sanctuary of chicness away from the main hustle and bustle of the town. It serves up an impressive drinks menu (including mocktails and dairy-free milkshakes) and has clearly been designed with Instagramability in mind. But hey, I’m not complaining.

Spacious enough to feel comfortable, cool enough to make you feel like you’ve stumbled on somewhere special and with both indoor and outdoor seating, you won’t have a problem making yourself feel at home.

Décor
From the outside The Gym looks pretty inconspicuous, like an ordinary café but once you step inside, the L-shaped bar that you spy on entering makes you instantly realise that this is The Place to be because it really is different to anywhere else in the vicinity. To make British folk like myself feel welcome, there’s even a display of Marmite jars about the bar, whether they serve it hot in a mug, I forgot to ask.

There are a few separate seating spaces that make up The Gym but if you head all the way past the bar you’ll find the most design friendly spot. There’s modern art on the walls plus props galore, most of which can be deployed into your own Instagram set ups. No one was in the garden when I was there two weeks ago, possibly because to Cypriots it’s too chilly but for Brits like me, the early 20 degrees is our dream temperature.

Food & Drink

Portions are generous I sadly couldn’t finish my main, the fish was huge and so filling. The menus are on the website if you want to plan your eating before your trip. I was more impressed with the drinks just because it was the most choice I’d seen of non-alcoholic drinks on my whole trip and in a region where wine is the most popular tipple, it was nice to find some decent alternatives.

As well as a glass of chocolate almond milk I had a local speciality iced tea – lemon balm, rose, lavender and cardamom sweetened with agarve.

Gallery and Shop

Why hello there! The bit that makes The Gym a definite place to seek out is that it also houses a gallery and shop where you’ll find the works of local artists for sale. Craft, fashion and art along side magazines and books give the gallery a creative flair and if you simply want to pop in and have a browse or a quick drink that’s perfectly acceptable. The only fail of The Gym (maybe it’s a future investment) was the loos), the sign upstairs to them was notably hip but the toilets themselves were ordinary and crying out for some DIY TLC. But that aside The Gym is well worth visiting.

The Gym, Onasagorou, 87-89, Nicosia, Cyprus.
www.thegymconcept.com

Where to fulfill a chocoholic’s fantasy: Choccywoccydoodah’s Secret Garden is the stuff of dreams…

I don’t think any of the 15 girls present at my friend’s hen party actually thought there was such a thing as too much chocolate. Within just a few bites of the fantastical spread laid on for us at our private booking at Choccywoccydoodah’s Secret Garden however, we had fallen into cocoa comas. Never before had any of us witnessed so much of the brown gooey stuff (and I’ve previously worked in a chocolate factory!)

With the bride-to-be

Giant swing chair

The chocolate has arrived!

Thankfully the sundaes were for sharing

More chocolate coming up!

Every angle of the secret garden is Instagram gold

Secret garden shenanigans

Wash down the chocolate with champagne or strawberry smoothie…yum!

Plates of melt-in-the-mouth tiffin bars were served to us alongside brownies, sponge cakes, honeycombe, waffles, churros with pots of liquid chocolate, steaming mugs of hot chocolate, dipped strawberries, cookies and biscuits and huge ice-cream filled sundaes dripping in chocolate sauce, as well of course as chocolate in its purest form.. While you can find these utterly indulgent menu items at the legendary chocolate stores London café, just off Carnaby Street, the best was to immerse yourself in their joy is by booking their private Secret Garden, one of the most beautiful indoor gardens I’ve ever seen, located a floor above the public café.

Kitted out with an impressive Alice in Wonderland fairytale theme, there are heart shaped chairs, giant swings, a water fountain, colourful blooms, archways, rabbits and even a lamb, grazing on fake grass. Detail is everything and the entire space feels like the pages of a children’s story from every angle you look at it from.

The chocolate is special, but the design is what makes it well worth the booking and you only need nine other friends to make it affordable. Hire of the secret garden is available for two hours and is charged at £300 for 10, making it just £30 per person for an experience which involves eating to your absolutely fill of chocolate and spending quality time in gorgeous surrounding in your favourite company, (and let’s face it, just two minutes away is department store Liberty where you’ll struggle to find a box of confectionary that costs less than £30.)

Surreal and very naughty (this is an afternoon tea where there are no savoury dishes) and as because we booked our slot at 1pm, we ate chocolate, more chocolate and nothing but chocolate for lunch. Well it was a special occasion, though believe me, one couldn’t do it every day.

After all of us as reached our fill it was like we’d barely made a dent in the spread but luckily they hand out doggy bags sat the end so you can take the leftovers home with you, and while most of the girls declared they wouldn’t be eating chocolate in a long time, I confess that by evening I was ready for another munch.

Find Choccywoccydoodah’s Secret Garden at Foubert’s Place, off Carnaby Street in London. On the lower ground is their chocolate shop, and upstairs below the garden in their cafe.