RestaurantsD & B Café

67 out of 100 (1 Source)

You can change the rating with a click

Overview | map | Reviews

Fritzthecat (40)
Essex, United Kingdom

96%

ok

D&B Café is a bistro-style restaurant and café located right in the heart of the Old Town. They are specialised in Italian pizza and offer in and outdoor seating.

50/100

Accessibility
70/100

"Must See"-Factor
50/100

Budget Friendliness
80/100

Ambiance
30/100

Food
70/100

Service
I still remember the day, when D&B opened its doors for the first time. It was during the time I was living in Cyprus and we had been in the area by incident. The café is modern and trendy, very European in style, and, as this was something very rare in the area at this time, I was quite sure it would be a success. I was right, it proved to be immensely successful with tourists and students from the local university alike. Some more trendy cafes and restaurants have opened in the meantime, but none of them is in the same lucky position as D&B, owning the probably most enviable location in the town, and it is still one of my favourite places for a drink in Famagusta.

To find the café is rather easy as it is situated right at Namik Kemal Square, in the middle of the Old Town, overlooking the Gothic style Lala Mustafa Mosque (formerly St Cathedral). So if you are looking for the café, just follow the signs to the mosque and you can't miss it. Limited car parking is available right behind the mosque, further parking facilities can be found in the street around the covered bazaar of the town or along the city wall. The streets in the Old Town are narrow and haven't been designed for modern day traffic, so parking is a bit of an issue and you best leave your car at one of the larger parking lots along the city wall and walk down to the square. The Old Town is a nice place to visit but a bit of a nightmare to drive around in.

Once you reach the café you can choose in between sitting in or outside, depending weather of course. During the warm season the outside sitting area is always busy and with the fantastic view of the impressive mosque the reason is easy to see. We often took visiting friends here, just for a drink and to enjoy the view, but also of course came alone. They have quite a lot of tables and each of them has its own parasol, which is important as you wouldn't be able to sit here without one during the summer months.

If you prefer inside or it isn't the weather for al fresco (yep, it can get cold and rainy in Cyprus) you will find out that the restaurant stretches over two levels. There are a few small steps at the entrance and the toilets are located on the upper, mezzanine, level. So not really suitable for wheelchair users.

We usually try to get a table at the window as they also look out on the square but in the evening this can be a bit of a challenge as they get very busy. The back of the ground floor is domineered by the large bar, which spans nearly the entire width of the room. The tables and chairs are rustic and heavy and made of dark wood. The walls are painted in a warm terracotta colour and decorated with dozens of framed photographs of Hollywood stars of a bygone era. You will spot Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Gary Grant, Frank Sinatra and many more. There are wooden wine racks and mirrors, flowers and the whole decoration is quite unusual in Northern Cyprus, although you wouldn't be too surprised to find a place like this in Paris. All in all, a very comfortable place to sit.

The bar is well stocked and offers local and international spirits, beer and wine and, of course, a wide range of soft drinks, coffee and tea. I'm not impressed by their coffee, too bitter for my taste, and their competitor on the other side of the square, La Veranda, is a much better address if a cup of coffee is what you are after. In my opinion La Veranda is the best place for coffee, they also offer great views over the square but lack the ambience of the D&B.
None of us is crazy about cocktails, so for us it is usually either soft drinks or a glass of wine. They have a nice, although not huge, selection of wines.

Let's talk about food now.
Oh well, I wish I could say that I can't fault the place at all but the food is a bit of a disappointment. Generally Northern Cyprus is not a great place for Italian pizza and you will have problems to find a really authentic one. The bases they are using are much too thick, although not thick enough to get away as a Chicago style deep-pan, and all too often on the dry side. The toppings are, in my opinion, a bit unimaginative and I wonder whoever said that nearly every pizza needs to be crowned by a spoon full of sweet corn ? They do let you change the variation at the D&B and you can design your own, but this is limited to the toppings they have available and you might get a strange look from the waiter/waitress if you do so. Fresh basil? Keep dreaming
Even for the standards of the area the D&B is not one of the best pizza places, you can find some near the University that are better, namely the Fortuna, Café Uno (nothing to do with the chain, they've only nicked the name) and San Marino.
It's not that you can't eat it, but can be rated as a mediocre experience even with lots of goodwill. If you decide you want to give it a try you will be served quickly. Weve never experienced any problems with that.
Other dishes on the menu include salads, cordon bleu, schnitzel, kievs etc. The later are all hard to find in this area, seems like they have a thing for breaded chicken at the D&B. I've never tried any of those, but friends of mine have and they said it was nice and even returned at a later occasion to have another dinner. Mind you, the meat will only be chicken and the ham for the cordon bleu will be made from Turkey meat. The Turkish Cypriots are usually very relaxed with their religion and anything but not strict but pork is a clear no-no.
The portions are all of a good size and the European style dishes are served with home-made fries.

The ice-creams at the D&B are nice and they have a good selection. I can't remember if they offer any other deserts as I've never asked for any.

Price wise you will have to expect to pay a bit more than in the surrounding areas. You clearly pay for the prime position here and, as far as the food is concerned, I'm not convinced it's worth it. If you want to sit down and relax after a walk through the hot streets of the old town and just have a drink I'd really recommend it, but apart from that there are better and cheaper options for dinner, albeit without the view.