Sunday Lunch #2

[waddo]

Went to Black Olive Cafe on Sunday, all prices in Lira. Two course meal @ 30TL, that is a main and a desert, no starters available. Excellent food, roast chicken was fresh and tender, roast pork done just right (no crackling but probably best given that my teeth are no longer up to it) both meats were very tasty and more than enough for seconds as well. Masses of fresh vegetables, roast and mashed potatoes and proper home made gravy. Real custard with the bread and butter pudding desert, left stuffed!! Three meals, one Carlesburg and two Pepsi came out to 104TL. More later........

[waddo]

Normally I will not bother with more information, best to just let people try for themselves and make up their own minds, however I feel that this time it deserves a whole lot more.
On Sunday we went to the Black Olive Cafe @ Alsancak, for our pre-booked Sunday Lunch that starts at 16:00 – what a silly time to have lunch my wife said - when we got back home afterwards she could not shut up about how 16:00 was a perfect time to have Sunday Lunch after all!!!
For us who live out on the East side it means a 30 minute drive to get there and the same to get back home again, so if you want to take everything into the equation then you must also add in the fuel cost, travel time and distance involved. As we go out to lunch for the food (strange that) we will go anywhere and not bother about the distance/time or fuel cost, after all its part of the adventure.
We had a two course lunch of a main followed by desert, there is no starter on offer – trust me, you do not need a starter here! A slight change in plan meant that three of us went but we all had the same thing. We knew before hand that the meat choice was roast chicken and roast pork, we did not know that you got both anyway!!! The meat comes served on a large plate placed on your table to help yourselves from, fresh vegetables, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes and good home made gravy make up some of the other items placed on your table – eat as much or as little as you wish, it is all yours! We tried to eat it all, failed after we all had seconds because there was too much for us but we could not stop nibbling at the meat platter we had still not been able to finish. Then we followed that up with our choice of bread & butter pudding with custard or cream as you wished, by then we were too stuffed to attempt anything else so no coffee for us please just a quiet sit down outside and try to get ready to drive home again.
Have now lived here for eight years without leaving the Island once, have tried most places and we have our own favourites for different dish's – after all everyone’s tastes are different – for us the Black Olive Cafe has hit the nail square on the head for food, friendly customers, food, friendly helpful staff, food, casual surroundings, food and errmm, oh yes food! It took me back quite a few years to eating Sunday lunch at home with just the family around, in that old “stretch or starve” atmosphere of fun and happiness – if you were born into a working family home in the mid 40's onward you will understand that. The owner said something to us when we were chatting before leaving that has stuck in my mind - “we are a bit like the local community centre” - and I think she has it dead right. If you can get booked then give it a try, dress for comfort and go enjoy yourselves, for sure you will be made welcome by everyone there and in this day and age that itself is a wonderful thing. Warning, Sunday Lunch is only once a fortnight and sadly it clashes with the current F1 season – so plan well ahead, I am!!!

[kaiserphil]

OK Waddo, you win! I am jealous!

I was born in the 1940s and I remember those Sunday roasts, especially in Somerset, when the whole family would get together.

Great days

[waddo]

The wife is from Somerset as well and it struck her exactly the same - me I hail from the North Riding of Yorkshire but the Sunday memories are just the same - apart from the smells of ICI or the Dorman & Long coke ovens if the wind was wrong - lol.

[SKYBLUESAM]

On the same theme, having lived here for 11 years i am very wary of Sunday lunch offerings here, but we were invited to Bo Thai in Catalkoy last week and I was very impressed with the three course lunch for 27TL, Lovely food in a nice garden setting and top notch service.
Highly Recommended.

[waddo]

Sam, was that Thai food for lunch? I am not trying to say it was not Sunday Lunch if it was Thai by the way - I feel dead sure that they have Sunday's in Thailand as well and that they don't eat roast meat and veg for their lunch. Just a question is all it is.

[Panchocat]

No Bo Thai do a Sunday Lunch that is not Thai food although of course there is a Thai option.
It is called an alternative Sunday affair and includes braised beef which is delicious, chicken and leek cobbler or Gammon.
The vegetables are fresh, delicious and plentiful.

[waddo]

Thank you Panchocat. The more information we can put together the better.

[kaiserphil]

The wife is from Somerset as well and it struck her exactly the same - me I hail from the North Riding of Yorkshire but the Sunday memories are just the same - apart from the smells of ICI or the Dorman & Long coke ovens if the wind was wrong - lol.

We had a Cousin over recently to stay from UK. Her Mother, my Aunt, married a Yorkshireman, and had to learn quickly to make brilliant Yorkshire Pudding!

I remember it well!

[niceone]

We often go to Bo Thai for their Sunday affair, it is 3 courses for 27TL

http://www.bo-thai-cyprus.com/menu.htm

[waddo]

Will have to give it a try one Sunday as it is almost walking distance from us - but it is never about the price, it is always about the food. That is where choices are made even through sometimes I find that for some people it is simply about the quantity versus the price. I would rather pay and enjoy anywhere than stuff on the cheap anywhere but I will never return to where I pay for unsatisfactory food regardless of quantity.

[The Black Olive Cafe]

Thank you very much for your kind words Woddo,,,
Our next Sunday roast will be on 21st June and we are already nearly booked
xxx

[Hedge-fund]

Controversial no doubt but do people really still eat a Sunday roast in real life?

Good quality meat yes and vegetables yes..............but the stodge that goes with it? Potatoes are just cheap post war stodge stomach fillers with no nutritional value........and batter puddings - really??

I don't think I've eaten a chip since I was a teenager - again just a nasty empty lazy plate filler.

Youngsters these days are all about healthy eating, concentrating on proteins and some fat. Carbs are pointless and lead to obesity.

I'd wager that 90% of those still eating this stuff are over 60.

[PoshinDevon]

Sunday lunch for us is more often than not a family affair.....a chance for all the family to gather round the table and enjoy a good meal, a drink, a laugh and most importantly socialise and talk together. Our gatberings include all age ranges from teenagers, late 20s, mid 50s and also some into their 70s and 80s.

We trasure the times we can get together and yes its the full traditional lunch for all of us.

[Hedge-fund]

Sunday lunch for us is more often than not a family affair.....a chance for all the family to gather round the table and enjoy a good meal, a drink, a laugh and most importantly socialise and talk together. Our gatberings include all age ranges from teenagers, late 20s, mid 50s and also some into their 70s and 80s.

We trasure the times we can get together and yes its the full traditional lunch for all of us.

Agree 100% which is why my point was focussed on the food content rather than the event itself.

My nan used to eat bread and dripping, bread and butter pudding and all sorts of rubbish my kids would run a mile from. Will the Sunday roast suffer the same fate?

[PoshinDevon]

Pretty sure the ritual of sunday lunch with the roast, vegetables, roast potatoes, yorkshire puddings, gravy plus the puddings....apple pie, custard, bread and butter, crumbles, etc etc will remain for many years to come. My kids have grown up with this traditional sunday meal and show no signs of wanting anything different.

Yes we are aware about healthy eating and practice this often, but never have we or our kids thought to ditch the traditional roast on a sunday.........it is something that is looked forward to and long may it continue.

[woodspeckie]

Agree Posh my 2 are married with children of their own, both families have Sunday roast and the children have to sit at the table no eating in front of the telly, this is how they have been brought up and carried the tradition on. We have a family Christmas dinner at the end of November before we leave for our break in North Cyprus, I do a help yourself carvery for them they all just love it.

[rosiesmidge]

where is the Black Olive.... it sounds lovely

[Keithcaley]

where is the Black Olive.... it sounds lovely

From the direction of Girne: -

Turn left at the Golden Lady on the Coast Road in Alsancak.

Immediately take the first left, up the hill, straight on at the roundabout (2nd exit) and it's opposite you at the T junction at the top of the road.

If you end up outside Vaughan's house, you've gone too far

[waddo]

Hedge-fund, I take your point about the good quality meat and veg and you are probably right that most people who eat the "stodge" that goes with it are over 60 - funny how the stodge has not shortened the life span yet and that despite the current upsurge in "Health Foods" for the 15 to 75 year age bracket in the UK, the incidence of obesity in that age bracket is still growing. Leaving the UK the fifth "fattest" country (one below Cyprus funnily enough) in Europe!!

Can't blame the stodge for that then if they are not eating it, must be the other things they are eating whilst glued to the iPad and facebooking their lives away! Or as the World Health Organistation (WHO) said in their last report - "a reduction of physical activity in combination with an increased consumption of more energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods with high levels of sugar and saturated fats, have led to obesity rates that have risen over three-fold since 1980 in some areas of North America, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, Australasia and China" - leads me to believe that us poor "Stodge" loving over 60's here must be doing more exercise on a daily basis than fit and healthy "Healthy Food" eaters in the UK?

Controversial it may be but yes, the Sunday Lunch is still alive and well, along with Christmas Dinner, New Years Dinner, football match pies, etc, etc. But why trust me - http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 60080.html that should give you a more bigger insight on what people eat.

[rosiesmidge]

thank you keithcaldy, I look forward to going there