The Three Little Pigs Grill House

I'm really in the mood to share with you guys the wonders of Paphos, Cyprus. One of the things I love to talk about, and something of a reoccurring theme for my posts nowadays, is food, and yes, good food. There is nothing better than being on vacation and eating the best local food. Paphos has many restaurants, but to help to stay away from Fish and Chips, Steaks, McDonald's and other disappointment, I would like to share with you another favourite of mine, that I call Three Little Pigs. Wow, straight off the bat we have a eatery with such a cute name. Now I highly doubt this is the actual English translation of the place, but this is what we call this small kebab and meat grilling joint on Tombs of the Kings Road.

The Greek name is Ψητοπωλειο Τα 3 Γουρουνακια, but according to their Facebook page (check out their link at the bottom if you're interested), they are The Three Little Pigs.

This is a bit controversial, since they make a killer of a souvlaki and other pork based grilled dishes here. As for the location, before I tend to get carried away as per always, it's on the road side of Tombs of the Kings Road. To be precise, it's about a two minutes drive from King's Avenue, the massive mall just at corner, and also the same distance from the iconic Roman Hotel. There's also a very famous bar that's opened not too long ago called Harley's. Just on the note of Harley's, they're always packed at the time of English Premier League or other football matches, so if you want to be in an environment with six different big screens watching your favourite game, this isn't a bad place at all.

Alright let's continue with the main event and really understand what options are offered here. Well, first thing first, you can get the one and only, the timeless classic of kebab in a warm Cypriot Pita Bread with grilled pork souvlaki, as well as sheftalia pork and lamb sausages, with of course the usual vegetables like cucumber, tomatoes, onions and some parsley.

I should mention two important things about the kebabs here:

1. They do take aways and delivery : Just like the modern concept of McDonald's, KFC and other restaurants in town doing delivery services, The Three Little Pigs are also in it. When I was in Cyprus, I ordered their kebab at the very least, once a week. I don't know other places that would deliver kebabs to your home, and for them, there's no extra charge which is even merrier. By this, you obviously need to order something proper like at the very least a kebab, and then they'll be able to delivery it to you. They also have some side dishes like Pita Bread, Dips and French Fries, but it would make no sense from their point of view to deliver French Fries which would most likely cost you under just 2. 00 and bring it all the way to you. So there you have it, they do deliveries!
2. Kebab your way : Actually there are only three ways to have a kebab. The first way is like number one, in a take away version, as in the kebab is wrapped in paper packaging. The second way is to dine in and eat it normally, with all the components snuggling in the bed of pita bread. The third way, and the method that I personally prefer, is to have the kitchen separate all the ingredients.

By this, I don't mean separating the lamb meat front the pork meat in the sausages or the salt from the pepper in the seasoning. By informing the eatery that you would like your kebab ''separate'', most places would understand this as separating the pita bread to one dish, leaving the meat and vegetables on the other. By Oat, why would you complicate things and do this? Well, it's not very complicated for them to separate the bread from the rest, but I do have a very good reason for this. I have been a Cypriot kebab eater for years since I was a young elementary school kid, and I found that by eating kebab as a whole with the salad and the meat and all that, you lose the beautiful texture and shape of the pita bread.

In other words, the bread becomes soggy because of the natural juice from the cucumber, tomatoes, and of course, our meat that came fresh from the grill. In saying this, the experience is somewhat ruined for me if the bread gets wet and all soggy, but again, that's a personal thing and that's just how I like my kebab. But if anything, let them know that you want your kebab ''separate'' and confirm with them.

Right, so now you must be wondering what a plate of ''separate'' kebab looks like. Well you have it just right below!

As you could see from the photo, you get two plates. Technically you get one plate and one basket because the pita bread, also fresh from its time on the hot charcoal grill, is sitting nicely in a little wooden basket. But for the main characters of the meal, you have your grilled pork souvlaki and two little tubes of sheftalia sausages on the other, with the usual vegetables, here being chopped white onions, sliced tomatoes and little cubed cucumbers. Oh yes, the parsley is also really important and is probably the unsung hero that makes this dish very Cypriot. And of course, you get half a lime or a lemon to squeeze over your meat, but I never use it because everything in front of me is perfect as it is.

But in saying that, I am somewhat contradicting myself. Just like my previous post on the taverna with a massive, super delicious, super awesome Cypriot meze, a little bit of local olive oil and a pinch of salt does a very good job with the warm bread. This whole experience? Easily under €7. 00. I can't remember the price exactly but if you're lucky, they might have a menu online or something. But either way, for an awesome meal, this is actually very reasonable.

The kebabs here are delicious, but what is good to try? As I mentioned way earlier, they specialise in grilling meat. So you could expect all sorts of meat on the grill, like the usual pork, chicken and lamb. They might even have beef but since we're in Cyprus, I suggest you stick to what they do really well here, and that would be pork and lamb. They refer to their pork dishes here as Sizzling and Barbecue. For example, you can get their Greek Sizzling Pork which comes with fresh marinated pork loin, salad, french fries and pita bread. If you don't consume pork, no problem, because their version in fresh marinated chicken also comes with the exact same sides of salad, french fries and pita bread (Greek Sizzling Chicken). Like every single restaurant here in Paphos, they also do Souvla, which I mentioned is like souvlaki, but in larger pieces. These souvlas come in both pork and chicken, with a side salad, french fries, and pita bread. So these are like the "normal" grill items you can order, but what if you're feeling super hungry or if you want to try a bit more than just that?

Well, then you're just in luck since they also have their Specials which are The Crazy Little Pig and The Big Bad Wolf. Now it sounds like we're eating in a restaurant over at Disney Land or Movie World or something with this reference to The Three Little Pigs and the Little Red Riding Hood. Or maybe it's just me who thinks that these come from the stories, but anyway, let's talk food.

The Crazy Little Pig packs a feast, as it consists of ''fresh lebanese pita bread stuffed with grilled chicken, lettuce, bacon, parmesan cheese and their homemade dressing accompanied with french fries''. You won't believe how much this whole thing is, so let's wait for the second one. The Big Bad Wolf also comes with the exact same ingredients, just that pork is used in this case rather than chicken. If you were to order this, you'd be looking to pay only €7. 95! Wow, coming from Paris or other big cities here in Europe, a meal like this that fits for a king for under €8. 00 is a complete bargain.

There's another dish that is really worth a shout out. I can't remember the name of this special dish or the price, but let's get into in regardless. So, you get a mix platter of a bit of everything, from grilled pork souvlaki, sheftalia sausage, grilled halloumi and grilled lountza, another type of Cypriot sausage that has a stronger taste compared to everything else on the dish, their house made tatziki sauce from fresh yogurt, a small side salad with lettuce, tomato, onions and cucumber with a piece of fetta cheese and some sprinkled herbs, then with french fries and some more of that aromatic herbs, and of course, just to wrap everything up, warm bread fresh from the grill.

What else do you need for this dish? An empty stomach is highly recommended as well as some of their local olive oil for the bread. There's nothing else more beautiful than this dish at The Three Little Pigs in my opinion, and if you have never had Cypriot food, this is the closest lesson to the cuisine offered here. It's no meze but it does sure fill you up. I want to take a guess at how much this cost, because if I'm not wrong, it must have been under €10. 00, which is still quite a good deal compared to the rest of Europe.

The motto here is We don't do FAST FOOD, We do GOOD FOOD as FAST as we can! They're certainly not lying and I can back up this claim. Since I became somewhat of a regular customer here, I had a chat with one of the guys behind the grill, and he said that they source their meat, vegetables and other ingredients from local producers. This is also why I said stick to the local specialties like lamb, because Cyprus produces very good quality lamb. I have no idea what they eat out there in the villages and the hills of Cyprus, but the meat is from another planet. Funny story, I actually had lamb chops in a restaurant in Sydney and paid over $20. 00 for them. In comparison to the ones they have here in Cyprus for almost half the price, the restaurants in Sydney should seriously be taking their lamb chops of the menu. Back to the motto, they do try their best to make their food fast, but given that everything goes through on the grill, there's really no short cut to speed up the cooking process, and this where their television kicks in.

They always have their television tuned to sports, mainly football. If you're feeling hungry but you don't know what to do because your favourite team is about to kick off, then head over to The Three Little Pigs. Sometimes they will have their local Cypriot league teams playing, but if you ask nicely, they should be able to change the channels for you. There was a time my favourite team, Manchester United was playing in the Premier League, but it happened to be at the same kick off time as that of the local league. The guys at the spot chose to watch the local league over the Premier League, which his fair enough, but they were okay with my watching my match. So with the food on the grill, you can grab a drink and sit back, relax, wait for your food, and enjoy whatever game is on the television.

Lastly, I really like the laid back ambience and sort of young, yet traditional ways of this place. It's a very place which is run by maybe two or three people depending on the time of the day, so everything is very casual and friendly. The guys are very nice and they keep the place decent and tidy. Most people will order take aways from this place so there shouldn't be a problem with finding a place to sit. Other than this, there's no reservation, so first comes first serve.

If you like what you got away from this post, then I am confident that you will also like my review and recommendation on Stavros Restaurant and Taverna over in the hills of Moutallos. It's the place with the best meze in Paphos and this comes from me who'd gone to the place four times (at least) in two months. But if you would like to try something different and completely move away from local food, be sure to check out Baan Thai Kitchen over at Kato Paphos, just right beside Debenhams Shopping Centre. They have a fantastic lunch menu there, and trust me, its delicious - yes trust me, I am Thai after all! Otherwise, there are plenty of other restaurants, but mainly serve the same stuff like steaks, pork chops, fish and chips and all that. There are also self-proclaimed ''seafood restaurants'', but you have to trust me on this one: there's no such thing as ''fresh'' seafood in Paphos so don't expect to treat yourself to a seafood feast, because they don't exist here! I was a victim of ''fresh seafood'' here in Paphos, and it was a nightmare. Not only were the seafood was not fresh, they were also terribly executed. I mean, you can still make decent food without fresh ingredients, but imagine making bad food with bad ingredients. But like I said, check out the restaurants I mentioned, because you will definitely won't be disappointed! All there is to do now is enjoy the real taste of what Paphos has to offer.

The Three Little Pigs Kebab House - Ratings :

Accessibility - 8/10

Price - 9/10

Selection - 9/10

Staff Friendliness - 10/10

Cleanliness - 9/10

Atmosphere - 8. 5/10

Overall - 9/10

The Three Little Pigs - Official Facebook Account

Baan Thai Kitchen - Kato Paphos

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