The Pelican Restaurant

A small restaurant and coffee shop called Aphrodite opened on the harbour in 1957 to serve the fishermen and dockers. In 1967 an exhausted pelican was pulled from the sea and brought to the restaurant, and it stayed. Two years later the restaurant took the name Pelican. It was almost destroyed by bombing in July 1974 and reopened a year later.

Owner Andros Papiris’s father rescued that first bird. Today’s Kokos, a female rose pelican, is the fourth of the line and arrived in 2021.

The fish meze, for two or more, brings a village salad and local appetisers, then fried and grilled fish of the day and a seafood platter. The Pelican fish soup is a traditional house dish. Otherwise, choose grilled octopus, king prawns saganaki with tomato, feta and garlic, sardines, red mullet or sea bream, or fresh fish sold by the kilo.

The restaurant is on the harbour front beside the jetty used by the tour boats, close to Paphos castle. The harbour is small and busy with fishing and excursion boats, so ask the captain whether to berth or to anchor off and come in by tender; either way, it is a short walk from the quay.

The posted hours are 9am to 9pm every day. The restaurant closes for a spell in winter for renovation work, when Kokos moves to the owner’s pool. Book through the website or by phone, and please don’t touch or feed the pelican.