La Caleta. The Icon

GC:GOING OUT

LA CALETA. THE ICON LIMASSOL CYPRUS

So, we took on this review at our f avorite time of the week for a drink’s only review. Whoever does not enjoy an ice-cold thirst-quenching drink at 5pm on a Friday has clearly grown tired of life. The weather is just about to turn to the blazing heat of summer, and currently you can still sit outside without melting and talking over the week with friends in no particular rush and with no plans…just the way we like it.

The Icon has been open as far as I know for a couple of months now, and if you are not aware it is the large building in the tourist area with the huge blue gorilla out the front. When you walk in the foyer it is very impressive, where you are greeted by some friendly staff on the front desk who guided us to the tenth floor to pay a visit to La Caleta.

The front of house was great at picking out the perfect Friday afternoon table on the balcony, sitting us with a great view of what is probably Limassol’s highest drinking establishment. I was expecting it to be a larger than what it was, with what seems to be an oddly placed swimming pool that takes up too much space. Design wise it seemed to be

in a peculiar place with it being placed next to where you are eating. It kind of feels like it was placed there to say that it has an outdoor pool and sun beds. You might feel a bit odd walking through an incredibly well-designed bar, with a towel around your waist when the bathroom calls.

For the first round of drinks, we went with the international standard of a Friday Mojito with it being a great way to see the standard / baseline skill of the bar staff. Some establishments sadly go over the top and give you what can be best described as a thicket mixed with mint, luckily this was made by a fantastic mixologist who added the right amount of alcohol. With the ice slowly melting it took the bitter edge off the drink which you could savor, whilst watching people take their selection of idyllic sun setting Instagram pictures.

As it was very close to cinco de mayo we did what any rational minded person would do and support the good people of Mexico by ordering a strawberry Margarita. Again, a very high standard being made with fresh ingredients and not the usual strawberry tasting goop that many establishments put in just to get the drink in your

hand asap. A well-constructed drink made which a mixologist can sometimes mess up, as it appears to be a basic drink with not too many parts involved. On their, website the modus operandi of La Caleta is looking to create a ‘buena onda’ translated as a relaxed and welcoming environment. I think it more than achieves this as a good place to decompress. The ambience is very peaceful as you cannot hear any traffic, which on reflection is quite nice on Friday. Usually at that time of day the roadside bars you seem to get a chorus of very loud exhausts in a hurry to get nowhere!

The service is not only very good, but also very friendly which in some places where they are higher end establishments, can sometimes be a little stand offish. GC would definitely recommend paying a visit La Caleta. Moreover, we would strongly advise booking a table.

Further to this if you are sitting outside check to see if they have umbrellas, as you are very exposed to the sun at certain parts of the day. They might not have them, as it gets a little windy up there and perhaps, they may be living in fear of an umbrella spearing someone ten floors below!

After returning recently from Dubai with the splendor and luxury of their establishments, its generally not fair to compare as there is Dubai quality and the rest of the world. However, for Cyprus it’s a great location, a great variety of drinks for all and fantastic staff… what more could you ask for.