Converted 12th-century monastery with a wine cellar that rewrites the menu nightly.
Minthis Hills is one of those rare restaurants that earns the inconvenience of reaching it. A fifteen-minute drive into the hills above Paphos, past terraced vineyards and the odd mule track, brings you to a 12th-century monastery that has been transformed into a boutique hotel and wine estate. The restaurant sits at the heart of this operation — and it is remarkable.
The kitchen is led by a team committed to expressing what the estate actually produces. Minthis Hills makes wine — Xynisteri and Maratheftiko, indigenous Cypriot varieties that are increasingly celebrated internationally — and the menu is designed to showcase them. Each dish arrives with a wine recommendation that isn't generic; the sommelier can explain exactly why a particular barrel-aged Xynisteri works with the slow-roasted lamb shoulder or why the lighter Maratheftiko cuts through the richness of the pork belly with carob honey.
The setting is genuinely theatrical: stone arches, original monastery stonework, dining rooms that feel like sacred spaces given over to pleasure. In summer, tables spill into the courtyard under a sky free from any light pollution. This is serious dining in a serious setting — not the kind of place you take someone you're trying to impress lightly.
Flying a client to Paphos and bringing them to Minthis Hills sends an unmistakable message: you don't do ordinary. The monastery setting is extraordinary, the estate wines are genuinely impressive, and the table is far enough removed from the harbour tourist circuit to feel genuinely exclusive. The drive through the vineyards is part of the experience.
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