Parker Miraldi
After a long, hot day on site, there’s nothing better than a smoothie. It’s the ultimate refreshment—cold, sweet, and full of healthy fresh fruit—and here in Larnaca we’re lucky enough to have TWO smoothie places right next to our hotel. Of these two choices, the group’s collective favourite by a mile is Chris’ Juice Bar. While the prices are pretty much the same at both places (only 4 euro for a large!), Chris’ has a much larger selection of ingredients and is run by the Chris himself and his wife, both of whom started to recognise our group after about the third day of digging. It has all the charm of a local’s spot despite being right in the centre of the tourist area, and stopping by every afternoon has genuinely been one of the highlights of this month. So, to celebrate Chris getting his own dedicated line in my budget, here are a few reviews of flavours I’ve tried!
- Mango Passion Fruit Ginger: This is a flavour of my own invention, and it was really good! Ginger isn’t listed on the official Choose-Your-Own-Ingredients board, but I’ve never been questioned or charged extra for adding it. The ginger wasn’t super strong, but it added a nice kick that complimented the tang of the other flavours really well. It’s divisive but I love the crunch of the passionfruit seeds, and there were a lot of them in this drink. I’ve ordered this combination three times now and it’s by far my favourite!
- Lemon Mango Pineapple: One of my favourites so far! The mango is the dominant flavour, but the lemon adds a bright note that really elevates the tropical. This would be a good choice for a beach drink, as it’s very refreshing and not too thick.
- Strawberry Lemon: This one was recommended to me by Tom as his favourite order, and I can see why! As expected the dominant flavour is strawberry, but the lemon adds a nice note of acidity. I tend to prefer tropical flavours, but when I’m in the mood for something a little more berry forward this one would be my first choice.
- Mango Orange Passion Fruit: I liked this one but found the orange to be a little too strong for me. It doesn’t fully overpower the other flavours, but it doesn’t leave much room for them to shine either. I think the mango lemon passion fruit was overall more balanced, but if you’re a big orange fan this would be a good choice for you!
- Peach Mango Strawberry: An instant classic! This flavour has been a consistent favourite among the group, and several people I asked named it as their recommendation. Personally I felt like the strawberries overpowered everything else, which is great if you love strawberries but not if what you’re really craving is the peach.
- Pear Apple Ginger: Another of my own inventions, and while I rest my case that it would be a delicious juice I can’t really judge if it is or not because I never received it! I’m not sure if they misheard my order (it is pretty loud in there when the blenders are running) or they did hear it and just disagreed with my attempts at creativity, but either way I ended up with carrot ginger. Perhaps it also had pear and/or apple in it? But the carrot was a bit overpowering so I can’t be sure. Personally I don’t like carrot juice, so I wasn’t a fan of this one. But if you’re still craving that earthy flavour after breathing in dig site dust all morning, you’d probably be pretty happy with the carrot ginger juice that’s on the official menu.
- Watermelon Peach Banana: A little underwhelming, but a good choice if you don’t want something super strong. The peach was so subtle I couldn’t really detect it at all, but the watermelon and banana both shone through well. Refreshing, but didn’t quite pack the fruity punch I’ve come to expect from Chris’. Granted this could be because they added ice, but I don’t think I’d order it again to test that theory further.
- Strawberry Pineapple Mango with Added Protein Powder: I wasn’t a fan of this one, but I think that was more because of the protein powder than the fruit. It had an artificially sweet taste that I think was either vanilla or strawberry, and I found it to be a bit cloying for my tastes. Next time if I’m craving something a little more protein-heavy I think I’d opt to add yoghurt instead, although to it’s credit the powder was very filling!
Personally my favourite is the mango passionfruit ginger custom order, but from the official menu I’m torn between the strawberry lemon and the lemon mango pineapple. Really you can’t go wrong with any of them though!