Opa! Cyma

The Flaming Cheese

Chanced upon some of our photos during my Hubby's and Father-in-Law's birthday today and it sparked some wishful thinking in me - visit Greece! Oh, it's perfect for this summer's heat.  I'll sunbathe under the sun in my two-piece...Lol. Wishful thinking nga lang eh!

Classic Greek Blue

Greek food is not hard to like. Same as it's architecture, Greek food is simple & unpretentious with hints of interesting flavors.  And Cyma is a top of mind pick whenever we crave of this Mediterranean cuisine.  

Our dinner started with an order of Saganaki a.k.a. Flaming Cheese. As a custom, the entire crew will shout OPA! as this was being served. O-pa is used by Greeks as an ‘Exclamation’ or a way of telling you to ‘Stop’, in this case to give a dramatic entrance to the flaming cheese.  The crunchy garlic bread and the delicious melted cheese instantly disappeared on our table as soon as we took our souvenir pictures/ Instagrams.  

We also had Tzatziki as Mezedes a.k.a appetizer.  The classic cucumber, garlic and greek yogurt dip  is served with warm pita bread (which we asked for second servings, I think).

Tzatziki

Then, we ordered Roka Salata, my favorite!  If there's only one reason why I should come back to Cyma, it's because of this salad.  Ohh golly, we forgot to take a picture!?!  I guess we were all so eager to get our portions that we forgot to take one.  The salad is a mix of fresh arugula and lettuce with candied walnuts, sundried tomatoes and parmesan cheese tossed in light Greek vinaigrette. I particularly liked the hint of sweetness from the candied walnuts that breaks the monotony of the salad. Yumyum!

Now for the main deal, we tried Paidakia, Cyma's most popular lamb dish.  Since H & his family shares the love for lamb, this dish was a hit!  I remember H's dad commented he recalls their good ol' Australia days with this charcoal-grilled lamb ribs, which means the lamb is cooked nicely leaving the meat tender (in short, pasado kay Papa).  The dish is served with your choice of side marouli salata, spanakorizo, rice-stuffed peppers or Greek roasted potatoes, we opted for rice-stuffed peppers (actually 1 giant pepper in our case).

Paidakia

Then we had Pastitsio a.k.a. Baked Macaroni.  Ohh, they say this is Greek comfort food at its finest.  We were surprised how big this thing is.  Meat & cheese overload, I must say!  It is layered macaroni and tasty meat sauce topped with Greek Béchamel.

Pastitsio

As you can see, we had quite a feast already but it is not complete without dessert of course.  

One of the best desserts in Cyma is Skolatina - a molten chocolate cake served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and swirls of caramel sauce.  It's divine!  The best lava cake I tasted so far too. 

Skolatina

I couldn't resist trying Cyma's Greek yogurt topped with rose petal jam.  Ohh, it's quite addicting!  I'm such a yogurt fan. :)

av

Greek yogurt topped with rose petal jam

And since we are dining with birthday celebrants, our birthday boys were treated with complimentary vanilla ice cream.

My family had a lovely dinner that night in spite of the full house and small space in Shang's branch.  The servers are nice and attentive.   It was also the family's first experience to try Cyma, which we all equally enjoyed.

Ohhthat! by Tin

Cyma is located at the 6th floor (The Ledge) of Shangri-la Plaza Mall, EDSA corner Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.. For seat reservation, call them at 637-3090.

www.cymarestaurants.com

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