Cyma: Manila’s Version of Greek Food

Cyma is not the only restaurant that serves Greek food in the Philippines.  Greek cuisine is mediterranean in nature.  You will see the same things like kebab, shawarma (or gyro’s in their case), salads, etc. I’ve been here a few times, but I was set to go to Greece and I wanted to compare Cyma’s authenticity to real Greek cuisine.  Suffice to say, I’ve been back for a good month now and I’ve just come around to writing this entry.

There are differences with the food that we eat here vs. the meals that they have over there.  I think we all know that.  But let’s try and see how close the guys at Cyma get it and how good the food is.

First appetizer is their signature Cyma Original Saganaki, which is mozzarella, parmesan and evoo cheeses melted served with bread.  It’s nothing special if you think about it.  Unless you’re a cheese connoseur conosseur guy, you might have another opinion about this.  For me, it’s basically melted cheese.  I love mozzarella so I loved it, although it’s a bit too pricey for me.  It’s probably famous because they light it up as they serve it and the staff all yell “Opa!” I hate gimmicks, but I guess plenty of people love that.  Eat this quickly because it dries up / solidifies quite quickly.

It’s weird that they have pasta in a Greek place, but I really liked the Pastisado, which is beef shank braised in Greek tomato sauce over spaghetti. I didn’t expect much, but despite the pasta being thicker than I would’ve liked and not as al dente as it should be, it was pretty nice.  It isn’t the Italian flavor of tomato sauce that we’re used to, but the sauce wasn’t bad at all.  I say that because I ordered a veal during my visit to Santorini and the taste was pretty damn close.  Eerily close, which would tell me they do this sauce well in Cyma.  It tasted great by itself then and it’s a real bonus to find out it’s pretty close to real Greek taste.

Second great thing about this dish?  The marrow!  The serve the shank with the bone with marrow inside.  It’ll increase your chances of a heart attack, but that fatty part is fucking awesome!

Great to wash down all that fatty goodness with their Iced Tea was my kind of iced tea — the not too sweet variety.

The Cyma Lamb Chops is one of my favorite lamb dishes in the Metro. They could get better cuts from lamb, but I don’t think Manila gets the best supply of lamb¹.  But to come eat mediterranean cuisine and not eat lamb would be almost always a mistake.  The lamb is really well-seasoned though, which makes a ton of difference.  I had wanted to order the Paidaka (Char-grilled lamb ribs), which is one of their specialities, but they were out.  I’ve tried this before and I loved it.

With the lamb, I went with a side of the Greek roasted potatoes.  Potatoes are a real staple of Greek cuisine and I can tell you that they do potatoes really well over there.  Cyma’s take is pretty good, with a hint of lemon over the potatoes.  I can’t say they’re better or (even) as good as Greek potatoes, but it’s as close as you can get.

If you can spare a bit of cash, you might try the Bifteka, which is their take on the Wagyu Burger and also comes with those awesome potatoes.  Personally, I wasn’t a fan of their burger.  It was quite thick and it wasn’t cooked all the way through, so I got raw bites of meat along the way.  And the huge block of feta cheese was too overpowering at times and became too salty at times and covered up the flavor of the beef.

Certain items can be a bit pricey.  But when I’m feeling cheap, I’d order a souvlaki, which is a favorite in Greek cuisine.  It’s grilled meat (beef, chicken, lamb, pork, or even fish) with tzatsiki sauce, bread, and some veggies.  We’ll go into these things when I (finally) post the Greece stuff.  If I’m feeling unusually cheap, I’d order (or usually take out) gyros.  Suffice to say, it’s fantastic value for what you get.

Overall, I’m really happy with Cyma.  Having tasted real Greek cuisine, I can’t say it’s like the real thing.  Of course it’s going to be different.  Of course it’s going to be adjusted for Filipino / Asian palates.  But I don’t think they changed things too much that they fuck everything up.

Cyma: Manila’s Version of Greek Food 2011-12-22

yma is not the only restaurant that serves Greek food in the Philippines.  Greek cuisine is mediterranean in nature.  You will see the same things like kebab, shawarma (or gyro’s in their case), salads, etc. I’ve been here a few times, but I was set to go to Greece and I wanted to compare Cyma’s …