CYMA TAVERNA: MY GREEK GASTRONOMICAL EXPERIENCE

 Good food has a way of bringing joy and a good conversation to any table, and that evening with friends was no exception. Cyma Restaurant in Eastwood Mall was totally jam-packed that Friday night. But I still decided to become a Mystery Diner with three of my friends. That night, I decided to wear a simple faded orange shirt, checkered tokong shorts and paired them with my violet slippers. My hair swept up like as it has always been. I figured I needed to find out how people will react if I wear casual clothing in such high-end type of mall and restaurant setting.

 The minute we arrived, Jenny, one of the staff, welcomed and ushered us into one of the al fresco dining tables of Cyma Taverna. The Eastwood Friday vibe as well as its colorful skyline were all visually arresting, an early indication of what I had anticipated it to be—an evening of great food, good intellectual conversations and simply enjoying my friends’ company.

Spinach and artichoke fondue with pita breads.

We decided to order Spinach and Artichoke Fondue (Php350) as appetizer. We originally ordered for Horiatiki Salata (Php380)—a traditional Greek village summer salad, but then our server named Jerwin, recommended Roka Salata (Share-Php495). Since it was something new for everyone on our table, we had given it a try. And I’m so glad we did because everyone enjoyed it so much. The salad was awesome! It had none of the bitter lettuce or leaves that we usually find in veggie salads. It had my favorite feta cheese, walnuts, dates and another kind of cheese. It tasted so divine that I felt like I could eat that salad forever and not getting tired of it. My 10-year-old nephew Kyle even loved it when he would usually push his plate if he’s asked to eat vegetables, but not this time because he had actually asked for a second helping of Roka Salata!

My highly recommended Roka Salata!

 At Cyma, I kind of broke the usual fine-dining etiquette by doing a scarpetta—an Italian way of eating custom where you show your appreciation of food by wiping your plates clean. In my case, I wiped all the sauce with the pieces of pita breads until all the sauce is gone.

New on the Menu: Leonides Pasta

 For our main dish, we decided to order something new on the menu. We had Leonides Pasta (Share-Php590); it was no meat red sauce pasta with thinly sliced zucchinis and aubergine with feta cheese. We paired that with glasses of lemonade and Cyma house blended iced tea. The taste was okay, there’s nothing really special about it—just a typical pasta dish. However, we had experienced some itch on our throat. Perhaps this is because of the presence of eggplant on the pasta dish. Even our lemonades and iced teas could not put a stop to the itchy sort of after taste on our throats. But still we decided to finish the pasta despite of the itchy experience eating that because we thought it was pretty expensive for a simple pasta dish.

Kataifi with Vanilla Ice Cream

For our desserts, we had Kataifi made from phyllo dough with vanilla ice cream and some sweetened coconut with nuts on them. This one tasted like Filipino favorite “bukayo” with nuts on them. For those who are not familiar with phyllo dough, Kataifi (Php250) looked pretty much like our typical Filipino Pancit Bihon or vermicelli noodles. But it’s actually a kind of dough that can be stretched into thin sheets that’s used in eastern Mediterranean cooking and pastries.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Although I enjoyed tasting kataifi, nothing compares to my joy when I had a spoonful of Cyma’s mint choco chip ice cream (Php145). It tasted just as I wanted it to be, hmm…really excellent! It bursts of the peppermint flavors blended with chocolate goodness of the mini chocolate chips—ahhh! It tastes really heavenly!

Overall, I’d give Cyma on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)—I’d give it a 7.5. Why? The interiors were good as well as the ambiance although I wish they would have covered their tables with tablecloths, it would’ve been better. Some prices on the menu were a bit steep, just like the simple Leonides Pasta that we had. Even if zucchinis were expensive, still they could’ve given it an alternative. We were quite disappointed with that dish, plus the itchy eggplant part was a total turn-off. It also made us quite sad when we were told that they did not have WiFi at Cyma although it’s written on the restaurant to Like their Facebook fan page, check in their foursquare and follow them on Twitter. And upon opening my WiFi network settings, I saw an Ektos connection (which I later noticed after bill out written on my receipt that it was owned by Ektos Cyma Greek Taverna Corporation). So how come there’s no WiFi service when there’s actually a network? Whatever that means.

I really wish Cyma would be using tablecloths soon to prevent these markings.

To be fair, we had truly enjoyed the Greek dining experience especially the Roka Salata (I would definitely recommend this to my friends!). If there’s a dish I’d surely come back to, Roka Salata would be it.

I would also recommend that Cyma use crostini breads aside from pita on your Spinach and Artichoke fondue. It would be better if you replace the garlic bread with crostini. The crunch of each crostini would certainly add some kick on the fondue. And when you served them, since the breads are supposed to be dipped in the fondue, serve it with a butter knife instead of a spoon. So that if the customers aren’t into dipping their breads, they could just spread the fondue on their breads without much difficulty.

Kyle, Mommy Rica, Ate Norma (in blue) and Moi enjoy the al fresco dining at Cyma.

Cyma had loads of great tasting dishes. Don’t forget to check out other amazing stuff on their menu such as the numerous choices of mezedes, orektika, homemade gyros and souvlakia souvlaki. For sure, there’s something you’ll love and enjoy. To avoid the hassle, peak hours are during lunch and dinner. The place gets packed with customers that you need to wait from 10 to 20 minutes. Even the receptionist had to help in serving the guests. Once you get there, I highly recommend that you try al fresco dining at their Eastwood branch.

Cyma branches are located in Eastwood Mall, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Trinoma, Alabang Town Center, Greenbelt 2 and Boracay Island.

Security Blanket thanks Cyma Restaurant, Ms. Bea Reyes, and our server Jerwin.