Cyma Greek Taverna: Quality Greek Dishes at Shangri-la Plaza

I have to admit, I'm not well acquainted with Greek cuisine as there are hardly any Greek restaurants in the country.  A family favorite for Greek food is Cyma Greek Taverna.  They often dine here whenever they miss Greek food.  So when I blurted out upon passing by at their Shangri-la Plaza branch that I haven't tried Cyma yet, there were shocked and quickly decided to dine there. 

The place was packeed so we were seated outside.  But that's okay because a few minutes after we sat down, singer Rico Blanco dined at the next table. 

Too bad because the interiors were dazzling yet simple with white and blue motif like the santorini in Greece.

Food

Orektika (Appetizers)

♥Loukanika (330 php)

The family insists that I order one of the items with "OPA" for a memorable first time dining experience at Cyma so I chose the Loukanika.  After a long wait, the waiter walked near our place with a flaming sizzling plate.  The weird thing was that he was not facing our table so we couldn't tell if it was for our table or the other table. @_@  Still facing the other table, he shouted "OPA!" and then served it on our table. LOL! XD

♥ Loukanika (330 php)

After the flames when off, we were able to recognize our  three pieces of greek sausages with a huge square feta cheese topped with oregano.  It also had sauteed sweet onion and  peppers on the side.

Grilled

♥ Manitaria (250 php)

The Manitaria is my moms favorite!  It is a bowlful of portabello mushroom slices cooked with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and drizzled with  balsamic syrup and topped with herbs.  It is served with Greek pita bread.  The portabello mushroom was bursting in smokey flavor.  We all enjoyed every bit of it. 

Salates (Salads)

♥ Roka Salata To Share (495 php)

My mom declares the Roka Salata  as the best  salad she has ever tried in her lifetime.  She orders this everytime she dines at Cyma.  It has fresh aragula (roka), chopped romaine lettuce, sundried tomatoes, candied walnuts and shaved parmigiano reggiano served with traditional greek vinaigrette.  I share the same sentiments as my mom on this!  It is definitely a sensational salad that is difficult to get over.  

Cyma Specialties

Ladera (Vegetables)

♥ Meatless Moussaka (250 php)

The moussaka, aside from gyro, is probably a Greek dish that is most familiar to me so I ordered the Meatless Moussaka.   This is the first time for me to try a meatless one.  We were all impressed by the smoothness in terms of the texture and the savory flavors from the sauteed eggplants, green lentils, baked potatoes, tofu and onion bits and tomato puree.    

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Cyma Greek Taverna is a great place for quality Greek dishes.  It will be the best place to start for those unacquainted with Greek cuisine.  Since it offers a wide menu of dishes, it is also perfect for those who want to venture more.  I'll try to be more adventurous and explore more of their offering on my next visit.  Service is good and the pricing is reasonable given their serving size as well as quality and freshness of the ingredients.