Greek Lunch at Cyma, Italian Dessert at Gelatissimo Cafe

Today, I was able to catch Harry Potter 7-1 with a couple of friends at Trinoma, and of course, I couldn't pass up the chance to have some yummy food as well! We ended up having a late lunch at Cyma, a Greek restaurant which offers an almost authentic experience of Greek cuisine.

Just entering Cyma makes you feel like you're entering another world. The place gives off a very Mediterranean ambience. Apparently, the branch at Greenbelt is small and less spacious, but feels more like a cozy Greek taverna where you could just imagine the food-loving Greeks gathering together for a sumptuous feast.

Inside Cyma

Open kitchen at Cyma

But enough talking about other people's sumptuous feasts. It's time for our own feast! :)

Our first dish is called Saganaki, which according to their menu, means flaming cheese. No Cyma experience is complete without their infamous "Opa!", which the entire waiting staff call out in unison whenever a flaming dish is served, where white wine is poured onto a hot dish right beside your table.

Opa!

Saganaki is an appetizer where you have a dish of sizzling hot mozarella cheese in butter, served with warm garlic bread. The white wine has already been reduced (thus resulting in the fire), thus there's no need to worry that little kids will be eating this.

 Our next appetizer is Tonnos Salata, which I assume means tuna salad. (And now I shall copy from the menu) It's "coriander-crusted seared ahi tuna with mixed greens, feta cheese, baked onions, gavros (homemade anchovies), roasted bell peppers, black olives, marinated potatoes, green beans, and boiled eggs. Served with Cyma's Summer Herb Vinaigrette."

So whatever this "Summer Herb Vinaigrette" is, I am absolutely in love with it. When I first saw the salad, I thought, "Oh. A salad." Now, I'm not a very big fan of salad, but at the first bite of this, I was a goner. The flavors blend so perfectly, with all the vegetables and onions and cheese and stuff having a party in your mouth. The sweet-sour balance of the dressing, plus the tender tuna and tangy cheese, makes this salad the best I've ever had. Period.

(If you're wondering, the tuna isn't really raw. It's cooked really fast in high heat, so only the outside is complete cooked, but the inside has also changed a bit. I can't describe it, but the quality is a bit like smoked salmon.)

Tonnos Salata

The next dish is a Chicken Gyro, which we asked to be cut into 3 parts so we could all have some. It's like a shawarma, but with grilled chicken, tomatoes, red onions, tzatziki (cucumber and yogurt dip) all wrapped in pita bread. The chicken itself is great, but even better combined with all the veggies and the delicious garlic mayo, plus a spicy tomato sauce to go with it. If you're dining out and want an inexpensive quick lunch, this would be a great choice! It's light on the stomach yet very satisfying.

Actually, you know what, scratch that. It's nothing like shawarma. Comparing it to shawarma (at least, the Manila street kind) is like comparing the world's best coffee to Nescafe, or something.

Chicken Gyro

And after multiple appetizers, it's finally time for the main course, which is... Garides Mi Feta Spaghetti, which means... I don't know. Probably shrimp and feta? This is what the menu says: "Oven-roasted shrimp and tomatoes, feta cheese, spaghetti and parsley, served with grated parmesan cheese." When I was looking at the menu, I was hesitating to order this because it was just regular shrimp pasta, wasn't it? But then our order came and I was like, "That is not shrimp! They're called PRAWNS!!!" But it was so so good that I decided to forgive the people who wrote the menu.

Actually, I don't know how else to describe it. It's just a very lovely, herby tomato-based pasta. Although it was a "to share" portion for 2-3 people, it was huge! It was really good though, and after barely 15 minutes we had polished off the entire plate.

Although this was only my second time at Cyma, it has never disappointed me. I'll be sure to drop by again in the future!

So after that great big meal at Cyma, we were so full that we had to have gelato. (What?) I'm kidding. We had to take about a half hour break before moving on to the next part of the meal: dessert.

Gelatissimo Cafe happened to have a promo for people who watched Harry Potter 7, where you get a free scoop of ice cream when you buy a one- or two-scoop cup. There was an insanely large amount of flavors so we had a hard time choosing, but the staff were very friendly and offered to have us try all the flavors before we ordered.

Gelatissimo Cafe

Inside Gelatissimo Cafe

The wide range of gelato flavors!

And try them, we did. There were so many, I felt full already after about 7-8 tastes. But at the end, I settled on Chocolate Sorbet and White Chocolate. Chocolate Sorbet was a very dark chocolate, 100% fat free (!!!) sorbet, while White Chocolate (which as 90% fat free. Unbelievable, I know!) was creamy and made of Nestle Milkybar, apparently, judging from the fact that there was a pack of Nestle Milkybar on top of the gelato on display (see photo above).

My friend tried their Mango and Lychee flavors which were mildly sweet but had a refreshing fruity taste. My other friend also tried Rum and Raisin, Passionfruit, and Raspberry, which were unique flavors that while good, may not be for everyone's tastebuds, so I suggest you try all the flavors before settling on one (or two)! :D

They also have many other flavors such as Green Apple, Tiramisu, Coconut, American Chocolate (which had Snickers on top, so it must be made of Snickers), Hazelnut, Coffee, Pistachio, Vanilla, Caramelized Fig and a couple of new Yogurt based flavors like Berry and Peach. It was so hard to choose because they were all great. Trust me, because I tried them all. :P

Chocolate Sorbet, White Chocolate, Mango Sorbet, and Lychee

Rum and Raisin, Raspberry, and Passionfruit

The servings are actually pretty big, but not as big as you see in the photos because they don't really pack the gelato into the cup, so the photos are a bit misleading. Still, the scoops are huge, and my 2-scoop cup was already more than enough for me. And that's saying a lot, considering that I'm a huge ice cream freak.

And so that ends my fantastic "meal" at Trinoma, with a great authentic Greek lunch at Cyma, and creamy yet guilt-free Italian gelato at Gelatissimo Cafe.

Cyma Restaurant
Level 4, Trinoma Mall, Quezon City
915-2859
Other branches: Shangri-La Mall, Greenbelt 2, Eastwood Mall, Alabang Town Center; Boracay; Cebu City
cymarestaurants.com

Gelatissimo Cafe
Level 4, Trinoma Mall, Quezon City
Other branches: Serendra, Greenbelt 5; Cebu City (Apparently, they're an international chain, and they have stores in Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia as well.)
http://www.gelatissimo.com.ph/