Cyma’s chef Robby Goco came up with a special grilled fish dish and it’s only available here

By: 7 years ago

It’s easy to fall in love with Greek cuisine. At least it was for me. When I first tried it years ago, I found that mix of freshness, smokiness, and spice so interesting, I craved for it. But it wasn’t something I could eat every day—or so I thought, until I tried Souv! by Cyma.

As the name suggests, it’s the newer, younger sibling of the well-known Greek restaurant by chef Robby Goco. Its name comes from souvlaki, which basically means meat grilled or roasted over an open fire. “Souv is the hip term for souvlaki,” Goco says. “It’s what the millennials call it.”

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*For starters, try the cheese saganaki—a medley of salty-sweet flavors from the fried kefalotiri cheese, topped with fig jam and honey sesame.*

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*The Greek nachos is a mix of layered tzatziki, melizanosalata, ummus, Greek pico de gallo, kalamata olives, feta, Greek oregano, and pita.*

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Keeping up with the evolution of the cuisine, Goco takes inspiration from modern Greek food. Whereas Cyma is more traditional, Goco says with Souv he can be more creative. Here, he can play with the Greek ingredients, giving a fresh take to it.

The menu makes use of the ingredients that dominate the Mediterranean diet, such as grains, nuts, and healthy greens, along with souvlaki (which comprises 60 percent of the menu). “You can have that (souvlaki) for lunch with a salad or as a bowl with quinoa and brown rice, or as a wrap using freshly made whole wheat or pita bread,” Goco says. “Now for dinner, you can have that as a platter served with Greek coleslaw and some juicy potatoes cooked in the meat’s drippings.”

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The Grilled sous vide octopus is topped with ladolemono (lemon and olive oil sauce), smokey paprika, Greek oregano, and parsley salad. The octopus, done well, has a nice texture and easy to slice and eat.

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*Strapatsada features Greek scrambled eggs, cherry tomato confit, feta, and Greek oregano.*

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A sample lunch set: A vegetarian wrap, which has sweet potato and squash, yogurt garlic, kalamata olives, walnuts, pickled red onion, sprouts, and mizitra wrapped in whole wheat pita, with a summer salad of feta, tomato, cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives, capers, and bell peppers on the side.

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For dinner, try the all meat platter, which has portions of chicken, pork, and lamb, served with garlic yogurt sauce, pita, juicy potatoes, pickles, and Greek coleslaw (lahanosalata). The platter is good for two.

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He also plays with items not normally seen on Greek or Mediterranean menus, but cooked and presented with Greek techniques and other ingredients. One such dish is the grilled whole fish, served with clams and EVOO lemon sauce. “The whole fish (lapu-lapu), there’s not a single dish like that in Greece,” Goco shares. There might not be any dish like it in any Greek restaurant here, either. “We use Greek ingredients, but this is my take on it.”

Don’t miss trying the sticky chicken wings. As the name suggests they’re really sticky, so they can be quite a challenge to piece apart, but it’s worth it. These fried chicken wings are coated with honey, oregano, and lemon, topped with pickled onions, and served with harissa yogurt.

Chef Robby Goco created this whole fish dish exclusively for Souv. There’s an option to use lavraki (shallow-water sea bass) or grouper (lapu-lapu). The whole fish is served with clams and cooked with an EVOO lemon sauce.

Souv’s dishes were made to be enjoyed as an everyday meal. Wines to match these dishes are also included in the menu. Goco calls them “everyday wines,” with the main selection kept to a simple and straightforward selection of four variants (white, red, rose, and retsina). In line with its goal to present a more modern side to Greek cuisine, cocktails are also available, which features a mix of fruity, herby flavors with the kick of alcohol.