Kyma - Roslyn, NY

Beautiful stonework at the entrance

When visiting new hotspot Kyma in Roslyn, you feel as though you've been swept away to a sexy Greek isle. Pronounced "kee-ma", which means "wave" in Greek, the restaurant focuses heavily on fresh seafood. In fact, they have a huge selection of fresh fish beautifully displayed on ice near the kitchen. Located on Old Northern Boulevard, just down the road from some of my favorite restaurants such as Kotobuki, Besito and MP Taverna, another popular Greek restaurant, Kyma definitely attracts your attention as you drive by. A large outdoor seating area spills out from the front of the restaurant and is surrounded by greenery, and on a weekend night cars are lined up to valet park. Once it's dark outside, the front is illuminated by blue uplighting. As you walk in, you can't help but notice the beautiful, gleaming white decor and expansive double-sided bar joined by arched windows.

Bar on the lounge side

 If you are unable to get a table, I highly recommend dining in the lounge area. It is stylishly decorated in white and blue colors and has a very comfortable couch-like bench with throw pillows all along the curved wall. You can sit back and relax while you enjoy some wine and appetizers. My husband and I stopped in on a whim on a Friday night once and had a very relaxing evening doing just that! When you're in the lounge, you feel like you're hanging out in a very nice beach house for the night.

Kyma after dark

Street view

Loveblock organic
Sauvignon Blanc, NZ

I returned recently with my girlfriends and we had a great dinner filled with tons of laughs - the best kind of night out. We started with a bottle of the Loveblock organic Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, which I learned is actually made by Kim Crawford. The wine was perfectly citrusy, fruity and grassy. Of course, Kyma's wine list has several Greek offerings, but I'm not familiar with Greek wines so I was afraid to take a chance on ordering a bottle. Next time I will try something by the glass to get an idea of what I might like. We really enjoyed the Loveblock, and I love the story behind this winery!








We decided to order three appetizers, two entrees and two side dishes to share. I highly recommend doing the same so you can try everything! When you sit down, the waiters bring you a bread basket with warm pita bread and a crunchy white-wheat blend, with a side of hummus for dipping. I love this because it gives you something a little more hearty to snack on while you drink and decide what to order. The bread is grilled and drizzled with really good olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt - to die for!

The bread basket

We started out with the classic Greek salad, which to my surprise does not contain any lettuce. Trust me, you will not miss the lettuce. Large chunks of super-fresh tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and sliced green bell peppers are topped with wedges - not crumbles - of really good feta cheese, kalamata olives, olive oil, red wine vinegar and fresh oregano. This salad is one of the best salads I have ever had. If you go, you must order this! The picture says it all.

Excellent Greek salad - you won't miss the lettuce!

We moved on to the Spanakopita and the popular "Kyma Chips" - fried paper-thin slices of zucchini and eggplant served with what is quite possibly the most thick and delicious tzatziki sauce I've ever had. The Kyma Chips were excellent. The veggies were sliced very thinly and the fry and breading was not too heavy. I loved the sea salt that was sprinkled on them and they went perfectly with the thick, garlicky tzatziki sauce. A nice little surprise was the fried Halloumi cheese on the plate - basically a Greek version of mozzarella sticks, but oh so much better! I think this was the first time I have tried Halloumi cheese, which has a similar texture to mozzarella but a much richer, "stinkier" quality which I love in cheese!

Kyma Chips with tzatziki and fried Halloumi cheese

Kyma's Spanakopita - spinach and feta pie wrapped in flaky phyllo dough - was hands down the best I've ever had. The phyllo must have been homemade, it was so light, flaky and fresh. Most of the spanakopita I've ever tried had a very thick, greasy phyllo crust. Kyma's was just so clean and crunchy and was filled with the freshest spinach and cheese. I would definitely order this again.

Spanakopita - spinach and feta pie

For the entrees we ordered the whole grilled "Lavraki", also known as branzino or European sea bass. It was served very simply - grilled, topped with fresh capers, parsley and garnished with lemon wedges. My friends were a little turned off by the fish head and eyes, but I didn't mind. The fish was so moist and delicious, this is a must try. This is a classic mild white fish that anyone would love.

Grilled Lavraki, aka bronzino

We also ordered one of the specials that night, the grilled Langostino, which was perfection. Langostino are a crustacean that is similar to lobster and shrimp. These came grilled and split open, topped with olive oil, fresh herbs and sliced scallions. The grill gave the meat such a nice flavor, and it was so moist and tasted very similar to lobster. I would absolutely order this again if it were on the menu. I couldn't get enough.

My favorite - the grilled langostino

 To go along with our entrees we tried a side dish of the sauteed broccoli rabe with feta cheese, which was a nice Greek twist on this classic Italian side. The broccoli rabe was done perfectly and the feta cheese gave it just the right kick. We also tried the lemon roasted potatoes, a classic Greek side dish. These were also excellent - very lemony and garlicky.

Lemon Roasted Potatoes

Broccoli Rabe with feta cheese

We tried to avoid ordering dessert because we were so full, but the manager insisted on giving us dessert since toward the end of our meal our waiter got really busy and suddenly was nowhere to be found. I have to say the service was excellent until the end of our meal when the waiter got super busy. However we caught the manager's eye and asked him for the check and he rectified the situation immediately by offering us dessert!

Ekmek Kataifi dessert

So, we decided on the Ekmek Kataifi, shredded phyllo dough on the bottom, like a pie crust, topped with pastry cream and pistachio nuts. This was pretty good,  but I probably would not order it again. There was just too much cream in comparison to the flimsy phyllo crust. However, the cream did work nicely as a topping for my coffee!

Overall, I have almost nothing negative to say about Kyma. Honestly, the design and decor is beautiful, the service is very good and the food is excellent. I cannot wait to return to Kyma!

The bar on the dining room side

In the foyer behind the hostess stand

Dining Room