Manos Greek Taverna

Driving along Tagaytay-Calamba Road, Manos Greek Taverna is pretty hard to miss.  The blue and green facade sticks out like a sore thumb among it's neighbors.

Inside, Manos is quaint.  The blue and white theme continues, reminding me of the movie Mama Mia.  Wine bottles are displayed in one corner and little mementos from Greece are scattered here and there.

The menu reminds me a lot of Cyma, probably because they're both  Greek, duh.  But Manos has a more rustic feel to it.  The waitress is attentive and very patient in explaining their menu.  She also told us that the taverna is named after the owner, Manos, a Greek married to a Filipina.

First off, we decided on the Tzatziki, a traditional yogurt and cucumber dip served with freshly baked bread.

We really enjoyed this appetizer.  The bread is fresh and warm and good on it's own.  I dipped it in the special olive oil (served as part of the condiments) and it's pure bliss.  Dipped in the tzatziki which is creamy and tart, made this one of those simple joys that I don't mind having again and agian.  We were told that they make they own yogurt. 

Next came the Hellenici Salata (Greek Summer Salad), tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green peppers, olives and feta cheese. 

There's definitely something "not Greek" about the dressing.  Don't get me wrong, the salad is good but I'm just bothered by the dressing, maybe it's just me though.  I love their feta cheese!

Saganaki, shrimps in tomato sauce with feta cheese and spices.

I liked combination of the tomato, cheese and the spices (I tasted oregano) which goes well with the bread.  I think this dish, while good on its own, was overshadowed by the other things we ordered.

Lamb Gyros, lamb strips with yogurt sauce, tomatoes and potatoes.

I didn't expect a lot from this dish thinking that it's just another shawarma.  But I was wrong.  Let me start with the pita, it was fresh and was the perfect foil to the creamy yogurt.  The veggies fresh and the lamb flavorful.  But it was the potatoes that made me fall in love with this dish.  It's very malasa that you can distinctly taste it.  This is definitely one hell of a shawarma.  Something worth going back to Tagaytay for.

For dessert, we had Baclava, layers of pastry filled with nuts, butter and cinnamon.

I'm not really into baclava so I didn't really get to appreciate this dessert.

We were stuffed!

If you're in Tagaytay, you should definitely check out Manos Greek Taverna.