Thursday, June 09, 2011

Cypriana Cafe

There are currently two branches of Cypriana Cafe, one in the Sun Trust building on East Baltimore Street, and one in the University of Maryland Medical Center. According to the Web site, both share a menu of salads, paninis, pita sandwiches, pita melts, and rotisserie chicken. I've been going to the UMMC restaurant - really just a counter at which one orders and pays, and then waits for one's food before finding someplace to eat it - for several years now and have been generally happy with everything I've tried.

Not too lady-like, all spread-eagled like that, eh?
The "Big Fat Greek Pita" can be had with chicken, lamb, beef, or gyro meat. While lamb is my usual choice, the chicken version is good, too; even though it features chicken breast, it's quite moist. The best part about the sandwich though, is the "Cypriana dressing," a creamy concoction strongly flavored with tarragon.

The dressing is also the star of the Greek Salad, along with mounds of creamy feta. The salad comprises iceberg lettuce, onions, green peppers, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, and pepperoncini and can also be had with a more traditional oil and vinegar dressing. But why bother - the tarragon dressing is so good, you'll be tempted to slather it on your mouse pad and eat it.

My biggest gripe with Cypriana is that it has the word "Greek" all over the menu, but uses the flat Middle Eastern-style pocket pita for everything and not the soft, fluffy, non-pocket pitas that normally come to mind. But the pitas they do use are always fresh and do the trick well enough.

Cypriana Café at UMMS
22 S Greene St
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 328-2227
www.cypriana.com

Cypriana Café at Umms on Urbanspoon

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

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