KYMA

He says:
Everything about Kyma is boring and white. Take the décor of this Buckhead dining mainstay. Traditional white linens cover every table of the dining room without offering an ounce of personality. Or take its well-heeled patrons. On a recent Friday night, the entire restaurant was filled wall to wall with old white people. It’s hard to find such a homogeneous crowd in a multicultural city like Atlanta, but hey, there you go! Finally, take my $30 entrée of dorado. Lightly sautéed in butter and garnished with a few capers, this soggy white fish is average-tasting at best. At worst, it’s an awful value.

She says:
That’s not the only mediocre thing at Kyma. For a Greek eatery that specializes in seafood, there is a surprisingly lack of variety on the menu in terms of preparation – all filets come lightly buttered with capers. Apparently you are supposed to glean knowledge from descriptions like “clean” and “moist” to choose your fish dish. We went the more challenging route and chose our dishes based on the sustainability of the fish, using our handy sustainable seafood pocket guides. This narrowed our options down to a measly two choices.

The barramundi does indeed have a “clean mild flavor” and is “flaky” compared to the slight chewiness of Downtown Boy’s dorado. So it’s a nice, fresh-tasting, boring white fish. For $30 you’d think they would add a serving of saffron rice, or roasted potatoes, or something to the plate (something besides the slop of indecipherable wilted greens, that is).

If I went back to Kyma, I’d probably focus on the appetizers, as they fare much better. The wood-grilled octopus is extremely tender and tasty, and the spanakopita has a fantastic flaky crust, though the interior is too salty.

He says:
Kyma handles its red meat decently well. Their lamb shank is plenty big, and the slow-braised meat slides right off the bone. The wood-grilled lamb chops have a decent gaminess, but the preparation is inconsistent. One of the chops I tried was cooked medium while the one right next to it was rare.

As for Kyma’s dessert list, well, you guessed it … it’s boring.

We say:
Kyma is the worst kind of bore – an expensive one.



Kyma
3085 Piedmont Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30305
http://www.buckheadrestaurants.com/index2.html