Restaurant Visit - Obika Toronto

So last night a few friends and I visited the newly opened Obika in BCE Place - ok, it is called Brookfield Place now but after working in downtown Toronto for 20 years it is still just "BCE" to me.  Same as it will always be the Skydome, and not the Rogers Centre!

But I digress....the restaurant is located where Masquerade used to be, across from the newly updated Marché (which incidentally looks exactly the same to me) looking up at the incredible open architecture of the BCE Atrium.  It still is truly stunning after all these years.  And the new sculpture that has been installed in the Atrium outside of Ki (which I LOVE) is an ethereal mix of light and feather like objects floating in a net from the roof.  Quite mesmerizing.

There has been much hype about Obika coming to Toronto, so we really wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  In case you are not familiar, Obika Mozzarella Bar is Toronto's first of its kind. Our server told us that fresh mozz is flown in from Italy twice a week, along with other artisinal products such as Proscuitto, Porchetta and Mortadella.  And everything on the menu centers around the mozzarella. Every menu item showcases one version or another of the hand pulled mozzarella balls.  Obika has locations in New York, LA, London, Japan and of course, Italy.

And it isn't just any mozzarella - certainly not the waxy balls you find in your local Metro or No Frills. This is Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP - meaning it is made from the milk of waterbuffalos - and comes directly from Campania. Clearly top quality and freshness are high on the list of the owners. DOP is kind of like the wine designation VQA or DOCG, meaning that producers in the region have to stick to specific standards and methodologies of production to earn that designation.

In term of look and vibe, the restaurant is more like a sushi bar than it is any Italian inspired restaurant that I have visited. All the cheeses are displayed in a glass case floating in their liquid, along side beautiful side items such as arugula (and you know I LOVE arugula), olives, tomatoes, etc. One of the feature items on the menu - the rotella are losely based on the concept of a maki roll, except the nori is replaced by....mozzarella!

The other thing to know is that as of yesterday, the place JUST got its liquour license, so they have an extremely limited selection of wines and spirits.  In fact, one red, one white and a Prosecco. And the red will run you $65 per bottle.  Their wine list looks nice and probably will be, once they stock it.

Here's the menu.  So what did we eat, you may ask?  Well the four of us shared the Tasting Plate of the 3 Mozzarellas - Classica, Affumicata and Stracciatella di Burrata ($34). The Classica was beautiful and creamy and the Affumicata (Smoked Mozzarella) extremely intriguing. However, I found the method of serving the Burrata rather disappointing and small. It was already cut open and served in a glass bowl rather like a white chunky soup with a spoon. Part of the fun of Burrata is watching it being cut open and seeing the cream and pieces of mozzarella flow out.  In a bowl with a spoon?  Meh.

As suggested by our server, we added on the side platter of Prosciutto Crudo di Parma, Prosciutto Cotto and Mortadella ($12.50) and the Trio di pesti ($4.50).  A bit of a pricey appetizer even between four.

My friend and I then shared the pizza N’Duja e Burrata with spicy salami paté, Stracciatella di Burrata, tomato filets, basil , and a salad - the Songino e Carciofi with artichokes, mache, radicchio, Caciocavallo Cheese, pumpkin seeds and crostini. Yummybut not exceptional. I believe salads were around $10 and quite generous to be honest.

Our other friend had the pizza Verdure Grigliate - pizza with grilled eggplant, zucchini, radicchio and smoked mozzarella .  Both nice pizzas at $16. But better than any place else in the city like Queen Margherita or Pizza Libretto?  Nope.  And the pasta dishes are quite small.  Our friend had the Ravioli Freschi and it was maybe 6-8 pieces.  Nice but not a generous serving by any means.

To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by the place.  I think it might be a better lunch spot than a dinner spot, but it is not inexpensive.  For my share of the appetizer plate, half a pizza, half a salad and a few glasses of wine I was $70 with tax and tip.  Will I go back?  Probably.  At least to see how the place evolves and vibe develops over the next 6 months or so.

So that is my first restaurant write up.  Not a review necessarily but just a documentation of my visit.  Stay tuned for more as I do try to experience many of the new restaurants popping up in Toronto, particularly those in my 'hood and around where I work.  We'll see where this goes I guess....like most things on my blog.