Obikà Mozzarella Bar

For a resto with cheese in its name, they have a very limited cheese menu, and the day I was there didn’t even have the burrata which is my ultimate fave. Not a fan of the indoor patio. Butternut squash pasta was quite good. Pizza average.

ordered a cheese and proscuitto starter to share as well as a pizza for a pre-​ACC dinner with a friend. Mozzarella was great (not sure how you can mess up fresh cheese though), but a tad pricey for the portion.
Ordered a pizza but the toppings were not mixed together, but each quadrant contained its own toppings (in this case, olives in one corner, artichokes, mushrooms, and cheese) It was kind of odd because if you’re sharing the pizza, there are toppings that you might not get to eat. Anyways, I wouldn’t have really cared if the pizza was good, but it was soggy and pretty sub par.
It’s an ok place to eat considering the area it’s in, but at this price point I don’t think the quality of food is really worth it

3.5 out of 5! Recommend the dnuja sausage pizza! Great place to go for a glass of wine.

This was an interesting lunch in downtown Toronto. Beautiful atrium setting. Intersting menu to chose the very large Mozzarella (different types) then some meet (proscuito). It was excellent, perhaps a little too much for me alone for lunch, but the presentation and taste was excellent… i will be back!

It’s not surprising to see that Obika made Joanne Kates’ (Post City Magazines) top 100 restaurants in Toronto for 2012!!!

I must first admit that I was not in this restaurant long enough to truly experience the food. Due to meetings I was only there for 30 minutes. We started off with a series of Antipastas. I found the meats to be a little dry. I then had the veal chop which was very good, but I would have preferred it with a little cheese. I would go back with a client.

My partner and I went to Obika in Florence and were blown away. When we discovered there was an Obika in our home city of Toronto, we were both excited to go.
The food was very good — comparable to the one in Italy. The service, however, was atrocious. The woman who waited on us to start was lovely, albeit not very experienced. Apparently, though, her shift ended after taking our order and she told us she was handing us off to another waiter — who was the pushiest waiter we’ve had in Toronto by a large margin. He kept forgetting where we were in the meal. He walked up to the table talking loudly — repeatedly interrupting our conversations. He told us he would choose our wine for us — without asking — and then when we said we’d choose our own, tried to upsell our choice to a wine $ 25 – 30 over the $ 86 bottle we were already getting. He was astonishingly bad.
Although the food itself was good, we will never go back. There are so many beautiful places to eat in Toronto, why would we???

I LOVE fresh buffalo mozzarella. When I went to Italy, thats all I ate everyday. Being back in Toronto, I was determined to find the real deal. Then I found obika. I actually saw this restaurant at the airport in Naples and wanted to try (didnt get to try it though due to no time) and was excited to try it at the toronto location.
Firstly, the cheese IS THE REAL DEAL. I tried the trio and loved the classic and the burrata. Wasn’t a fan of the smoked one. I felt that the texture and the flavor messed with the delicious creaminess of the original.
Along with the cheese, we ordered some fritti and some other accompaniments to go with the cheese (tomato and basic– i expected fresh tomato and fresh basic but they were both ground up and swimming in olive oil and way overpriced for something that looked like dipping sauce in appearance and size). The fritti was a bit of a fail for me, they were cold and didn’t seem fresh made. Also the accompaniments were meh.
I haven’t tried the pizza and the pasta but I might give it a try.
Just know that the cheese there is top notch and worth the price in my opinion. Hey it’s cheaper than flying to Naples for a bite anyway.

This is one of the worst restaurants i have gone to, if you decide to go here you will see what I’m talking about. Sure the environment looks good the waiters always try and tell you that they just got a shipment of fresh food from italy totally bull. The waiters will not help you find something good on the menu they will just try to rip you of like they get commission or something i have eaten a lot of bufala cheese before and this is nothing special you could go to your local grocery store find way better for way cheaper. if three defrosted bufala cheese a stella beer and a small glass of house cost you $ 70 there is a problem. this place does not deserve to be in business total rip off. they also charge tip automatically in the bill as well.

Falanghina — delish

When I heard this place had opened in Brookfield Place, I was excited because, well, I love cheese. The thought of an all-​cheese restaurant may sound equal parts simple, ridiculous and stomach-​achey. But, alas, it is pretty damn good.
I went with a fellow cheeseloving co-​worker for a little dinner out. We had a platter of smoked mozzarella (which actually tasted like what I assume wood tastes like, but cheesy), a really soft buffalo mozzarella and a couple of other things I don’t remember now, because I was kind of cheese-​drunk.
The provide you with an array of sauces (marinara, etc.) which you can use to jazz your cheese up a bit. To their credit, Obika offers a diverse menu of salads and pastas, but if you’re going there, you’re going for cheese.
Here’s the one (or two) little thing (s) that keeps this place from getting a higher score:
1) The atmosphere. I was distracted by the lineup of theatregoers checking out Marche (every time I see people lining up there, I feel like yelling «the food isn’t free!» or «do you know you have to WALK around and get your own food!!! (and then pay $ 40 for dinner!!!) but I don’t because that’s not cool.
2) The waiter who kept calling it «moozarell». First of all, it has one «o» and there is an «a» on the end of the word. While I’m not Italian or a cheeseologist, I can read and it would appear he was mispronouncing it all night. Someone should tell him.
3) The price! $ 78 for appetizers for two people and no alcohol! That is a problem, as far as I’m concerned. I know cheese is expensive, especially when you elect to fly it to your resto from halfway across the Earth, despite the fact that Canada has no shortage of dairy farms (this is the angry eco-​me talking), but it seems that they cannot do well when their pricing is so inaccessible.
In sum, if you feel like spending $ 80 on 4 pieces of cheese, this is the most delicious place to do it! Moozarell!

Lasagna fail. My boyfriend’s lasagna came out ice cold in the middle… $ 34 for a plate of 3 cheeses? they were OK and $ 12 for like 6 pieces of cold cuts?
Eggplant with Mozzarella and tomato sauce is good, great cappuccinos and nice wine selection…
Go to experience the interesting cheese, I’d recommend this place for a snack and a drink/​coffee but not dinner.

I went here with my boyfriend recently and I have to be honest, I was so excited to go here, I was really let down.
There were literally no other diners in the place when we went and we still experienced slow service. Our waiter was super attentive, just the food was very slow to come out of the kitchen, kinda surprising given the fact we were the only two patrons there.
The mozzarella were ordered I enjoyed but my boyfriend likened it to lumpy sour cream (which I have to concede was a fairly accurate statement).
We ordered a salad with artichokes and parmesan next which was over dressed.
Finally we tried our luck and split a home made rigatoni, which came out tough and too lightly sauced.
I was very sad it ended up that way as I really wanted to love this place but we will for sure not be going back.

My first 4 stars review! I think Toronto (and all other cities) need more of a 4 star places. Not disappointing but nothing to die for. Just good food.
I’m a fan of the location of the Obika mozarrella bar, especially in winter. During Christmas time it feels like you’re on some big square, with decorations, fountains and the rest.
On to the food — mozzarella is real good genuine stuff and all that. Add the real San Danielle prosciutto on top of that, and for 20 $ you have a meal that can possibly compare to the one you would have in Rome (although I haven’t gone yet to Obika in Rome to compare.) Ravioli is surprisingly tasty (reminds me of Italy as well, ravioli as a very boring food takes the new meaning there), and a special lasagna of the day with ragu and fresh mozzarella on top. I’ll take it any day.
Service is satisfying, nothing super-​fast but not disappointing.

It is an interesting concept with decent presentation. We ordered the cheese trio, salmon salad, carpaccio and veggie pizza.
Not mentioning the portion is small but taste is rather dull and repetitive. I feel I got ripped off for dishes I can make myself by buying quality ingredients from an organic market.
not recommended.

I’ve bought lunch here twice now — both time taking it away rather than eating there.
It isn’t immediately obvious from looking at the place that they do have take-​away sandwiches, but after we asked a few questions, we were led in that direction.
Both times I’ve had the Pesto sandwich. Good quality sandwich, tasty, and satisfying. Unfortunately, the second time, I found a produce sticker on the tomato in the sandwich, which sort of turned me off. I went back afterwards, just to let them know. They assured me that the tomato still would have been washed… but who can be sure? They asked me if I wanted them to call for the manager, but I felt that was a bit extreme. So I told them I really just wanted to let them know so they could be more careful in the future, and then I left.
Either way, it’s a sign to me that there is a level of care missing. Although I’m sure that could happen anywhere.
The sandwiches are also on the pricier side, and on the higher end of my lunch budget. Won’t necessarily be rushing back, but it’s a decent downtown lunch option nonetheless.

I have been curious about this space while it was under construction. Was open when I walked by this week and my friends were interested in trying it out. Overall it was an enjoyable experience. We ordered the sampling of three cheeses with prosciutto, an appetizer of caponata, mixed green salad and the tomato, basil and mozzarella pizza to share between 3 people.
The caponata was divine. I will definitely return for this and to sample other eggplant dishes on the menu. All 3 cheeses were fresh (flown in that day) but my favourite was the smokey burrata. They were served with olives and cherry tomatoes and a very nice bread basket selection. The prosciutto platter was fine and the salad was acceptable. Pizza, unlike previous reviews, was served hot but was nothing special.
Service was friendly and an excellent pino grigio was available by the glass. Obika is well worth the visit for the cheese and eggplant.

The open air, bright atmosphere at BCE is certainly a plus for Obika. Here’s the rundown:
*Burrata deliciously creamy with Bresaola di Manzo
The mozzarella was delectably fresh. It’s certainly one of the best mozzarella I’ve had. The cured beef was also very tasty and less salty than a proscioutto. The bread was disappointing though. It’s not at par with the rest of the dish.
*Carpaccio
Beef was succulent. Generous serving of parmesian.
*Mozzarella di Bufala e Pomodoro Fresco
One of the best pizzas I’ve had. With crispy crust topped with rich, thick sauce.
*Degustazione di Dolci
Unfortunately, they were out of Crema di Ricotta so we had 2 servings of choc/​almond cake + tiramisu which turned out to be good as well.
Certainly would go back to Obika again but probably not order too much beef as it gets quite pricey.

The quick and dirty…
Mozzarella from Italy just tastes better, unfortunately it also tastes better with a glass of wine. Sadly the restaurant did not have a liquor license as of last Friday so my dreams were crushed. Service was chaotic, our salad arrived w/​only oil (tasteless) and due to an error with the computer systems our order got lost in the shuffle so we ended up waiting over an hour for our mains. The good news, the mozzarella was divine and my Schiaffoni di Gragnano could have been filed under «Om nom nom» so not all was lost. Was it as good as say Local or Enotoca Sociale? No, but it is a welcome option when you don’t feel like fighting w/​pretentious Terroni waiters over balsamic consumption.

This place has a really interesting concept! They have an open seating area in the atrium of BCE Place, and a more intimate inside dining area. The bar features their three types of cheese, floating in transparent containers. Their menu revolves around their three feature handmade mozzarellas. A harder Bufala Campana DOP, a smokey Stracciatella di Burrata and the softest Ricotta di Bufala. The cheese are handmade in Italy, and use bulls milk, except for the latter cheese that uses cows milk.
When we were seated, we were asked if we wanted sparkling or flat water. Being on a budget, we hesitantly said flat water… and were given a ($ 6.50!) bottle of water. Beware!
We were served a complementary appetizer of a skewer of their smoked soft cheese, with a basil leaf and cherry tomato. The cheese was very good and has a delicious smokey flavour.
For our appetizer, we tried the Fried Breaded Mozzarella. ($ 8). I expected these to be kind of like mozza sticks. It wasnt. It was a rectangle piece of cheese that literally had been deep fried, served with a delicious spicy sauce and a bed of greens. It was good! This was my favourite thing of the evening.
For dinner, I opted to have a pizza that had basil, Bufala Campana and tomatoes. ($ 14) I was disappointed! I realize that this is Italian pizza, and I have been to other authentic italian places, I didn’t enjoy this. It was drizzled with olive oil instead of sauce, and the cheese was cold and sparsely placed. I guess I assumed that it would be a warm pizza, but it wasn’t. The crust was ok. I wouldn’t really order this again. My boyfriend had eggplant pizza, and he had the smoky cheese, which was warm and soft. (lucky him!)
In conclusion, this restaurant has a unique concept, knowledgeable staff and interesting food, but I’m not sure if I would go back! It was priciy and I didn’t enjoy my pizza.