Okiba Mozzerella Bar Open!

[Cpalms]

had a coffee there this morning, pretty good! menu looks great, can wait to have a mozzerella tasting!

[chompchomp]

We wandered in last night. First off, a dark Sunday afternoon in a corporate lobby is about the most depressing place to eat fresh mozzarella. Secondly, the menu is a little exhausting and confusing. We were only able to get the smoked mozzarella, as they were out of the other two varieties till this morning. The mozz was served with cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh pesto and black olives. The mozz was excellent, and I can see where it would be compared with burrata -- a bit sour, a bit runny, but overall delicious. Fantastic taste and texture. All the accoutrements actually detracted from the cheese; the tomatoes were mushy, the olives too overpowering, and the pesto...nothing. But the cheese was excellent. I am curious to return to try the other two varieties -- particularly the one from Vermont. I'd also love to hear what everyone else thought if they have been!

[italianagambino]

I passed by the sunday after Christmas and it was PACKED..I went once and they just stopped serving..around 6 on a weekday..So, i havent had an opp, but I really havent hear good things.

[david sprague]

i''ve had the vermont variety directly from the purveyor, who was at the jackson heights farmer's market for the last few weeks of the fall. his mozz is WONDERFUL and he does a couple of other nice items, including a water buffalo-meat summer sausage,

[boccalupo]

It is worth a try to compare the cheeses. They have one platter with the smoked and the normal mozzarella di bufala from Campania as well as the Vermont-made bufala. For me the Vermont was not even in the ballpark. Although if I had been served it by itself at some a restaurant, I might say it was pretty good. But I think some of the fresh New York cows milk Mozzarella is even better than the Vermont bufala they serve. Got one at DiPalo's last week that was exceptional.

Would be great to have a place like this in a non-midtown location. A nice, cozy wine bar with wonderful fresh mozzarella cheeses.

One thing they really need to do is get a really nice bread to go with the mozz. Like Sullivan Street Bakery bread.

[guttergourmet]

Obika- no liquor license yet but looking forward to having wine. Settled for a pretty decent cappuccino. The imported Paestum mozzarella was very creamy and delicious. Perfect complement for the proscuitto, mortadella (excellent) and speck. Some arugula and cherry tomatoes on the side made for a nice lunch/snack for 20 bucks. Buon appetito.

[kcijones001]

SOOOOO..ANYONE?!

[il Trifulau]

It's actually Obiká, but where is it?

[kcijones001]

Shame on cpalms for not adding the accent!
590 madison

[kobetobiko]

It's not just the accent. The name is Obika, but the title said Okiba. *note position of b and k)

[Cpalms]

Had lunch there today....total disorganization, but they were nice...kinda understandable as the place was mobbed.....No hot food, no wine yet....prosciutto and mortadella were good, nothing relevatory, same as citerella. They only had one kind of mozzerella (they have three one the menu) it was flown in from Naples. It was very good quality. Personaly, I don't care for this style of mozzerella (its kinda burrata like, has that sour milk taste) as much I prefer Italian american mozzeralla like you would find at Dipalo's or Vito's in Hoboken.....anyway, give the place some time, it will be a good place to have a snack and glass of wine after work once they get the kinks worked out....

[kobetobiko]

Hi Cpalms,

Thanks for the review! Just curious, when you said that the mozzarella was sort of burrata like, did you mean just the sour taste or was it the texture (super creamy?)? How was the texture of their mozzarella?

[Cpalms]

kobe, it has the texture of of the mozzarella of your dreams, not guey runny-like burrata...its just my taste that don't prefer the slightly sour taste of authentic campanian mozzarella cheese, most people here will love it (don't get me wrong, I liked it)...I just like the italian american version better....just like I like Difara pizza way better than Da Michele pizza (in naples)