Obika, Mozzarella Bar.

Oh Mozzarella, how you have climbed the ranks in my cheesey estimations. When I first became aware of Mozzarella (probably thanks to Jamie Oliver, but I forget) the stuff available in most supermarkets was pretty poor. Nowadays there's a lot more choice and a lot more quality on offer. I realised how amazing Mozzarella can be during my days as a cheeser at Borough Market where you can buy some of the best Buffalo Mozzarella in town.
When it comes to Mozzarella, it's as important how you use it as much as the type or quality that you're buying. For me, it serves as a foil to other flavours but you shouldn't expect too much from it alone. Just a light milky, ever so slightly salty yumminess... Ok, enough of that, you get the idea.
What with all this Mozzarella love going around it's been a timely opening for 'Obika' a Mozzarella bar based in the West Wintergarden at Canary Wharf. I first became aware of the chain when I was in Toronto last year and spotted it there, though we didn't eat we were keen to find out if there existed a London branch and lo, one opened two months later.
Alongside some delightful Italian offerings or pizza, pasta and the like, there are a range of dishes that you choose to accompany your choice of Mozzarella. This is the Mozzarella bar portion of the menu, and if it's your first visit, how can you resist? There are three Mozzarella types to choose from, the Classic, Smoked and Creamy. I went for creamy and was quite unprepared for what arrived. I opted for the simple accompaniment of basil pesto, cherry tomatoes and baby spinach. My creamy Mozzarella was amazing. So creamy, it's hard to describe. It's as though the mozzarella ball had unravelled and melted into a creamy pile of awesome.
T had the smoked option with an amazingly delicious Sicilian aubergine casserole. The casserole was lovely, but the smoked mozzarella is just not my thing. I'm just not a fan of smoked cheese in general. So I'll leave it at that. It you like it, go for it! I know that T enjoyed it and he said it went well with the aubergine. I didn't think that I would be full after the mozzarella bar dish but I was, it was more filling than I thought it would be.
We did manage a dessert though and it was the best Tiramisu I've ever had. Serious. What's also handy is you can get the desserts in different sizes so if you're not sharing or pigging out, a mini option is just the ticket. How can you resist?!
The only quibble was that the service was a little over zealous and there's a small amount of upselling here but  it's only a minor thing and forewarned is forearmed or whatevs. There's no doubting that the indredients here are at an extremely high standard and the success of the chain speaks for itself, with offerings in three continents.
It's something quite different without being too crazy and the quality of the produce shines through with classic cooking. Definitely worth a look. Check out the the moody video below for some cheese-porn basically.