Brunching with Obica *

Oh brunch, where do I start? You’re the perfect meal for me. I hate eating when I wake up and I bloody love lunch time so to merge the two was a genius idea, especially when there’s a lot of cheese involved.

Obica, are famous for building their menu around Mozzarellas di Bufala Campana, and I have zero issues with that. I mean, cheese is life right? They use traditional Italian recipes and high-quality Italian handmade products that are prepared where you can watch if you wish, as you would in a traditional sushi bar. The restaurants are fresh, clean and feel very modern, maybe not what you’d expect when reading the traditional Italian menu.

The brunch menu isn’t any different from the rest of the menu when it comes to being centred around the Mozzarellas di Bufala Campana so we were more than happy to give this a go at their South Kensington branch one Saturday morning.

The brunch menu has a set menu kind of vibe, you get three courses and a non-alcoholic drink for £29 or add a cocktail for £29. We opted for the classic menu without a cocktail as we weren’t quite ready for that. We had a hot drink and a fruit juice each instead.

I started with the Cavolo Riccio consisting of Curly Kale, Ricotta di Bufala, Pomegranate, and Toasted Pine Nuts which was amazing. I’d never had pine nuts in a salad before and I found they were a welcome texture and crunch. The cheese was cut into chunks that resembled feta and went really well with kale. A little salad inspiration for me there!

Mike started with the Quinao with Lamb’s Lettuce, Mozzarella di Bufala, Avocado, Baked Datterini Tomatoes, and Blueberries. He loved the addition of blueberries into the salad as they added a slight sweetness. Also, totally stealing the avocado and Mozzarella for breakfasts at home!

For mains I went for the Spinaci which is Crostini with Sautéed Spinach, Mozzarella di Bufala,
Scrambled Egg and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. I added Crusty Parma Ham as I can’t say no to that when it’s offered. I have to say that these flavours all went so well together and I will be recreating these at home 100%. The portion size was far bigger than what I had thought it would be for how cheap the brunch menu is.

Mike went a little more tradition for breakfast with the Salmone; a chunky slab of Crostini with Smoked Salmon, Mozzarella di Bufala, Avocado, Herb Ricotta and a Poached Egg. Mike loved the way the salmon and Mozzarella complimented each other as you normally expect salmon to be with cream cheese.

There is the option of having poached or scrambled eggs with all main courses. You can also add the Parma Ham as I did and also Black Truffle.

For dessert, there are these Italian style Donuts that are homemade at Obica. There are three flavours; Miele E Arancia with Ricotta di Bufala, Honey, Orange, and Toasted Pine Nuts, or Cioccolato with Ricotta di Bufala, Chocolate Chips or Frutti DI Bosco with Ricotta di Bufala and Mixed Berries. We opted for a smaller donut trio to try all three of them.

I love trying new foods so these desserts were great! My favourite was the chocolate one, which will comes as no surprise!

Our service was second to none, the food certainly exceeded expectations in flavours and in portion size for the money, and we loved trying so many different meals with the use of Mozzarella.