Weekend brunches are not always the healthiest of activities with offers of bottomless food and drinks. For a refreshingly different option, you should try the Obicà brunch experience at Poland Street. The experience comes with a main, small salad, fritelle, filter coffee or tea and a juice or cocktail depending on whether you go for the classic option at £22 or the premium option at £29.
Photo by Tim Atkins
The casual dining restaurant has a dark and minimal interior design but with great use of spotlights to create a theatrical and dramatic lighting effect so that the main focus is on the food when it arrives on the tables. There is also the impressive bar at the front displaying the finest Mozzarellas and Italian hams which no doubt help them to lure in curious passersby.
The first thing to note is the small salad is planned as a side dish rather than a starter, so expect to wait slightly longer at the beginning as both dishes tend to arrive together. Although there is a strong suspicion, we were delivered the large salads by mistake judging by the photos below when you can see they are bigger in portion sizes than the main courses. We tried both the cavolo riccio and the quinoa, both were gorgeously healthy and had just the right variety of flavours and tastes. Not many people are fans of curly kale, but they manage to make the dish sexy with the combination of ricotta di bufala, pomegranate, toasted pine nuts and baked datterini tomatoes.
If you enjoy indulgent tasting flavours then the tartufo with poached eggs, crostini with black kale, truffle ricotta and black truffle plus added crunchy parma ham is the dish for you. It’s rich, it’s strongly aromatic and the best way to treat yourself on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.
Of course, mozzarella di bufala is their main selling point here hence it was a shame when my guest ordered the spinaci, the dish was missing this key component and when questioned the staff said the dish doesn’t come with mozzarella despite what was printed on the menu. It was nevertheless, a tasty affair with sautéed spinach and sun-dried tomatoes.
The least healthy aspect are the desserts which are homemade Italian doughnuts. However, by this time you would have eaten so much kale, tomatoes and spinach that you would earn the right to enjoy these heavenly treats. My recommendation would be the miele e arancia, with the tangy, citrusy orange notes cutting through the richness of the ricotta di bufala and finished off with honey and toasted pine nuts.
Obicà brunch experience offers something refreshingly alternative on the London dining scene and something to consider for those bored with the typical high street offerings.
baldwin@townfish.com