Remember Obika, the Italian Mozzarella bar that opened in the atrium on Madison & 56th last year? Their sandwiches were pretty good, but a little small for the price- and I haven’t really thought about going back since the original +/- they got in November. That is, until I saw these photos that chris6sigma posted to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Pool. Damn, that mozzarella/proscuitto sandwich looks good.

But the eye grabber (and the thing that may have me drop everything to return immediately) is after the jump…

Photo courtesy of chris6sigma

Is that nutella? Inside Sullivan Street Bakery bread? With powdered sugar on top? Yes please!

Related:
Obika’s Take Out Sandwiches Finally Get the Big +/-

*Sigh* … Obika.  What are we going to do with you?  When I first heard that Obika, the Italian mozzarella bar chain, would be opening it’s first American outpost in Midtown I was pretty excited.  It sounded really good.  Actually, that’s not true.  It sounded expensive. Imported meats and cheeses?  There was no way this place was going to be in the Midtown Lunch price range (i.e. under $10 for a filling lunch.)  So, when they finally released the menu, and the take out sandwiches were all under $10, I was kind of excited.  I like cheese.  I like meat.  I like sandwiches. (And most of all, I like Italy.)  This could be good.

Not surprisingly, the opening week was pretty hectic.  They were overwhelmed and understocked, and as a result the sandwiches were running out pretty early in the day (sometimes even before the accepted lunch start time of Noon.)  Reports were coming in that they were pre-made, waiting under the glass, and kind of on the small side, especially for $8.  After waiting about as long as I could wait, I finally hit up Obika to see for myself whether these sandwiches could pass the Midtown Lunch standards.

The report, and plenty of sandwich porn, after the jump… 

Let me first say this.  I don’t mind small sandwiches.  I understand that the price of stuff is going up, and when you use the best ingredients, things are going to be more expensive.  But if you are going to make a small sandwich, and charge a lot of money for it- it better be a damn tasty sandwich.  Case in point: Sullivan St. Bakery (on 47th btw. 10+11th).  Their sandwiches are small… and expensive ($6)…  but beautiful in every way-the result of careful thinking by somebody who knows a lot about food, and what tastes good. Will everybody like them?  Of course not. Even the fat guy in me has some reservations. But if it’s something that sounds good to you, and you can get past the size and price, it’s worth the splurge. 

If you’ve had Sullivan St. Bakery’s sandwiches before, and don’t think they’re worth the price- don’t even bother with Obika.  Seriously.  Stop reading now… because Obika’s sandwiches are just as small, have less “filling”, and quite frankly- aren’t as tasty.  And most of them are $2 more expensive. Oh, and also- most of Obika’s sandwiches are made on Sullivan St. Bakery bread.  Great news, if you’re a fan. (Especially because Sullivan St. Bakery is so far out of bounds for most Midtown Lunch’ers.)

Their sandwiches rotate, and depending on the day and time they may or may not have all of the options. Also let me admit up front I know very little about fancy meats and cheeses (in fact, I may mis-identify them below). But here is what I can tell you… when I put it in my mouth and chew, do I think “this is freakin’ awesome, I’m coming back for this” or “Fuck, I just got ripped off.” Here are the ones I’ve tried, and my immediate reaction:

Proscuitto and mozzarella. This one actually looks like a Sullivan St. Bakery sandwich (but $2 more expensive, and much less filling.) It tastes good (obviously) if you like proscuitto and mozzarella, but it’s hard to get over the price for such a small sandwich. It’s a close one (because I do love the bread, and the cheese and the meat), but I think I’ll have to pass.

Mozzarella, tomato, and basil. Once again… bread is good (it’s Sullivan St. Bakery), but the tomato was kind of lame. Not terrible… but if you’re going to charge $8 for a sandwich, and use a very minimal amount of ingredients, your tomato better be bright red and delicious. Not bad, but still a pass.

The piadina with soft Italian cheese and proscuitto de parma. I think this one is actually shocking. $8 for a quarter of a quesadilla!?!? On general principle alone I was going to pass on this one, but when the guy behind the counter told me the piadina was imported from Italy, I was like… alright, I guess I have to try it. Imported ingredients cost more, so it will be special- right?  Uh… unfortunately, the imported bread actually  tastes like it was baked and then shipped across the world before being made into a sandwich in Midtown. Definitely not worth $8.

Alright, I saved the best for last. Bingo! Croissant with speck, fontina and arugula. At only $6 (instead of $8) the croissants are clearly the best deal. Salty, buttery, and warm (from being put into the sandwich press) this was easily the most satisfying of all the sandwiches I tried. Still expensive for a croissant sandwich, but for $6 at least you can convince yourself it’s a little bit more of a value. Not filling, but you’ve still got $4 in the budget to spend somewhere else.

Obika is not terrible, and it will clearly succeed in its location (we are in Midtown after all.) But if you are already predisposed to hating an $8 sandwich, these are not good enough to change your mind.

THE + (What somebody who loves this place would say)

• Top notch meat and cheese, most of it imported from Italy
• The bread comes from Sullivan St. Bakery (the greatest bread of all time)
• They press the sandwiches to warm them up after you order them
• Croissant with meat and cheese = goooooood

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• The price. It is tough to swallow.
• All the sandwiches are pre-made, and once they run out, they are out.
• I don’t know the difference between imported and domestic proscuitto and mozzarella, so why do I need to spend the extra money?
• Better tiny sandwiches at Sullivan St. Bakery (and $2 less)
• The tomatoes they use in the sandwich shown above were not great.
• Did I mention the price?

Obika, 590 Madison Ave. (at 56th St.), 212-355-2217

Photo courtesy of Danny from Food in Mouth

From Lunch’er Bossman: “Sandwich was actually quite tasty, the quality of ingredients was excellent. I ordered the Prosciutto, Mozz and Basil and found with Mozz/Tomato/Basil in the bag when I got back to the office. It was on a 6″ long Ciabatta-like roll, the Mozz was creamy and oozed fresness. They still have a limited selection and if all they have is what’s on display- not much of it. The staff are dolts, even though the girl taking the order is next to the guy prepping the sandwich there were three screwups in the two minutes I was there (not counting my wrong sandwich)I think their issues on take-out, inexperienced staff aside, is simply not having enough storage space for the menu items. This is the Italian equivalent to Chinese food. 15 minutes later, I’m asking “what’s for lunch?”. Yips beckons.”

Lunch’er Dylan agrees: “I agree: the sandwiches are almost laughably small. Eight dollars later, I am sitting here contemplating an early-afternoon snack. The bread was crisp and fresh, but after all of five bites it was gone. The mozzarella/prosciutto was even smaller than my mozz/tomato/basil affair—that sandwich was barely the size of a blackberry. Dissapointed.”

Another photo, plus more lunchers weigh in… after the jump. 

Lunch’er Gosukusan : “Just got an $8 sandwich there. Burnt on the bottom. Otherwise good, but way too small, I’d need two of those. There are about 8 staff working there, all seem completely incompetent.”

And Danny from Food in Mouth sent this along with the photos: “Like the comments mentioned, they actually had food today, even at 12:30pm when I walked by. Barely a take-out line when I got there, I was the third person in line when I took these pictures. Then sanity came over me and I realized that this would not be filling at all. It looks delicious, and the sit down area was packed but… $8 dollar pretax for a tiny lil sandwich? I dunno…”

The photos don’t make the sandwiches look that small, but I take Danny’s word for it. And this is just for the takeout… if you’re interested in the outside-the-Midtown-Lunch-price-range sit down menu, check out this Savory Cities post. Plus Eater has this report (and the word shitshow is mentioned).

Thought you would be interested: I met up with a friend today for lunch and based on your posting decided to check out the Obika takeout counter. Not only did they break their promise of being prepared today but they seemed to have done worse than yesterday: they apparently ran out of sandwiches at around 11am! (we arrived at 12:30) Is this some scam to get more people to eat at the sit-down area? These guys are not going to be in business very long by selling croissants for lunch. -Mike A.

*Sigh*  Has anybody actually gotten to try these elusive takeout sandwiches?

A few more bits and pieces of info about the newly opened Obika:

1. The takeout menu and eat in menu are in fact different.  The menu that was posted yesterday with all the under $10 sandwiches, etc. is for takeout only. The eat in menu is more expensive, and while not super expensive- is definitely not a Midtown Lunch.

2. Yesterday, the take out sandwiches ran out by 1 p.m., but I was assured they would be more prepared for the demand today.

3. No official confirmation on how big or small these $8 sandwiches actually are, but I have to say the food behind the glass looked pretty tasty.

4. Barring a situation where the food tastes like garbage, this place is going to be pretty packed every single day.

Some more photos after the jump…  

Lunch’er Bossman sends word that Obika (the Italian mozzarella bar in the atrium on Madison and 56th) is officially open, and even more surprising- everything on the takeout menu is under $10!  This is unexpected, and very exciting.  Takeout is available from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.  A full readable version of the sandwich portion of the menu is after the jump.

It’s not clear if the sit down menu is different (or more expensive) The sit down menu is slightly more expensive (and totally different) but everything available for takeout is under $10. You can see the complete menu, here. 

Early adopters… feel free to let us know how it is.

The other long awaited Midtown opening, Obika (the Mozzarella Bar on Madison and 55th) is still not open.  Photo, plus the latest news- after the jump…

Still not open, and the contractor said it will open on Monday… “hopefully.”  I tried to get a menu or find out prices, but was denied.  Oh well.

Got some great photos from Lunch’er Bossman today.  The first is from Madrit’s Pronto Pizza on 55th btw. 5+6th.  You may remember Pronto as the pizza parlor who recently added sushi, and was giving out free samples on the sidewalk.  As far as I can tell, the only reason to eat there over Tuscany Catering (also on 55th btw. 5+6th) is the backyard seating area- but now that it’s getting cold, you can scratch that idea.  Oh, and also, Pronto just go closed by the Department of Health. (Kind of a deterrent to eating there.)

Bossman was also kind enough to send photos of Obika, the Mozzarella bar that should probably be open by now.  They’ve finally taken the plywood down… check it out after the jump.

Still no word on when it’s opening, but we’ve gotta be getting closer- right?