Obica
In a break from my usual trudge, I have been asked to do two of my favourite things. Eat and not move for it.
I have been asked time and time again by food delivery companies to do a review, so I finally decided to give in on a hungry day. Another reason why I accepted this request was that they actually delivered to my area. Kind of a slight imperative to do a review. This food is courtesy of the Jinn App who are a pick up and delivery service in London. They don’t just do food as they do clothes and almost anything else too. Except cars I guess… Food will have to do.
They promise to deliver within an hour – a real plus for a starving blogger like me. What I was soon to find out was that this meant that I was limited to restaurants within close proximity. So having previewed the offerings, I decided on Obica, a local Italian.
Unfortunately, although the eatery I selected was about 15 minutes walk away, it took about an hour for the food to get to me. Maybe the delivery was held by… umm… a surprise all you can eat ice cream truck! Yes that must be it. Joking aside, I know it generally takes longer to get from point A to B if you aren’t in a constant state of mild panic like I am sometimes. Although I usually manage to get to my destination without too many mishaps. In this case however, what was fatal about the delivery was that the food was… cold…… Must have been… errr… a fantastic ice cream shop.
A lovely Salsiccia Toscana e blu di bufala – Tuscan sausage, blu di bufala with organic and Datterini tomatoes. This pizza was a delight. The base was particularly good as it was springy and tasty. The sausage and tomato quality was only highlighted by this excellent base. A gulf away from the usual pizza deliveries.
Pappardelle con ragù di salsiccia Toscana – fresh thick ribbons of pasta served with a Tuscan sausage ragù. Although my usual roaring hunger inside would mean I would often be found drooling on the table from the aroma of delicious food, this case was an exception. Unfortunately, the rather chilly pasta cooled my enthusiasm. It might have been great when hot, but even fantasizing about how good it was in its imagined perfect state, it just didn’t seem to hold a candle to the cool pizza.
Torta Caprese – warm chocolate & almond cake served with fior di latte ice cream. I had an issue with this. There was no ice cream and it wasn’t warm. With those two crucial elements missing, it just seemed to lack a bit of spark. Maybe I now know why my delivery was late.
Torta di ricotta di bufala e pere – light ricotta di bufala & pear cheesecake. Served at ambient temperature, this tart was good. The delicate flavours of the ricotta avoided overpowering the delicate taste of the pear. Definitely something to repeat.
To sum up Obica, I have actually eaten there several times. On this occasion and in common with times past, go there for the pizzas, not the pasta. It must be their special oven that makes their pizzas glitter in the night. As for the desserts, unfortunately, I was not able to judge them in their full glory as they seemed to be missing parts… a cool gelato perhaps.
For the Jinn app, there were a couple of hiccups along the way. I think my rather lukewarm review of them is mainly due to their tardiness and temperature control issues. You would think that a service and delivery charge of almost 20% would warrant a red hot service. A rather more frigid offering unfortunately put a bit of a dampener on my spirits.
A quiet eating 6/10 for the food. A quiet eating 4/10 for the Jinn app.
We were invited to review. Estimated cost for dinner (2 courses) was GBP20.
Unit 1 West Wintergarden, 35 Bank Street
E14 5NW – London