Obika Mozzarella Bar

This place is simply awful.  I'll start with the good part - the hostess, Natalia, and the server, Danielle were very pleasant and tried their best.  Now for the reality.  The food is terrible, the wine is mediocre, and I just don't get how it could be that bad.  

Last year I went there for lunch during Dine LA Restaurant Week.  The menu listed a panini sandwich with salmon, which sounded delicious, so I ordered that for my entree.  I took a bite and was disgusted to realize it was SMOKED salmon.  I did not recall anything in the description about it having been smoked, as I hate smoked salmon and would not have ordered it.  I pointed that out to the server at the time, who assured me it was listed as smoked on the menu, only to return and apologize later and tell me that it was not actually noted on the menu.  I think that's a pretty important detail for a chef to overlook, as smoked fish tastes nothing like grilled fish does.

This time around, it was again Dine LA Restaurant Week, and I decided to give Obika another shot.  The $35 for a 3 course meal was a great price.  My friend and I ordered different items and shared all of them.  First they brought us a gespachio tomato soup with a side of burrata cheese.  I didn't care for the soup, and would rather the cheese had just come with some bread.  Then the apps:  the proscuitto with cantelope was actually quite tasty, but would have been much better if it came with cheese (isn't this as mozzarella bar?).  The caprese was bland and dry, as there was not enough oil on the mozzarella, and it was only palatable after I drizzled more onto it, along with some salt and pepper for flavor.  Then our entrees, which were the worst of all.  The grilled seabass was completely overdone, dry and tasteless.  It came with no sauce whatsoever, and a side of dried and overcooked artichokes.  The pasta dish had a good sauce, but the pasta was completely undercooked and rubbery.  We pointed this out to Danielle, who kept apologizing and offering to bring me something else instead.  At that point, we didn't have time (we were catching a movie), and after picking on all the other food, I wasn't hungry enough for another dish.  We were trying to finish our bottle of red (which we had been told was similar to Pinot Noir - it was called Pinot Nero - but was watery and flavorless, much lighter than a typical Pinot Noir), so next Danielle offered to bring us coffee "on the house", but we just wanted to finish up our wine and go.  Nothing was taken off of our bill, and we left feeling cheated out of what we thought would be a nice dinner.  Not only that, but the last item they brought us, which was dessert, my friend had ordered raspberry sorbet.  They had apparently run out of that flavor, and rather than offering him a different dessert, they brought him lemon sorbet instead.  Ridiculous!

Mama mia!!
Just had dinner here for the first time and was very satisfied. I was a bit worried this Mozzarella Bar might be a cheesy, pun intended, mall restaurant, but I was totally wrong.
From the moment we walked in the door, the stylish hostess sat us promptly and stayed to make sure my Granny ass wasn't too cold to sit by the door.
Our server Jessica was very knowledgeable about the wine list, which makes this wine-o drunk with happiness. She recommended the 2008 Veronese that danced on my tongue like stripper on a pole!
The bufala mozzarella on the caprese was divine, and the tomatoes were perfectly ripe. (I LOATH white unripened tomatoes)
The Mushroom pizza was perfection, while the Schiaffoni Di Gragnano "Pasta Gentile" left a little to be desired in the flavor aisle.
My Nonna would strike me down from above if I didn't end with the desert trio, so I happily indulged. Tiramisou was deeeelish, Ricotta was sublime, but the choc cake was dry and bland.
To make a great meal even better they VALIDATE parking!! They're one of the ONLY places in the mall to to do and actually pay out of pocket for each customer. BIG points in my book.

I gave Obika 4 Stars for the excellent service Jessica gave us, great food and thoughtful validation.

Pretty good salad and sandwiches. Service was a bit slow to get the check and water, etc.