Please note that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!
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Caviar is an interesting product: reserved to only a few years ago and symbol of luxury and gourmet; it is now more and more popular and often present in restaurants dishes, more often used as a topping than standing on its own. Well, this may change and if you want to discover the many variety of caviars that are available, Olma Caviar Boutique & Bar is for you as they offer various ways of tasting these luxurious eggs at good prices. Of course, the higher the quality, the pricier it will be, but imagine that, unless you go for caviar tasting platter shown below, priced at $55, you can try caviar on egg for as little as $5 a piece, up to $32 for a Beluga. I should mention that the latter is from South Korea, farm raised and Olma is the only company in the New York Metropolitan area to import farmed Beluga caviar. Owned by Edward Eliachov and partner Igor Eliachov, President of Olma Food, a company established in 2001 in Brooklyn, they not only sell, but also manufacture caviar. And if you do not like caviar, there are many other options as you will see in this post.
The place on the Upper East Side is an outpost of the one located in the Plaza Food Court. But, in this recently opened location, you can appreciate even more an elegant decor that is dominated by an amazing display: not only the display is amazing, but also what is inside...
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Then came the long awaited caviar tasting. It was composed of eight different kinds, sitting on a mini-blini with a touch of creme fraiche, in a progression from left to right, from the lower to the higher grade, progression that they suggested to follow. The four on the left side were from the US, while the four on the right side where from abroad. I truly appreciated that the plate came with a band where the names of each beautiful pearls were written, although I would have liked having also a description of each of them, so I could better compare.
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There was (from left to right - description provided by Olma):
Salmon red: red to orange role, firm, glistening eggs with fresh, juicy crunch
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Bowfin caviar: distinctive mildly tangy flavor.
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Paddlefish black: similar to Sevruga, from the Spoonbill fish, dark gray to black roe, with nice salinity.
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Hackleback: from Hackleback Sturgeon, black or dark gray glistening eggs, firm with a nutty taste.
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White Sturgeon: slightly firm but delicate texture.
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Russian Siberian Aurora: similar to Beluga, high quality, from Siberian sturgeon.
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Russian Osetra Karat: delectably fresh and fruity, warm brown to dark gray color, firm and juicy, distinctive flavor.
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Beluga: extremely mild, buttery and unique full-flavored aftertaste, large pearly light gray grains, firm, clear and glossy.
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That was really good and I liked the fact that I was able to try one after the other, the texture and taste differing from one another. If you do like caviar, as I mentioned before, they have multiple options, such as foie gras, duck, crab, as well as salmon that I tried in a sandwich: the salmon lox sandwich composed of a generous portion of lox, cream cheese, arugula and tomato in a deliciously soft and crispy French baguette...Read more at: http://www.ijustwanttoeat.com/post/restaurant-review/olma-caviar-boutique-bar-on-the-upper-west-side-nyc