Olive only gets better with every new menu and year
Olive only gets better with every new menu and year
The invitation to sample the new winter menu at Olive Beach brought back old memories. A D Singh's restaurant off Carter Road in Mumbai was a favourite haunt -- to catch up with friends from the city, and those who visited from out of town. Geographical barriers were never a hindrance as all agreed to meet and eat at this rustic Mediterranean restaurant. Maybe it was just that, the earthiness about Olive Bar & Kitchen, which appealed to us beings of the concrete jungle. As I walked into Olive Beach in the capital on a cold winter night, I realised it was that, and much more.
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As your boots crunch the white gravel and you sit at a blonde wood table, you feel this is where you should have been eating all your life |
As your boots crunch the white gravel and you sit at a blonde wood table, you feel this is where you should have been eating all your life.
Though the chef was away, our mau00eetre d more than made up for the absence. He suggested Mediterranean soup, and offered us wine while we waited. San Medin Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile, "the king of red grapes", he said, while he served us two glasses. I knew that but was glad he knew too. In fact, not just the mau00eetre d, even our server knew just what we should order. And the best part? The wife, who usually hates being told what she should order, didn't really mind.
The soup, with prawn, calamari and basa, was thick and came at just the right temperature -- I didn't cool it and took a spoon as soon as it arrived, with no oral damage.
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Sesame crusted tuna and char siu oxtail |
A word should be said about the bread - it was one piece of round, rustic bread that we cut on the table. No pre-cut slices or different kinds of bread on the plate; just one warm loaf that an old woman would wrap in brown paper at a shop by a cobbled street where only pedestrians are allowed.
For starters we had bruschetta (it is a common but the one at olive is served on two extra large slices with a mountain of tomatoes and basil) and sesame tuna with oxtail and apple jam, topped with fried leeks, and brushed with a "magic orange powder" that the serving plate is lined with.
For the main course we had fish of the day, grilled basa from Vietnam and roast rack. Olive Beach has an open grill and the food, I am assuming from the way it tasted, was slow grilled. Which gave us time to let the starters settle down and drink more wine to clear the palate for the main course. The fish was all about the marinating, and it was done well; the roast rack was done well too, but it's the fish I would recommend very highly.
It was time for dessert. Despite protests (I thought I could eat no more), we were served dark chocolate and sambuca soufflu00e9 and bananas and caramelized pistachios on puff pastry, with chocolate and vanilla bean ice cream respectively. And we licked the soufflu00e9 clean!
I let out a content sigh but our meal was not over yet. In miniature glasses, we had a cocktail called Cinova, a very inventive coriander-based cocktail drink with pineapple, ginger, sugar and vodka. I would say that you should skip the wine for cinova, but don't.
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You would not want to mix strong flavours like that. It would be like polygamy. Instead, eat at Olive like a serial monogamist.
Olive Beach, Hotel Diplomat, 9, Sardar Patel Marg, Diplomatic Enclave
Timings: 12 noon - 3:30 pm
Price: Rs 1895 plus taxes
Ring: 9810877701
