H and C News were recently invited to review Olives Restaurant in Gloucester Rd West London, so we asked Nick Green one of our regular restaurant review contributors to join us. Rhydian went there with OK magazine and met the chef, so Olives must be right for a visit from 3 minor hospitality celebrities đŸ™‚
Over to Nick…
Just a stones throw from Gloucester Road tube station, Olives is the hotel restaurant of the Millennium Baileys, something which can deter some customers. However the friendly greeting from the staff and a visit from the chef (I didn’t get to ask if he was a Rhydian fan!) made this a great lunch and a restaurant to revisit and recommend.
At £14.95 for 2 courses and £17.95 for 3 this is great value and exceptional for a hotel restaurant. They do have a lot of competition in this microcosm of restaurants around Gloucester Road so they are pricing everything at the right level.
So to the food, a great starter of an Invernale Salad, grilled pears, pumpkin, wild mushrooms with a Gorgonzola and walnut dressing was colourful and did not disappoint on the pallet. Followed by Petto di Pollo, (chicken and chips to mere mortals) was well presented, chicken moist with garlic and rosemary, plenty of chips and green salad to lift it well above the average chicken and chips.
Desert of Tarte au citron was a slight disappointment after two superb courses but excellent and attentive service more than made up for this?
Would I go back? Yes but I would like to try Olives in the evening when I suspect there will be more of a buzz with hotel guests and locals alike!
Thanks Nick
H and C News will be bringing you more restaurant reviews soon
Next week we are going back to Avista at The Millennium Mayfair, one of our favourites đŸ™‚