I've eaten at Fat Olive a few times, predominantly for large occassions/celebrations, the most recent being the other half's auntie getting engaged. What better way to celebrate than to gather 18 of your closest family and pile into a good restaurant where you're guaranteed some good grub and a large table to sit at?
Eating from the fixed price menu, we were asked to send our menu choices before the meal, presumably so they could be prepared in the kitchen. Despite it being April, the fixed price menu online is labelled March, causing confusion amongst many of the party. Turns out the fixed price menu doesn't change that often, so why label it? I opted for the braised beef & chips followed by chocolate brownie. How yawn of me. None of the starters took my fancy - think things like garlic mushrooms, pate, and fish - and even the mains were a bit of a minefield. We were all asked to email our orders through and, when we got to the restaurant, there was an unexpected delay caused by Mr. Fat Olive only receiving 16 orders so he had only set the table for 16. Why not ring and double check? Who knows.
Once we all got seated - not an easy feat with so many of you! - food came quickly and service was nice and smooth. Plates were put down full and taken away empty. My beef was nice and soft, served with great chips, but a distinct lack of vegetables; the bowl that came was predominantly cabbage with a piece or two of broccoli. My brownie, from what I can remember, was nice and gooey, probably not what I needed after wine and beef, but it still went down a treat.
The atmosphere at Fat Olive is nice and relaxed, not too formal but still appropriate for big occassions. read more
