The legend of Olive … Olive Bar Bandra

The music was what is called House Music I think. What I really liked was that we could comfortably speak despite being close to the speakers. They obviously didn’t believe in drowning you with decibels at Olive. A rare delight in the world of lounges.

The ambience was nice, light and Mediterranean… white walls, touches of blue, candle lights and lamps. An outdoor section which looked appealing in the cool night and a cosy looking inner section bathed in soft, yellow light.

They made my favoured cocktail of Long Island Ice tea pretty well. The bar was well stocked. The bar man quick and efficient. I decided to follow my 460 Rs ( USD) drink with a cheaper vanilla Smirnoff (Rs 160/ 3 USD for a small measure) for economic reasons.

The food service sucked.

We were shunted from bar guys in black shirts, to stewards in striped shirts to waiters in floral shirts when I wanted to know more about items on the menu. No one could answer my questions which were very basic.

‘Salumi Frommage Platter?’ Replied with a Mithunda like ‘pork hain‘ (got pork). Mezze Platter? ‘Seafood hain‘ (has sea food).

There was a consistent pattern that followed each of my questions on the menu. The person would go and get someone else who would go and get someone else who would go and get someone else and who would …. The fifth or sixth person would then give the ‘Me Tarzan. You Jane’ words of wisdom which I just recounted.

See the pictures below and tell me if you can spot the difference between our two starters.

Bitter sweet memories

In the final analysis Olive is a good place to go to if you want to feel nice and are OK with a bill of Rs 3000 to 5000 (60 to 100 USD).

It is not the place to go if you want a good dining experience AND expect to be pampered OR need to be guided. Given the Neanderthal service quality only a regular at the restaurant, or a food expert, could hope know what to order.

Given the quality of staff they should hire a good writer to make the menu self explanatory. I am sure they could afford it given the horribly overpriced fare.

Olive served out purpose that evening. We felt special. Life seemed beautiful. My compliments to the interior decorator.

I don’t see myself going back in a hurry.

Post Script: Mithunda (Mithun Chakraborty) is a Bengali who made it big in the Bollywood kitsch world of the eighties and nineties. He played to the galleries. A man of the masses. Known for his Robin Hood roles, action sequences and disco steps. The characters he would play would typically be that of the neighbourhood goon with a big heart. He would speak in street lingo and slang with a ruffianish accent. A cult figure but not known for finesse.

Not the sort of guy who should be taking orders in a Fine Dining restaurant.