The Olive Tree Bistro

Whether it was just because I thought it had some sort of association with America's famous 'Olive Garden' - there was something about The Olive Tree Bistro on Park Street in South Melboyrne which drew me in.

On arriving at this surprisingly bustling bistro on a Tuesday night, I had one word for the place - 'interesting'. The decor was interesting with its random array of logs secured to the walls, the crowd was interesting, comprising of a mismatch of ages and backgrounds, and the food, well, was interesting....

For example, the caprese salad was a bowl of cherry tomato and little balls of mozzarella - not a basil leaf in sight. 

The small boiled potato and the half roasted tomato was also an interesting touch to the veal parmigiana.  The veal schnitzel, however, whilst tender, could have done with a touch more cheese and sauce and came out luke warm.

 

The gnochhi was the stand out of the night - the little parcels of gnochhi were soft and fluffy and the sauce was deliciously rich. Unfortunately though, this dish too came out luke warm.

 

Also, I'm pretty sure the waiter thought we could do with going on a diet as he forgot our entree of garlic prawns, initially forgot our caprese salad and changed our main gnochhi's into entree sizes. 

But look, the wine is cheap (and good!) and the food is pretty decent, so if you are staying at The Quest on Park Street, there are definitely worst places you could go. 

Food: 3/5

Service: 2.5/5

Decor: 2.5/5

Total: 8/15

Verdict: like - worth a try if in the area