Olive Tree Mediterranean Restaurant

Wanted to go celebrate the completion of our project, and so we decide to go pig out at Olive Tree. It's been a while since I last ate here and it is still generally good.

My favourites include:

1) Okra with Salsa - its really a simple dish with pre-boiled okra with salsa sauce dressing. It doesn't sound like much but the combination was strange awesome.

2) Mushroom Salad - assorted mushrooms sauté till perfection

3) Potato Salad - simple fare but very good home-made dressing

4) Mushroom Soup - velvety and smooth and creamy and yummy

5) Broccoli & Cauliflower Gratin - this is the BOMBS!!

6) Lamb Shank - this dish is also very very good. It's cooked till the lamb is tender but without the game-y taste

7) Risotto Asparagus - risotto is tough to cooked (I should know...I tried and failed) and theirs is cooked till just al dente and flavourful

8) Pan-fried Pork Fillet with Red Wine Sauce - this is cooked as you order so it's served hot and the red wine sauce is a very good compliment to the meat. Really a delight.

Let's just say now I have another favourite place to pig out at will.

I actually wonder if my tastebuds have gone wrong because hgw's reviewers have given this place a rather low rating although i felt that the food was quite good. 

anyway, please drop by: http://rollingwrites.blogspot.com/2012/01/olive-tree-restaurant.html for pictures. 

The buffet spread includes Indian food (roti prata with curry), Western food (sausages, spaghetti, fish fillet fingers, deep fried chicken wing), salad, Chinese food (porridge with assorted condiments, dim sum, kueh pie tee) etc. There was also a selection of sushi to choose from, along with all the sauces and wasabi. 

The seafood section has scallops, crab claws and prawns. The first scallop I took was fresh. However, the second one wasn't that fresh. The prawns were very fresh, across the board, including those from other dishes.

There were stations manned by chefs, such as the laksa section, teh tarik, waffle and roti prata section.

The dessert section is placed right at the entrance, probably to entice customers into the restaurant by the dainty looking desserts. There is the kueh that we are familiar with, cakes, fondue, ice cream, pudding etc. However, I bemoan the fact that there is no durian related dessert and that the dessert selection is still considered quite small. The ang ku kueh skin was too thick but that's hardly consequential and doesn't  make this buffet any less delightful.

Overall, the quality and quantity of the food made it a very satisfying lunch. I love that the food is fresh, piping hot and that a great variety was offered. There was so much food that I didn't even get to try some of the food. It's also great that the chefs diligently refilled the food as well.

This is the weekend international high tea (12.30 pm to 4 pm) ($38++) which is cheaper than the weekday buffet. ($45++) I don't know where the logic lies but I'm not complaining that it's cheaper even though it's weekend lunch.

Back in July, my husband and I went to have the dinner buffet with a colleague.  Given the negative reviews here, I approached dinner with some reservation.  However, I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised.

A great deal of the food was made-to-order, which I really enjoy because the food hasn't been cooked and perched above a bunsen burner for the last two hours.  My husband and I especially enjoyed their made-to-order pizza, where the crust was appropriately thin but moist (without the crunchiness that can accompany very thin-crusted pizza).  Being able to choose the different types of dough, sauce and topping was great.

The spread was impressively large, with five tables devouted to savoury dinner dishes, one station for appetizers, and one large station for made-to-order pastas and pizzas.  There were two small tables for dessert, one holding a chocolate fountain.  The chocolate mousse cake was definitely a standout, but I was too full from dinner to properly sample all the desserts.

Both my husband and I agree that we would definitely return to try out all the food, because there was simply too much for us to sample all at once.

Visited this restaurant after making my vote for the Singapore Presidential Elections. There is a UOB promotion (4 for 3) going on, so I brought my family for some high tea. Just for info, they do not charge for children under 7 years old.

The place was quiet and not crowded when we arrived, so we wasted no time tucking ourselves in.  As we had a full 5 hours to enjoy the spread, we took our time to try every dish. 

Overall, the food was good.  Not a lot of seafood as this was a high tea. I like the dessert especially.

Service was good for 4hrs but the waitresses started disappearing after that. We waited for 10mins before we found a staff to get our bill. Otherwise, the I would say the service was top notch and very good.

I will probably come back here again in future, due to the convenient location and cheaper price when compared to the other hotels in orchard and city hall.

The usual international buffet, we had it for lunch.  Nothing specialty of the food ranges. However, an open area to relax and enjoy the meal, it's an option to worthwhile to consider.

This is one of the few places that doesn't charge kids 6 years old and below for buffet with accompanying adults.

Ambience wise - It's a winner! It's very relaxing and beautiful!

Food wise - It offers good spread! We went on 5 Nov 2010, which was a public holiday, and it has oyster, sashimi, clams, prawns etc. Their cake and ice-cream spread is also good. Their English tea is good - bodied and fragrant!

Service wise - They deserve thumbs up as they have improved leaps and bounds! My younger toddles is petite and needed to be seated higher to eat comfortably. The service team immediately suggested elevating her seat by putting on a cushion. She even patiently secured the cushion for us to make sure that it is safe. Our plates and water were timely cleared and re-filled. 

Excellent! I will definitely dine there again.  

Olive Tree Restaurant is located at Intercontinental Hotel. Went there for dinner on Saturday. On that day, it was a Seafood theme buffet. Would suggest that you have to call and check out the theme they are having, price and promotion. This is going to be a long post!

The seafood section was constantly refilled. Every time an item in it runs low or runs out, the staff promptly refill it. And I must say I love this section. Went back there at least 6 times to get more seafood. The prawns was big and juicy. It was very fresh! Now that I am back home, I still craving for those prawns! And Oysters were fresh. Ok fresh is an under statement.. the Oysters were SUPER Fresh!

I ate 7 oysters, they were very fresh and juicy with lots of meat. The above picture shows one of the oysters my friend nearly ate. He added the lemon juice then notice that there was a live crab moving in the oyster! Amazing!

The otah was average. Lamb was not bad, quite soft with melt in the mouth sensation. But the gf say the lamb had a smell lingering in it. Did not try the pasta, but friend said it was lousy.

The plate of mussels, fish, squid and mee was average. Oh yes that reminds me, do not bother to drink their soups..was lousy and diluted! Chilli crab, had only this to share among the 2 of us. Sadly it was refilled just twice before being replaced by chilli prawn which I did not try as I preferred the prawns on ‘ice’. Service was good, once the waitress notice we had took crab, they gave us a bowls of water with lime in it to wash our hands and the water was warm =).

This is the first time I ever went for a 2nd helping of porridge in any buffets. There are 2 kinds of porridge, 1 chicken the other fish. I tried the chicken porridge and it was shockingly delicious. In total, I took 4 servings of chicken porridge (shared with the gf). Oh yes, another item thats nice is the fried breaded prawn.

Did not have a lot of time to enjoy this as i ate too long! and was starting to feel full. The hot chocolate pudding was quite nice. The rest was average ha.

Earl Grey Tea, comes in a pot. They do not use tea bags, inside its tea leaves. Very fragrant

They even light up the candles. Good ambience! Overall service was good and prompt. Things (even oysters and prawns) get refilled except for the crab. Must praise that they are observant, giving us bowls of warm lime water to wash our hands when they notice us eating chilli crabs!

Buffet prices differ according to different days and themes. So call the place and check before going. For ours, it was $59++ pax.

Full review and pictures: http://foodiefc.wordpress.com/2010/10/17/olive-tree-restaurant-buffet/

Whenever I think of this restaurant, the first reaction is "Errrrrr", namely because my impressions of it lie in between like and dislike, and I cannot name any dishes that invoke fond memories or pure repulsion.  The spread consists of some local food, some sushi (no sashimi), salads, Indian food, western desserts, etc.  They don't taste terrible, but they are not good either.  They had the ok taste without being too bland, but that taste failed to even entice one to have a second round. 

Even when it comes to the ambience, my reaction is still "errrr", because while the place has this cozy, yet spacious, country feel, it is just not impressive enough.  As for the service, another "Errrrrrr", since the service is neither excellent nor horrible, though the good news is that it tends towards the side of "good service" due to the occasional smiles and prompt refilling of water.

If there is a 1-for-1 offer, I might go there again.  Then again, maybe not, since I have many other choices and I still have a long "list of restaurants that I must try at least once".  Wouldn't have the time for this one!

Was pleasantly surpised to find great pizzas.  The salmon and rocket salad pizzas were absolutely delicious. I had the thai salad with rock melon - interesting!

We liked it so much that the following week we went to take away two pizzas.  The cakes in the show case looks 'evil' - that will be our next stop, to try the raspberry tart.

There was also an attractive buffet, but we didn't feel like eating so much.

 

Had wanted to write a review abt this, but too lazy, thus delayed almost 6 mths, wow...

Had wanted to treat Hubby to a decent Christmas dinner, choosen the Eve cos its more ex, I presume the buffet would be better than Christmas day itself.

And, choosen Olive Tree, cos it has nice ambience. I even brought my Sua Gu hubby to view Olive Tree before I make booking.

Becos its Xmas, its a policy by most restaurants to place min 20% deposit upon confirmation. Its a small issue, only raised as a reference.

But...... once stepped inside Olive Tree, taken a glance at the buffet spread, we have the urge to cancel the dinner. Variety very very miserable. Even a glance we already able to browse thro what the buffet caters.

But Bo Bian..... not becos of the deposit... but in order not to spoil our day, and also not possible to get another restaurant so last min (cos its Xmas eve), we stayed on.

The buffet has the very basic salad bar, the standard meat cutting station(turkey, steak, lamb), some hot dishes Jap corner, very limited choice sushi and sashimi. No seafood station... no oyster, only a kind of weird shell clam, which me and hubby spit out after only a bite.

One special dish is the peking duck skin with crepes, but it took then min 15, 20 min to refill. The skin is soggy, we eaten 2, 3 pieces aleady sianz, uncomparable with normal Chinese restaurants. Other food available tasted normal, nothing to wow.

After the 1st round, I even asked hubby want 2nd round? Both of us shake heads... Nothing to eat.... Arghhh. (Mind you, my hubby is famous for his small appetite! And non pickyness on food variety! Yet hes shaking head)

Then we turned to dessert station... haiz, mostly mousses....  haiz.... after abt 2 desserts shared, already feel sianz on out taste buds.

We finished the buffet spread in half hour, which is very fast for a buffet, but we already eating very slowly. Then we spent 20 min to drink tea and chit chat.( cos can't bear to leave so fast as we paid so much)

Maybe that explain why Olive Tree is not full even on Xmas eve. Maybe people has gone elsewhere with better food.

Saving grace is the ambience. Peaceful and elegant. I like the way the tables are arranged, comfortably apart, wont feel too intimidating and retain own private space. But, no feel of Xmas, although they have a small choir that sang abt 15min of carol. Too soft, and vocal not gd. Thus, to enjoy the ambience, might as well come on normal days which is much much cheaper.

Service wise, is good, match up with a 5 star hotel, won't eleborate.

After disc, paid abt 100 per pax. Defintely not worth. Haiz. Not heart pain abt the money. Its that I promised hubby a nice Xmas eve dinner which I think I failed.... haiz.