Olive & Olive Mediterranean Restaurant — Restaurant in Khan Daun Penh

Before I write my review of my dining experience let me first say - I have been a loyal and appreciative customer for 10 plus years firstly in Sihanoukville and more recently Phnom Penh at those times when you just feel like a western (or ‘European’) food hit. I have always loved the value for money and attention to serving meals that were of good quality and ample size - whether it was seafood, meat, pasta or pizza.

On my previous visit to Olive Olive Phnom Penh 6 weeks back - I could not eat the mushroom sauce as it was horrible - so salty even an anchovy would blush. The cream seemed so offended it had trouble holding its texture almost to the point of curdling in front of me.

It is never good that you have to scrape off the signature sauce and hope you can stomach the rest. Barely. Vegetables were over cooked (or reheated to their death) and the chicken had no recognisable feature (or taste).

I thought - ok everyone can have a bad night. I always forgive one bad meal but 2 meals two times in a row in the space of a few weeks …… it’s a pattern.

On 22 October 2024 I had a dining experience that was, at best incredibly poor, or at worst - the worst food I have ever tried to eat. With no exaggeration this was a huge fall from the previous culinary standards of years past.

The bruschetta was an unsupervised 8yo kid’s take on Saturday leftovers. Served on dried out bread (not lightly toasted baguette or some other more deserving base) with toppings slopped on with zero care or culinary skill. Tasteless in a word. It lacked any redeeming quality.

Then the mains….. the appalling impersonation of Mediterranean inspired food arrived - devoid of the much spruiked “love and passion”.

I had to check if it was a prank. My “gourmet” lamb kebab looked like it had been sun baking in the intense heat of the Sahara desert for 3 months. The customary texture, taste and tenderness of lamb had been baked to extinction.

The mashed potato was a mushy slop. The Tzatziki dipping sauce was a swill of runny muck. I kid you not. If you saw this outside the restaurant - you’d think a cat had just thrown up.

The salad looked like a blind 12 year old had prepared it. Lifeless, tasteless, humdrum. Definitely not a ‘Greek’ (Mediterranean) inspired salad.

In fact - nothing was inspired. It was an insult to the senses.

That the cook and manager seemed to struggle with my critique of the food - looking puzzlingly at the returned food (in their defence , they could have been struggling to identify it). This speaks volumes about the dramatic drop in standards and culinary skill from months and years ago. That they offered up free desert as a ‘consolation’ was no consolation - how could I think that the desert would be any different? Divine intervention was required and there was no sign of that.

I half-expected a stand-up comic to come out and explain that the meal was part of a hidden camera show. I left feeling that the joke was well and truely on me. Never again...

My wife and I came to Olive Olive after hearing many good comments on the pizza and service provided. We were not disappointed at all, actually our expectations were surpassed from the moment we arrived at the restaurant. The service is top notch, we were promptly greeted at the door and were immediately told that we could sit anywhere we would like.

Our server was very friendly and spoke great English. He got our orders in quickly and we didn't have to wait very long before we could enjoy our pizza and drinks. Furthermore, we were presented with complimentary bread and dips before our pizza arrived at our table.

The pizza itself was fantastic, the tomato sauce is rubost and tasteful. It's thin crust and is one of the largest pizzas found in Phnom Penh. We ordered the margarita styled pizza for 5 USD and it fed both of us and there was pizza left over.

We will definitely be...

No notice of it being closed. You get 1 star for being disorganized and wasting my time 😂

I’m reply to your reply, all you need to do is update your google account to say temporarily closed. 1 star not fare? The rating people give is a subjective reflection of their experience. You can’t say it’s not fair. Fix your google account and you’ll stop wasting people’s time. I’m sure a lot more people have seen your account and gone there and found it’s closed. Most won’t bother making a comment. The 1 star will remain unfortunately.

I saw you changed the status to temporarily closed. Have updated my star rating as I know you do good food and I don’t want to mess with...