Olive Bistro & Lounge Inc — Restaurant in Municipality of Jasper

My mom, sister and I came in for my sisters birthday dinner and had an absolutely amazing time. Some of the best food I have had out in a while, but the absolute star was the level of service. We decided very last minute to have dinner in Jasper and travel in from Edmonton.

We called while we were on the road to make a reservation (about 5:30) and asked what the latest reservation we could make was. In the off season the kitchen closes at 9 and the restaurant itself closes at 10, so the staff member assisting us asked if we could be there by 8:30. As we were already on our way, we figured, yes, we could make this work. He must have heard the hesitation in my moms voice because he said he would put us down for 8:45 and if we were early that would be fine.

We arrived just after 8:30 and our server Willow was PHENOMINAL. Willow made sure that we did not feel rushed, and actively encouraged us to take our time and enjoy our meal. When it came to dessert, we knew that we were getting very close to closing and so did not want to hold the staff up in getting their closing duties done so asked if we could order dessert to go. We were told that we didn't have to rush on the staffs behalf and that we should take our time to have birthday dessert. I have been a server, I know that it can be frustrating when there is a table that is sticking around, so having that reassurance that we were not being a nuisance was amazing and impressed us more than anything could have.

The food was delicious and reasonably priced for the quality of the ingredients and the scale of the restaurant. We were expecting to spend around $100 per person as we ordered wine, appetizers, entrees and desserts and the bill came to just under $70 per person. Honestly we were pleasantly surprised at the price point.

We ordered the Saganaki to start, a new experience for us and deliciously crispy on the edges. The lemon Naan bread was a great compliment for the saltiness of the cheese.

Entrees: My sister ordered the Crispy Chicken and Brie sandwich and said it was delicious. The serving size of the crispy chicken was very generous and with just the right amount of crunch to the bater. The seasoning on the fries was also top notch.

My mom ordered the Moules et Frites as an entree and again the portion size was impressive. Even as a shared appetizer, the amount of muscles felt generous. The garlic dijon cream sauce? Freaking amazing. I would love to bottle that up and take it home.

I ordered the market seafood, which was a maple (and ginger I think?) glazed salmon with some sort of puree (I can't remember exactly what) and seasonal vegetables. The vegetables were cooked just right, still some firmness without being raw, the glaze on the salmon was mouth watering and the cook on it was perfection. The puree was also delicious and perfectly textured.

I will recommend this place to anyone who asks where to eat in Jasper. Next time will will plan...

Very pleasant experience, good variety of mixed drinks, accompanied with a fair selection of liquors. The decor is mismatched with not a lot of rhyme or reason to the feel of the restaurant. The cutlery and dishes also did not do any justice to the food was served. We enjoyed the holoumi cheese, it has a perfectly simplistic flavour. However, I would've expected more for the price. Next, I had the chef's choice pasta, which was portabello mushrooms and sausage on a bed of linguini noodles, tied together impeccably a sun dried tomato cream sauce. My girlfriend had the Roasted Vegetable Strudel. This consisted of perfectly grilled vegetables wrapped in a "melt in your mouth" phyllo, topped with balsamic reduction and cream cheese. She found the quantity to be satisfactory and the dish itself, was exemplary. And then the dessert....oh the dessert! Well we ordered two, just because. The special that evening we came was a beautifully crafted tirimisu. Lighter than air cake with and amazing coffee cream topped with a dollop of whipped cream and freeze dried raspberries for good measure. Absolutely delicious. For the truffle trio, we enjoyed the cardamom truffle to start. It was complex with it's salted lime topping, however, it seemed to be missing something. Next, was a chili truffle which was just too over powering in spice, and a bit too heavy. To finish, was a dark chocolate rum with salted caramel topping that saved the simple little trio. We were extremely pleased with the service. The gentleman who served us, not only had a friendly demeanor but, always made sure that we had what we needed with utmost respect and efficiency. Overall, we'd give a firm 4/5 for this little gem in...

To say the experience was lack lustre could quite possibly be an overstatement. We entered this establishment and were scrutinized by a gentleman seated at the bar, presumably a patron, and after some time he deigned to remove himself from his perch and seat us; he was after all either an employee or, I hope, not a manager or owner. After making selections from the menu, our mediocre hostess was unable to confirm nor deny allergy information, so we chose 2 pasta dishes to be on the safe side. His meal was lacking, and if you could locate the seafood that was supposedly in the dish (per the menu: seafood penne), please feel free to ask for his portion. As for my order of the truffle mushroom tagliatelle, the truffle was essentially non-existent, and the dish could have desperately used some, salt, pepper, and garlic to add to the pasta/white sauced concoction that was served.

Yours truly,

Whelmed (neither over or under, just meh)

P.S. If you would enjoy a peaceful and quiet meal, feel free to pass on going here as they cram everyone into a small area of the restaurant while the other 85% of the seating area...