Fat Olive Food Garage — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

Mediterranean dishes at its best!

As I passed by this restaurant everytime after I finished having my coffee at Cream nearby, I recalled on a Mediterranean restaurant that I used to go in Mont Kiara a long time ago. A quick check confirmed that they have moved to Dataran Prima in PJ.

Wondering how they have changed after all these years, I made a reservation for dinner one Saturday evening. While it was almost impossible to find a parking here on normal working days, it's almost deserted come evening and weekends.

Striking a casual yet cosy atmosphere, the waiters made our visit welcome by their higher-than-average service. Armed with a bottle of Spanish Tempranillo, the evening has just got better.

◾sous vide white pork ribs - it felt like Chinese style braised pork ribs but delicious nonetheless. ◾smoked chicken croquettes - served lollipop style. I just picked up the skewer and took one whole ball into the mouth. ◾bacon & melted mozzarella sandwich with semi-dried tomatoes - visually striking and inviting, most probably due to the bacon on a bed of melted cheese on top of the crusty, crunchy yet light sourdough bread. Fold and eat away. Served with a bowl of fries. ◾Basic pasta - penne in pesto sauce without any topping at RM24. The daughter declared that the pesto sauce was one of the best she'd ever tried. ◾Margarita pizza - RM30.. initially thinking how on earth were we going to finish the pizza given that we'd ordered so many items, we somehow managed to finish the delicious and competently prepared pizza. The crust was simply lovely in texture. ◾Seafood risotto with semi-dried tomato sauce - at RM42, this was the most expensive risotto in the menu ◾Pan seared foie gras - by far the most expensive dish of the evening at RM82 for 50g liver. A rather big piece of foie gras perfectly cooked served on a bed of salad. Honestly it was not enough for both of us.

By the end of the dinner, all of us agreed that this place deserved to be in my...

5 stars for the food but 1 star for the service. The restaurant was pretty much empty upon our arrival, staff gestured that we could sit wherever so we (2 pax) wanted to sit in the corner table (5 seater) since the restaurant was empty and we didn't want to sit at the 2 seater tables right at the aisle, the staff told us no and asked us to sit at the aisles instead without further explanation. I assumed they expected the restaurant to fill up so I didn't refuse but the reaction and treatment kind of left a sour taste in my mouth.

We were there for 2 hours and during the time, 2 other couples subsequently entered the restaurant and were allowed to sit at the corner table without any dissuasion from staff, even though the restaurant and other 2-seater tables remained empty. That really ruined my mood for the night even though the food was good, I felt like I was refused the corner table without good reason and having people walking around behind me while i ate was really annoying and ruined my dining experience.

Food really was good, but the wait staff's service is really a deal-breaker for me. This restaurant has the potential to be better because most of the dishes are winners, but the waitstaff really needs to do better to make the dining experience more enjoyable for guests.

The seafood risotto was so good that we re ordered a portion. Sourdough pizza was also surprising, the dough base is crispy and light so it's not overly filling, toppings were generous and the portion was also bigger than we expected. Wouldn't recommend the tapas sides though, we ordered the Zucchini and Eggplant with cheese but was arrived was a tiny pot of overly sour vegetables that we finished in 10 bites, really not...

Wanted to love this place but the service left a really bad taste in my mouth. Rating it three stars anyway because the food we had was stellar – we really enjoyed the quality of the items on the meat platter, the balance of flavours, and the fact that they serve water for free.

What sucked, and I don’t say this lightly, was the service, and it really made the whole experience of dining there unenjoyable.

(1) on Google, it says you close at 10. When we arrived around 8:15, we were rushed to order because it’s last call as they wanted to close at 9 today. No apologies + the waitstaff seemed annoyed when we couldn’t decide what to eat (it’s our first time there).

(2) We made our orders anyway and asked to keep a menu just to take a look. Like I mentioned, we haven’t been here before so just wanted to see what else is there. Every time a waiter came to our table, they would take the menu away and quickly rush off. We grabbed a menu off the stand nearby to continue reading and the process kept repeating itself. Quite comical but super annoying.

Location is good for a weekend dinner as there’s ample free parking around. But their service will be the death of them if it’s not improved upon ESPECIALLY at the price point and service charge on...