La Oliva — Restaurant in Amsterdam

First i have to say this review is only about the food quality.

The service at this restaurant was actually very good — the staff were all friendly, enthusiastic, and attentive. The dining environment was pleasant as well. My friend and I came here after seeing many positive recommendations on social media, and we even walked 20 minutes just to try it. We ordered their recommended dishes: Pintxos and Paella, which seem to be their specialties.

Let me start with the Pintxos. They looked okay in the display, but the taste was extremely mediocre. Honestly, I wouldn't even eat them if they were €1 each. After trying them, both my friend and I were quite disappointed. I tried to comfort my friend, saying, “At least the paella should be decent,” because from my past experience, paella is usually hard to mess up as long as the seafood is fresh and plentiful. In fact, I’ve never had bad paella before… until now.

This turned out to be the worst paella I’ve ever had in my life — so bad it made me question reality. The entire dish was overwhelmed by a sour, cheap tomato sauce flavor, with zero taste of seafood. Ironically, I read reviews claiming the ingredients were fresh. Fresh? Where? The beef was tough and dry, and none of the seafood had any flavor. The shrimp and shellfish were shriveled and tasteless. There was barely any seafood to begin with, just a few large prawns placed on top for show.

I honestly don’t understand — is €32.5 per person not enough for a proper paella? I was deeply disappointed. After the meal, I learned it was actually my friend’s first time trying paella. I felt so bad that this was her first experience — I had to explain to her that this is definitely not what paella is supposed to taste like.

Even worse, after our dish arrived, the guests at the table next to us saw it and asked me if it was paella, then decided to order the same. I feel genuinely sorry for them — it was truly awful.

At first, I didn’t want to write this review. We came with high expectations. If the meal had cost us €20 per person, I wouldn’t have said a word. But for the €45 per person we spent, the food we got was not even close to being worth it.

Out of curiosity, I checked more reviews today and found that others have had similar complaints about the paella. I can only say this: If you’re looking for an authentic Spanish meal, I’m afraid this place may seriously...

La Oliva makes the most imaginative and enjoyable Pintxos that I have experienced outside San Sebastián / Donostia.

This is quite a claim for a restaurant which we literally stumbled upon by accident. Our preferred eating spot for our first lunch in Amsterdam was already chock full of people and so we wondered on down the nearby street, my mum spotting the cut glass drink ware top the tables in La Oliva, and thinking it might be worth a shot. It turned out to be so much more than that, so much so that we returned four days later for our final meal in the city.

Hearing on arrival that they had a selection of Pintxos for lunch I was delighted. I spent an enjoyable few days in Donostia back in 2019, and had loved the local food culture. What I wasn’t prepared for was the incredible selection available, each design designed with the same artistic flare and commitment to high-quality ingredients that One would expect in the Basque Country.

And then there was that first bite. It was a seafood parcel and it was absolutely extraordinary. One of those “wow” moments where One is left speechless, simply delighting in the combination of flavours and textures in one quite perfect dish - setting the scene well for those that followed.

This wasn’t at all what I expected to find in Amsterdam, but it was one of our most enjoyable experiences there. It doesn’t seem to appear in any guidebooks making it something of a well-kept secret. I hope it gets the custom that it so...

Don't go here . The restaurant itself is boosted on Google so don't trust the good reviews The food was mid and the service was... Selectively bad for just us?? Like our waiter seemednice to everyone and HATED us for some reason We saw him lovingly explain this same dish to the people behind us but just dropped it off silently, no eye contact at our table Just one example but every interaction was trash l don't even care about good service usually but I notice more when it feels targeted lol Maybe I am stupid but these two starters were the SAME roasted peppers just one of them also had sausages. "Spicy Basque sausages and mild green peppers from Padrón" and "Bell pepper stuffed with bacalao and a seafood sauce"

The dish was described as "stuffed peppers" was not stuffed, and both dishes had the same sauce. Literally the only difference was that one had sausages.

The other starter we ordered "Fresh tuna skewers with Foie Royale (animal friendly!) and PX" was maybe the worst thing I ever put in my mouth and literally almost turned me into a vegetarian.

Please do...