Olé Spanish Cuisine — Restaurant in North Island

We went to Ole with friends and had an OK evening but not what we were expecting.

When we entered, we thought we had stumbled upon a little gem. We really enjoyed the size of the restaurant being very small and cosy which often means high quality food and attention to detail.

Even though the flavor of the food was great, there were several things we would recommend to improve on.

It was very cold in the restaurant. People eating with beanies and coats on does not reflect Spain. Put less ice in the glasses. The glass to the brim filles with ice does not leave much room for the drinks. Speed up your service. The drinks took 40 minutes, first food came out in 1 hour and 20 minutes. Maybe a small appetizer with some simple bread and olives? Reconsider your portion sizes, they are small and not cheap either. A bit more rice would have been nice like a bit more greenies, maybe add some bread like simple and cheap fillers.

And on the comments made by others and the response of the owner. Don't tell me I am wrong as a client. Accept and learn from it and see how you can improve. Family owned, big or small it does not matter. The customer is always right. (Provided they provide respectful feedback). Asking "If everything is alright" is not the only moment a client can provide feedback and to be frank the food was good.

I have had really pleasant experiences in many tiny restaurants with exemplar service and products. It can be done. I hope you can as well as I love the...

Ceri and I went to Olé last night at 8pm, after a movie. The proprietor asked us if we had time constraints, and we told her an hour till the next bus. Turns out she had sent her staff home early, so had to do all the cooking and serving herself. She was brilliant! Lovely personality, and managed to cook and serve 3 tapas plus a salad and we just had time to eat without wolfing. Not only us, there was another table of 3 who also got served in good time. Delicious food! Mushrooms on toast with a sauce to die for, potatoes with a spicy sauce, melt in the mouth calamari, and a green salad with all sorts of yums, including sunflower seeds.

It's a small place with about 8 tables max, great atmosphere/music - just fun!

Licensed for wine and beer and their famous...

Honestly waited an hour for the starters which was olives and some very ordinary calamari and another hour for the mains which didn't even come out together so one of us had to wait a bit longer. I got the steak (wasn't asked how I wanted it done) it was a bit rubbery but wasn't terrible. But the annoying part was I didn't have a steak knife to cut it and the most budget fork ever that would bend when trying to stab the steak. The rest of the dish was a below average salad and some plain old spuds, nothing special or unique. Could have made this at home in about 35mins. They say they were busy but didn't look that busy to me. Maybe they were under staffed I don't know. Anyway didn't feel worth the wait or the price, won't be...