Olivers Restaurant — Restaurant in Vincent Community

REALLY disappointing in so many ways. We were excited to dine at Oliver’s tonight as we have dined there many times over the years and love the venue, and were keen for our friends to experience it as they had never been there before.

We arrived punctually for our booking and waited by the sign to be seated. Two waitresses came out and stood right in front of us, talking to each other. We would consider it rude to ignore us like that at a budget restaurant but Olivers is not cheap, and when you pay good money at a restaurant you expect a level of service that justifies the prices. It would have felt more welcoming if they had stopped chatting to acknowledge us and tell us they would be with us shortly. They continued to ignore us and finally the barman who had been watching this came round and said something to them and one responded ‘Oh we thought they were the people who didn’t have a booking.’ There was no apology for the rude welcome. They then led us to our table and we ordered 4 drinks and as it wasn’t busy we were surprised that they didn’t remember who had ordered what - again something you expect in a good restaurant. The menu sounded delicious and 3 of our group ordered the pork belly with chargrilled asparagus and roast parsnips. There was a side dish of sticky honey carrots that sounded so good we ordered that too. A few minutes after serving our meals the waitress asked if everything was ok and we said yes. As we started eating we all agreed the carrots were really disappointing - there was nothing nice or sticky about them as described on the menu, they had just been boiled. Then we noticed that we had been served beans instead of asparagus. When the waitress cleared our plates we told her the carrots were nothing like their description on the menu, and that we had ordered chargrilled asparagus, not boiled beans and she said the asparagus was no longer in season. We suggested they should have told us that before we ordered. We asked her to relay our concerns to the manager. She didn’t. When we went to pay we expressed our disappointment again. Our waitress came over and acknowledged that they should have told us the asparagus was no longer available …..but then told us we should have told her when she asked if we were happy with everything just after she had served us. We reiterated that they should have told us when they gave us the menus. They agreed to deduct the carrots from the bill and discount the pork dish, and if they had done that, we probably wouldn’t have left this review, but it was only after we had left the restaurant that we realized they hadn’t even honored that - all they did was deduct the carrots - there was no discount for the 3 pork dishes. We got the feeling they were used to getting complaints. It was so disappointing in so many ways. We are all foodies, we love dining out in nice restaurants and love leaving good reviews, but this experience definitely left a bad taste, the lack of integrity of the management there being the most disappointing factor. We’ll never go back under...

I talked this up so much to my friends having stayed, dined and wined here previously, Oliver’s has such a warm welcoming cosy vibe. But this visit, the maître de was super rude, he didn't acknowledge us when we entered, leaving us standing there confused for a few minutes waiting to be seated as the sign suggested and rudely told us it was like a normal bar and to order at the bar, even though we are in level 2 which should be table service. Any ambiance of our rainy day red was killed by the loud rap music which totally didn’t fit the scene along with some old dirty hanky left on the seat... super haggard during Covid times. Causing us to speed through our wine and leaving us wondering if the staff did this on purpose as I believe they were closing for the afternoon. Only reason for the good rating is the delicious Three Minors Pinot Noir they offer, a local Clyde based winery which on this occasion I wish we’d visited instead, however it was served in amazing wine glasses and my existing nostalgia for this beautiful place is reflected the rating, hopefully we just caught them on an off day. I would like to think the owners wouldn’t have let this...

Walked in to Oliver's last eve without a booking. Was offered bar snacks from their menu. Asked if I could have it to take away ( as atmosphere was not to my liking ) and was told yes I could takeaway but they could not guarantee the quality if I did so. I agreed and ordered basic stuff that couldn't be damaged by takeaway. A mini sourdough loaf ( with long-winded butter accompaniment which I wanted to try) and shoestring fries ( with aioli - I think lemon and garlic ). Sounded yum. I waited patiently. After around 20 minutes ( not too long in my opinion) I was presented with a small closed box. I took it gratefully and left. When I got back to my accommodation I realized that I only had bread and fries in my takeaway box. The bread was good. As expected. The fries were underseasoned. And without the flavours I had paid for and expected to compliment these I felt pretty unhappy. The service was fine - although the staff seemed confused about what they can offer - but they were pleasant. But no. I do not recommend this establishment. A real...