Olive Tree Brasserie Lytham — Restaurant in Borough of Fylde

Atmosphere of the restaurant is great. We sat on the heated terrace and really enjoyed the ambiance. There was a loud party seated near us and the server/manager asked multiple times if we wanted to move, but we didn't mind so stayed seated in place. Service was a bit slow and inconsistent though. We were not sure who our actual server was. Several different staff coming to our table throughout our visit. Staff was very accommodating to food allergies and prepared a special version of the dip appetiser free from gluten. After appetiser we waited for a long time with empty drinks and still wanted to order mains. (Appetiser was ordered with our drinks when first seated while we looked over the rest of the menu). We had to flag a staff member down for attention. At this point not too bad, only slightly disappointed. Mostly due to empty drinks and flavors left in mouth from appetiser. Dips were ample, but OK at best. Tahini dip is very strong with mucus like consistency, hummus was strange. I've never had one so thick and dry, but flavor was decent. Other dip I forget the name (pinkish in color) was better than tahini but that's not saying much. Mains arrive with good timing once ordered. We had Tomato Risotto and Lamb Kleftico. Portion size was certainly ample, however quantity did not make up for quality. Risotto had an unpleasant burnt taste to it, lamb while being cooked well was lacking in flavor. Demi glaze like sauce on plate had the taste of a doctored up generic brown gravy + Mediterranean spices. It did not have anywhere near enough acid to balance the fat from the lamb. Portion size of lamb was great, but over kill on potatoes. There must have been 6 or 8 whole potatoes cut into hearty chunks. With a bland sauce on the plate, not too interested in all these added potatoes. There was an odd carrot and parsnip hiding under potatoe mountain, but a more balanced distribution is preferred. Value in price at Olive Tree Brasserie appears to be coming primarily from portion size and ambiance of the interior decoration. While service is OK-ish, quality of food was just one small step up from pub grub (judging from our order only). If they upgrade the food/flavor quality, this place would score very well in my opinion. Shocked to find that a service charge was included on the bill when there were only 2 of us dining. It is our culture to tip well, but you forced it and ended up with less...

Awful, disappointing experience. Having booked a table for two inside, we were inexplicably seated outside on the terrace. A table of 4 women were seated alongside us - just inches away - despite the many spaces elsewhere. The women proceeded to get completely slaughtered and rowdy in under an hour (at 3pm on a Sunday), ordering several bottles of wine.

It was clear that my companion and I were on a date and were both uncomfortable with the noise, yet the staff did nothing to manage the atmosphere. To make matters worse, the women listened in to our conversation and went from shouting and generally loud behaviour to pin-drop silence whenever my date spoke about holidays, property, what he does for a living etc while one of them repeatedly tried to get his attention. When my date went inside to use the bathroom, all 4 women followed him!

Having read other reviews, the drunken rowdiness on the terrace seems to be fairly common (and the feedback, dating back a year, to that effect has been ignored). If you're comfortable watching your date/partner be drooled over and followed around by drunken, predatory gold-diggers, this is the place for you. If not, I strongly recommend you avoid it. We couldn't wait to leave - date ruined. We had more fun in the car afterwards than in the restaurant.

Food was average but our waitress was fantastic, any of the other Lytham restaurants would be lucky to have her. This place has an identity crisis and needs to decide whether it's a bar or a restaurant, or at the very least, separate clientele accordingly.

ETA : your response below completely misses the point about groups of noisy drunken people (whether they have eaten or not) disturbing other guests. Our lunch experience was ruined. The group seated to our other side were also impacted by the drunken group and suggested we switch to a ‘nicer’ establishment instead. Several other reviews have made the exact same point about noisy drunken guests ruining their experience yet you ignore this, offering an email address and a repeat visit instead. Wilful ignorance to boot - a clear indication that nothing will change and future guests will no doubt be expected to endure a similar drunken atmosphere. Awful customer...

I have left a previous scoring of my visit but was asked to elaborate by the establishment so here goes:

We formed a large party of over 25 people, It was a 30th it was a Saturday BH at 18:30ish

The reason for the marks I gave were:

Prior to the night we all formed a WhatsApp group and ordered food as per a menu. However this was changed and the reason given was due to us being a large party So we had to re order anything that wasn’t on the original menu. Not a big deal but some favourites were missing off the ‘big party menu’ Upon prompt arrival the Table wasn’t ready due to the previous party still occupying. The party goer lady apologised (although she didn’t need to really) and said this was because the previous party was late, so they couldn’t occupy their table on time either . The staff tried their best in the circumstances, it was chaotic and potentially stressful for our poor organisers but all got sorted by proactive staff. So eventually we were all sat in the sunshine, on the terrace. It was a very nice ambiance. I attempted to buy some beers but you had run out of lagers, which was probably indicative of the busy day were having. The food came intermittently so people on our two tables were eating in small groups at 15 minute intervals. When the food did come, it was tasty but I thought not something I personally could not have made. I had the Chicken Kebab which was very nice thanks . The fries though were only just warm. The staff brought some fresh ones out when asked. The Greek donuts for dessert were not a great choice for me (other people in our party enjoyed them) For me personally the dish was saved only by the added blob of ice cream which was about the size of a golf ball. So very small.

Everyone enjoyed the night though, despite the slight negatives herewith and I would definitely return because all these issues were a manifestation of a very busy Bank Holiday Saturday day and night for the restaurant.

I trust this...