L'Oliva — Restaurant in Broxtowe

Visited as a table of 4 at 6pm on a Saturday evening. The starters were lovely, but things went downhill from there. We waited far too long for our mains (45mins-1hour), and while most were decent, the carbonara was inedible — swimming in raw, runny egg. I sent it back; the staff were apologetic and offered a replacement. I chose the swordfish pasta dish (which I’d already had as a starter), but it took so long to arrive that the rest of the table had finished eating long before it arrived (around 30 mins) - I saw several other tables receive mains during this time and I understand that a kitchen doesn’t want to fall behind but I returned dish has to be a priority. When it arrived the dish was good, but I felt rushed eating alone. We were there nearly 3 hours and only had starters and mains. I asked for complimentary drinks during the long wait (since we’d already finished what we had), and they did provide them, but I had to request them. I was initially charged for the carbonara I didn’t eat. After some back and forth, it was removed, but it should never have been on the bill. I think it’s completely unreasonable to charge somebody for a meal that they had to wait a ridiculously long time for, twice, and then had to eat alone. The FOH staff were pleasant but didn’t really check in with us throughout the meal suggesting they were perhaps a little stretched. The toilets are at the rear of the building with access only from outside — you actually have to leave the restaurant and walk around the back to access them which I found odd. It feels like the owner is being greedy - too many covers than they can cope with at the detriment to customer experience and not investing in a toilet with...

We visited last night. I had wanted to go to the restaurant for some time, but it is hard to get a table there because of the small dining space. Only nine tables we were told by the staff when we asked the only booking time available was an early one – 5:30 pm.

When we arrived, we were warmly greeted and offered a choice of tables to sit at. We chose to sit at the table which faces the front window and the bar at the side.

The decor is quirky but attractive to the eye and there is a generally nice vibe inside.

I had olive bread with tapenade to start with which was delicious. A lamb and pasta dish to follow and lemon tart for pudding. The lamb pasta dish was very tasty, but being honest, some more lamb within it would been even better. The lemon tart was excellent.

We had an Italian wine (two bottles) that was superb to drink. They also serve a really good Italian higher alcohol beer which was equally delicious.

Downsides? Very few, essentially. The toilets are located outside the restaurant On the face of it there is very little they can do about that with the small space available to them, but it is a negative nonetheless. We were close to the bar and in fairness we chose to sit there. But my partner picked up on the personal conversations of the two staff behind it. It didn’t bother me, but it was a joint visit and she felt it was a negative. And finally I did feel there could have been more lamb in the lamb dish. All that said, L’Oliva on our visit had far more plus points than minor ones. Not quite five stars but certainly worth four. I would certainly consider dining there again in the...

I was really looking forward to eating here after hearing and reading such positive reviews. Unfortunately it didn't remotely live up to expectations. The wait for starters at 40 minutes was absurd, when they did come they were warm at best. The 'fritto misto' starter had 2 different fish- hardly the 'assortment' listed on the menu. The 'parmigiana di melanzane' starter was in a small ramiken filled with passata and a slice of mozzarella on the top (I would be unsurprised if this was just put in a microwave for 1 minute for how hot/tasteless it was). Eventually the mains arrived and while the lamb ragu itself was tasty, again it was not hot and the pasta overcooked. The 'linguine di mare' was beyond a joke- the pasta was massively overcooked, had no taste and again the 'selection of seafood' was just shrimp and couple of mussels- no clams/squid/crab etc... 2 different fish really stretches the idea of a selection. The cherry tomatoes (rather than plum tomatoes as listed) on the dish were boiled for about 30 seconds and not warm through. The watery sauce was flavourless and adding carrot to a seafood dish is a new one on me too.

Overall hugely disappointed. If you like Italian food done 'English style' then yes eat here, otherwise go to Piccolinos in town, at least the Italian chefs there make an effort.

Per il cuoco marco, mi dispiace tantissimo di aver avuto quest'esperienza al vostro ristorante, veramente triste. però non tornerò ne consiglierò altri qui vicino a mangiare qui finché...