The Olive Tree — Restaurant in Test Valley

Absolute shambles of a place. Pre ordered food when we made the booking well in advance. Asked for an update after an hours wait an no explanation. Went to the bar to request another update after an hour and a half and was told by the bar staff she doesnt deal with the kitchen!! When the food finally arrived it wasnt what we ordered and at no point was that explained. They litterally offered no explanation and wanted us to be greatful. We refused to pay for the food and made a complaint to a very rude cook (since found out they dont have a chef) we were told we made someome cry and the cook seemed to want us to be apologetic for their total incompetence. Eventually we were asked to leave by security which was an absolute insult to injury. When we left one of the bar staff was actually smiling as if she found the whole thing funny. The only apolagetic person was the young waitress who looked very embarressed to be working with such ameteurs. We also witnessed another table leave and...

We came here with some friends for one of their birthdays and we instantly became aware of a really cold reception from staff. After a cluttered table was cleared up enough that we could sit, they said they'd clean it as it was covered in sticky remnants of drinks had by the previous diners. This never happened so we re-sat ourselves. One of us was a vegetarian and we were all really surprised by what little selection there was for veggies - there is literally one vegetarian main course on the menu (some salad). The food took almost an hour to come out and once it did we found our meals (bar the duck) were found to be bland and stingy in size. The only time we had prompt service was for the bill which arrived before the plates were even cleared. Very disappointed as we had come here a year ago and were impressed with the place then. Seems it has slipped quite far down...

Shockingly slow service this evening. 40+ minutes to get one round of three cocktails - which was chased several times by the poor waitress who took our order - and another 40+ minute wait for a bottle of prosecco (served warm in a bucket of water) which we eventually chased up at the bar ourselves. The cocktails and flatbread we ordered were nice, but the wait was unacceptable. The waitresses take your order, then apparently have to wait until someone else gets it for them, rather than going to the bar themselves. This leaves the waitresses wandering around seeing if anyone wants any more drinks when the customers haven't even had their first ones. Honestly, we would have walked out if we thought we'd find another outside table somewhere else on a busy...