The hotel with the best view in Bristol is The Olive, which is a historic restaurant, but unfortunately, their food is not the best. It has been a harbour side joint for about 16 years.
Their fish is overpriced as well as its past-its-best cream and they really need to make great improvements, according to Mark Taylor.
Even though it has existed the longest, the Olive Shed will soon be forgotten, especially with the introduction of Cargo Shipping Container restaurants and the renovation of Wapping Wharf.
The only undisputable fact about the Olive Shed is its ideal location. Even with several ideal positions within the city, The Olive Shed still has the most ideal position with the best views especially for sunset.
Sitting at the window table, the Panoramic vista stretch from the high masts of the ss , Great Britain and the multicoloured Balamory buildings of Clifton Woods on the flowing water to Colston Tower which is in the centre is a breathtaking view. The view from The Olive Shed is hard to beat, especially for those tourists in search of smartphone money shot.
It was not my plane to have my Tuesday dinner here , but all the places around the corner at Cargo either had full-house reservations or had closed for the night. I knew I was not the only one here out of no choice because I had seen some of my fellow dinners looking for some place to eat, around Wapping Wharf, about an hour ago, as I enjoyed my pre-dinner drink.
However, you could still hear conversations going on from various tables within the candlelit room with floors that are well trodden, tables with black slate tops and flickering lanterns.
You have the option of choosing from their two menus for the evening. There is the vast tapas menu which include Seafood , meat or vegetarian or the main menu. There is no problem if you choose from both menus for a mix and match meal.
In the past two decades that I have reviewed restaurant, it was my very first time to kick off a meal with a steak for a starter.
The lamed steak, sold at £7 is surprisingly good. It is nicely cooked ,juicy and pink with a lovely flavour. It was served with green pea and mint puree and some dark rich pan juices.
A brief conversation with the waiter told me that the chef is Sardinian and the other staff members were from across Europe. The menu reflected the input of chefs that are well travelled.
You can get a whole baked sea bream for £19.95, which is quite pricey. Infused with garlic cloves, lemon slices and fresh rosemary and thyme herbs, it was dry and overcooked. It was served with roasted new potatoes that were reheated and a gritty salad leaves that seemed dull.
Finally, Tarta Santiago was dense, rather chewy and was served with Chantilly cream that was cheesy and past-its-best and not the vanilla ice cream and blood orange syrup they had advertised. This meal costs £6.50.
From the time it was opened in 2001, even when there was nothing that looked like a restaurant in the area, The Olive Shed has not been keen on the trends or what is happening around it. Its about time they paid more attention, especially with all the competition going on around them.
The restaurant has scored 2 on the rating scale for food, value and overall review.
