Olive Bistro

Zomato finally brought to Pune the concept of their Foodie Meetups that had been met with a very enthusiastic response from fellow-bloggers in other cities and gleefully, they chose the uber chic Mediterranean cuisine inspired Olive Bistro for their maiden event. I had been meaning to get there since quite a while, but not knowing a member of the Poona club always proved to be a hindrance.

The decor and ambiance of both the indoor and al fresco seating areas is expectedly, very classy - minimalistic with generous use of stone and bricks {the current rage on the international dining circuit}, well spaced-out tables, diffused lightning, lounge music, a show-kitchen housing the wood-fired oven - you could actually be in any one of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea.

Before i give my take on the food, a special mention needs to be made of the breads - be it the complimentary bread basket consisting of warm wholewheat buns and tomato & basil focaccia or the crusty garlic bread served with the soups and salads or even the pizza base - they're all top-notch as it should be because breads are the lifeline of this cuisine and they've got it damn right out here. Apparently, they also do their pastas in-house instead of using store-bought brands and the freshness and quality reflects in their dishes.

For the first course comprising of Soup & Salads we had to choose between options like Roast Pepper and Shrimp Chowder, Melon-Feta-Rucola Salad and a Salad of Roasted Beetroot, Ricotta, Arugula and Candied Walnut which we were informed was one of their most popular dishes. Feeling a bit under the weather, I chose the Chowder which is traditionally a thick creamy soup containing seafood or potatoes and corn. The soup arrived with a pleasant infusion of the sweet roasted bell peppers and well cooked prawns but sadly lacking in the rich texture that's inherent to a chowder. I was informed that the soup has been purposefully thinned down to appeal to a larger palate, and chances are that if you're not a fan of thick soups you'll probably like Olive's take on it, but it left me a bit cold. Even though i did not taste them, the salads looked fresh and lovely, especially the roasted beetroot salad which i'm definitely going to try on my next visit. 

While we were waiting for our mains, the chef sent out a thin crust vegetarian pizza topped with olives, artichokes, roasted bell peppers, mushrooms etc., which tasted great with all these ingredients definitely aided by the smokiness of the wood fired oven.

The mains provided options like Roast Almond and Creamed Spinach Ravioli, Roasted Stuffed Chicken, Fennel Chilli Basa and The OB Pepper Crusted Fillet Mignon, which was my choice. Being consistently served shoe leather for a steak at various restaurants in Pune has got me to set my expectations pretty low but this was a great dish with the steak being cooked perfectly. I'd ordered for a medium and a medium is what i got - pink with juices of the meat intact. To say that i hate spinach is a gross understatement, but the creamed spinach with crispy potato wedges are the best accompaniments you could wish for to go with your steak.

In keeping with the trend of bistros, the portions of both the salads and mains are rather generous, so if you're an average eater i suggest you order cautiously. 

For desserts, we were offered a sampler consisting of a red cherry and mint gelato, walnut pie and milk chocolate filled profiteroles. The gelato at first tasted of cherries only to finish with a refreshing minty after-taste, the profiteroles were crispy even with the ice-cream sandwiched in between and my favourite of the 3, the walnut pie, was decadent and crunchy. The pièce de résistance, however, was the massive multi-layer cake aptly named 'The Insanity Cake', with layers like dark chocolate mousse, mandarin mousse and red currant mousse. Being really big on the orange-chocolate combination, i loved spoonfuls of the mandarin and dark chocolate mousse along with the crunchy crust.

Since we were invited, the service was great, but I trust that it's the standard a restaurant like this maintains for all it's patrons. They also have various theme-based events from Wednesdays to Sundays so keep a watch on their facebook and twitter pages. That apart, the young but very experienced Chef Noah is on the constant look-out for interesting concepts to make the dining experience even more enjoyable. 

All in all it was a great evening with the very hospitable Olive and Zomato teams playing perfect hosts and great conversations with fellow bloggers about their travels and food experiences. Looking forward to the next one.