Olivia is a fairly new, French/Italian fusion restaurant on South Lamar near my apartment. After analyzing the menu online, Sweetmonger and I decided to check it out. The restaurant is located in a gorgeous, modern building and the interior is just as attractive. In addition, the atmosphere is upbeat and certainly fun. However, notwithstanding the aesthetic beauty, I had plenty of problems with this restaurant.
First, the smell. It was borderline uncomfortable. I walked in and was immediately reminded of a public restroom about 30 minutes after a fresh cleaning. I'm not sure that is the first impression a new restaurant should be attempting to convey. Next, the service. It was a little uneven which is to be expected at a new restaurant so it really didn't bother me. What did bother me, however, was one of the waitresses walking by our table while saying in a normal speaking voice, "I cannot f**king believe this." Again, not really what I'm looking for in a restaurant, at least a semi-upscale one.
Now, we get to the food. Sweetmonger and I asked for recommendations and were directed to a veal tongue (apparently it was lamb tongue . . . which just shows how much of a let down it was since I cannot even remember it) appetizer. It was okay but easily disappointing considering it is the most expensive app on the menu. Our recommended entrees were not any better. I had the duck confit risotto. Blah. There was minimal duck in the dish and what was in there was very, very dry. It was a lot like watching Friends reruns: you don't really enjoy them but they are good enough to mind-numbingly pass some time. Sweetmonger's seafood and tomato broth was equally as bland, maybe slightly more so.
There just isn't a lot of flavor at Olivia. I wish it was better because it is close to my apartment, but I will not be returning anytime soon. There are many more restaurants I want to try first.
Olivia
http://ovlia-austin.com
2043 South Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78704
6 comments:
Hi Monger, I think you've got a typo in the URL for Olivia's website. It should be olivia-austin.com. Thanks.
By the way, we dined at Olivia recently for dinner, and it was quite enjoyable. We're hoping to try it out on Sunday for brunch. Braised short ribs on a Benedict is something I have to try!
I work at Olivia and not sure your write up is true at all..
Considering there is no "veal" tongue on the menu,it's lamb btw, I wrote you off as not knowing what you are talking about.
Maybe you should know what you are ordering before you act like you can tell others about it.
If you work at Olivia, my apologies. I hope you move on to a better restaurant soon. I don't really care what it was: lamb tongue, veal tongue. It tasted like shit.
You should try the mussels at Olivia. I've never had the dinner there, but had mussels and a glass of wine one eve and was quite impressed.
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