22-09-2008, 14:37
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: North Cheshire, UK
Posts: 350
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What L’Olivera has going for it is a friendly, welcoming, efficient service and a well-priced menu of tourist standards.
What it does not have going for it is any consistent delivery of good food.
Aperitifs were ordered and arrived with olives, a couple of defrosted and warmed-up mini-baguettes and some reasonable alioli. A house mixed salad was the usual affair – enough shredded leaf to feed a small army, with tomato, onion and tinned asparagus. A “frito marinera” was absolutely nothing of the sort. More thick potato soup with a few squid rings chucked and a single solitary mussel. When it wasn’t unpleasant, it was boring – even for potato soup.
The main course of entrecote steak had been cooked to medium and tasted OK. But it had been cooked in a pan that hadn’t been hot enough to give it any charring and it had stewed rather than fried. So, this pale floppy piece meat just sat there on the plate, next to some decent chips, half a tomato and a few (frozen) green beans. It looked as unhappy as the person having to eat it.
“Lomo con col” was a “special” and this was the only stand-out of the whole meal. Thin slices of potato formed the base layer. These were then topped with the pork wrapped in Savoy cabbage. Both layers had been pre-cooked. The dish was then finished with a final topping of spinach, garlic, pine nuts and raisins and was then baked. A difficult dish to pull off successfully without over-cooking and drying out the pork. They so nearly made it. But, although the pork was past its peak, the remainder of the dish provided a great blend of flavours – sweet, savoury, herby, peppery. A fine example of the one-pot meal.
No desserts but good “café solo” – rich and strong with no hint of bitterness. No half-bottles of wine sold so life’s companion ordered a full one of a cheapish Rioja (pronounced better than the house red Faustino was likely to have been). We’d also had a couple bottles of water. Bill came to €72, plus service, which didn’t feel like good value for what we’d had. Perhaps evidence of the old “truth” that you’re not going to get good food in a place that displays pictures of it.
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Cómo está su vida
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