The Olive Cafe

by D

Today we went for a drive to Mount Tamborine, a popular tourist spot known for its’ relaxing Gallery Walk; a street lined with small stores selling homewares, knick-knacks and a variety of home-made sweets.

Also populating the roadside are a number of cafes and restaurants, generally over-priced but still very busy given that there is no alternative once you’ve ascended the mountain.

As we took in the sights, we studied our options and based on the fact that large numbers of people were eating there - we ended up choosing ‘The Olive Cafe’. This is where it all started going wrong (note to self: don’t trust busyness as a sign of good food).

We found a table and ordered our meals, a (safe-bet) chicken parma with vegetables and a ‘medium’ steak served with salsa and potato bake. And then we waited... and waited... and waited.

It would have taken the food a good 50 minutes to find its’ way out to the table. When it finally arrived, it came without cutlery (we’re not barbarians) so we waited some more until finally a waitress noticed us trying to get her attention and wandered across. Shortly after we received some cutlery (no steak knives for the steak though) and got started on our meals.

We had barely made a start when another waitress arrived enquiring “How is the steak cooked, the chef would like to know?”

Now we’re not normally ones to complain about poorly cooked food (there are starving kids in Africa) but the way that question was asked gave us the distinct impression the Chef had just cooked his first steak and we were the test subjects.

Karen answered very politely with “it’s a little bit overcooked” but, not letting an opportunity go to waste, I also let the waitress know that my side serve of potatoes were still RAW. Now, I’m not a chef but I’m not sure how you manage to overcook a (very thick) steak until there is no colour to it, and still serve thinly cut potatoes raw?

The waitress apologised briefly before disappearing back into the kitchen. I was half expecting she might return with an offer of a discount, free drinks or a dessert but as we sat and continued to eat our (somewhat bland and flavourless) meals - there was no sign of any peace offerings.

As we finished our meals we piled up our raw potatoes and dry steak and made our way to checkout, paid our bill and made a swift exit. The food was terrible but not a complete waste, we learnt a valuable lesson, never eat at ‘The Olive Cafe’.

Location: Gallery Walk, 137 Long Road, Mt Tamborine