Pink Olive

I was really resistant to going to Pink Olive at first. I'm not quite sure why. Something about the menu seemed fussy to me. But, as I like to give most everyone and everything the benefit of the doubt, Phil and I spontaneously decided to pop in for lunch.

It's a sweet little restaurant situated on the corner of West Nicolson Street, less than a two minute walk from where Phil and I live.



I felt instantly at ease once inside. The windows let in just the right amount of light. Everything was clean, quiet, and simple. I particularly liked the bare wooden tables.



The gent in the plaid shirt seen bending down behind the bar was one of two servers. I was very impressed by his manners and warm personality. He had most definitely mastered the fine art of knowing when to give patrons space, and when to stick around for a friendly chat.

I ordered a Diet Coke and some olives to start. Our charming server in the plaid shirt (shame on me for not remembering his name) brought them out in a flash, along with a jug of water and fresh lemon slices. I absolutely love olives. If it's possible to order a small bowl of them as a starter, or on the side, it's a pretty safe bet that I'll do just that.



Phil's starter was a cold duck salad with red onion, red peppers, and a very subtle fruit vinaigrette. Duck is such a rich meat, so good-o to the chef for perfect portion control. Black pepper set off the vinaigrette, which, amazingly, made the duck feel even more succulent. It's so easy for duck dishes to be weighty. Not so with this bright salad. It was refreshing!



On to the main courses!

I ordered the crispy eggs with cold rice noodles, sweet lime cucumbers, and peanut sauce. It consisted of two hard-boiled eggs, halved and fried until crispy, smothered in the best peanut sauce you can imagine, accompanied by thin rice noodles dressed with cucumber slices pickled in lime and a little bit of sugar. And some peanuts and spring onion for good luck.



Every once in awhile, we all experience the joy and satisfaction of knowing for sure that we've ordered the best thing for us on the menu. This was one of those times for me.



I have only words of praise for this dish. It was perfect. It will be a struggle for me to order something else the next time I go to Pink Olive.

A true Englishman to the core, Phil ordered a curry. It was a vegetarian, tomato-based curry with peppers, cauliflower, and jasmine rice. I'm more picky about my curries than Phil is. I found it had a little too much of a heat kick for how thin the curry base was, but Phil scarfed it down like I hadn't fed him in days.



Desert time!

Giddy from how much I enjoyed my crispy eggs (a good peanut sauce makes me a bit loopy), I insisted we order a desert, though we hadn't planned on it. Oops?

Phil ordered a slice of banana bread with toffee sauce. One can't really go wrong with that. It was moist without be heavy, and sweet, but not so sweet that it tasted cheap. I always feel extra appreciation for well-balanced baked goods.



To round off the meal for me, I had a latte. Go ahead and look surprised. I'll wait.



When Mr. Plaid Button-Down brought our bill, he generously gave us two discount vouchers for our next visit. Thank you, charming server!

I will be using my beloved Nikon D80 for future Delishnotism posts, so you can look forward to top-notch quality images. My little point-and-shoot Nikon just isn't cutting it. It's been a wee while since my fabulous digital SLR has gotten some real action!

Until next time,

Alyson