Thursday 20 November 2008

Olive at Bellerive


Rita decided she’d explore Olive, the new restaurant in Cambridge Road, Bellerive, on the site of the former Bes Mudi, yesterday for lunch. I originally decided one of their pizzas would be good, but changed my mind when I saw they also did takeaway pasta, so opted for a serve of their Bolognaise, with penne (not so messy if you happen to flick it all over your top!). Priced at $14.50, as opposed to $10 which was the cost of their small pizzas, I felt it was a reasonable investment in lunch – till I got it!

Judge for yourself, but I myself thought $14.50 was pretty rich for a serving of that size. The flavour was OK, but honestly, it wasn’t the best bolognaise I’ve ever had.

Guys – you need to shove a bit more penne into that container, so your customers at least have an image of receiving value for money!
Posted on by Rita
25 comments

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

bolognese!! not bolonaise. it's not french it's italian!!

sorry it peeves me everytime i see it.

Anonymous said...

I know a profit needs to be made but that looks to be a bit of a joke.
Pasta and sauce, bit of cheese, fresh herbs by the look The bloody container probably cost more.
Repeat customers are what places need and I doubt if you'll be repeating that experience Rita.
Bugger! I will still go and check out Olive but that's so disappointing.
{Lucky I didn't say bolognaise}

Rita said...

Yes, I DID feel a bit ripped off Christina, but will go again. It looked like a nice restaurant, and the service was good. A workmate ate there last Sat night and really enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to better from them next time.
Marque IV dinner tonight - and I'm REALLY looking forward to that.

Kris McCracken said...

You have just put me off getting take away from there any time soon! That's a dud serving for fifteen bucks.

Have you ever had the noodle hotbox from Steve's Kababs over the road? Well worth the seven or so dollar investment IMHO.

Anonymous said...

The thing is it all looks so ordinary.
You could knock it up yourself, right quick. But I know that's not the point.
You want convenience.
So, in this case you are not payinga a premium for quality, so it is a bad deal.
I'd say add more and take away about $5.
So, bigger serve at $9.50.
I know I've been put to rights for letting the facts of inflationary life drift away from me when I was banging on about a takeaway a couple of weeks ago.
However, to the providores, at the end of the day it has to be worth it and there is a line beyond which people will not go.
For takeaway lunch I'm looking to spend.....hmmmm...$8...yep, that's my ``gut'' feeling.
%14.50 a day plus a drink, say at $3.50, is too much for me.
That is $90 a working week....nah, won't do it.
The worth-it factor has to include something special. Say, in-house, fresh-made pasta; special sauce: whatever.
Not just some packet pasta and a dollop of ordinary sauce and cheese.
Come on.

Anonymous said...

Like we dont already know Sir Cheaply never forks out, that same old broken down record, blah blah blah,zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Rita, it does look scabby though

Anonymous said...

The point I'm making shithead is I do fork out when it is worth it.
Take the blinkers and the earmuffs off.

Anonymous said...

At least you are consistant Sir C, a gentle ribbing has you once again falling out of your tree & getting personal. You can dish it out plenty but cant take it yourself it seems. Open your wallet once in a while, all that pressure obviously causes you much discomfort!

Anonymous said...

Question Earmuffs: What would you pay for the dish in question? Seriously, I'm interested, after all this is all about getting a cross section of opinion.

Anonymous said...

I reckon earmuffs would estimate $5.

Anonymous said...

Earmuffs, I only dish it back.
Why not join in the debate about the value of the food?
I'm sick fed up and I'm not going to take anymore, as the line in the movie Network said.

Anonymous said...

In that case pasta la vista grumpy

Anonymous said...

I have to say Rita it does look like a miserable sized portion. But it reminds me of being a child and my mother telling me that chocolate bars were not as large as when she was a child, and what a shame that was. But this was the early 1970's. A time of great inflation, the emergence of a new generation and great financial turmoil. Sound familiar? The recession was looming.
I think its time we faced up to the fact that there is about to be a great grim reaping out there.
Wage pressures, supply costs, its all happening. In 10 years we will be used to those portions and will lament the good old days, just as the 18 year olds of today will be looking at 30 and gearing up for the new boom whilst looking over their shoulder at the up- coming generation and lamenting the size of a big mac, whilst celebrating the anarchy of the little Nellie who took a shit under the Maccas slide in defiance.

Cartouche

Anonymous said...

there's nothing australians like more than a british thespian.

Anonymous said...

On the other hand we brits like an australian lesbian.

Rita said...

Cartouche - who'd have thought you'd recall the great Maccas shit of last year by young Nellie jnr? You're right of course. All oldies continually lament the loss of the 'good old days'. For myself, I don't so much mourn them as think to myself that I'm bloody glad I lived through them as they now provide me with a basis for making a bit more of an over-arching assessment on something, rather than just judging something as a result of 5 minutes of observations. I can see good and bad in things the way they are now, as compared to how they were in those 'good old days'.
For instance, the fact that I was forced by law to resign my job at the Hydro here in Hobart just because I happened get married was quite patently bullshit - both for my logic at the time, and still now. I shake my head in total disbelief at such a ridiculous ruling. At the time I had to resign, and still have a copy of my letter of resignation today. Things needed to be changed, and they ultimately did. Look at the work situation now for young women. It was all for the better that the 'good old days' had to be endured for us to get to where we are today. Mind you, we could still get better, but that's what it's all about, isn't it?
So, yes, I agree with you about maybe things will be much altered in the future, and that's nothing to be worried about, or scared of, but the thing I get most concerned about is the thought that maybe the 'humanity' (as in generosity of mind and spirit) might also disappear as well, and that really WOULD be a sad day, and you really would want the 'good old days' back then.
Kris - I give up - what's IMHO? Showing my era here, sorry, but not scared to ask! The only thing I can come up with is "I'm a ho", and I suspect that's not quite it, plus it just doesn't fit in with the rest of the sentence!

Anonymous said...

In My Humble Opinion

Kris McCracken said...

Rita, Anonymous has it. I use it as "in my humble opinion", although some read it as "in my honest opinion".

Rita said...

Thanks guys.

Anonymous said...

Four of us food lovers had dinner there recently. Delicious food and extra good service that was real value for money. We'll certainly go again but not for takeaway lunch! Try eating-in Rita.

J

High Power Rocketry said...

So many places rip people off these days. The cost of food has about doubled in the past 10 years, here in NYC.

Anonymous said...

Is that New York City? Anyhow, fact, most things double every 10 years or so.
House prices tripled, and then some. Oil 400% plus etc blah blah.
Wage rises to meet hose prices. Of course food goes up. Basicaly we all end up about the same except the zero's on the end get bigger.
Oh I forgot, and the banks make even more keeping us all in debt.

Cartouche

Anonymous said...

Food prices have tripled in the last 10 years, so a double isn't that bad (and don't get me started on labour!)

Anonymous said...

Please go back and eat in like a normal person, i have been there twice and i am going back on the weekend.
Surely you cannot judge a restaurant by one takeaway you deem too small?
They dn not only do pizza and pasta

Rita said...

Thanks for the tip-off Anon 3.50 above. I have now eaten in there, plus had numerous takeaways, so feel quite confident in making some kind of call in regard to my enjoyment of their food.
The eat-in meal was OK. It didn't rock my world, but was OK. They have cut back their trading hours substantially unfortunately, so I haven't had anything from there for a while but went through a phase of eating there regularly.
I hope they are doing well, and that the reduction in opening hours is not a reflection of trade.