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2012-12-29
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Olive Vine's newest cafe is located along Marina Square's B1 extension which links it with the Circle Line's Esplanade MRT Station. For the uninitiated, Olive Vine is a cluster of casual diners in the CBD offering wholesome homestyle meals to the office crowd, though their clientele includes students and tourists with smaller budgets too. Olive Vine's specialties include sandwiches, salads, pastas and a couple of local dishes such as stews and curries.We ordered the Bolognese Pasta, Beef Stew an
Olive Vine's newest cafe is located along Marina Square's B1 extension which links it with the Circle Line's Esplanade MRT Station. For the uninitiated, Olive Vine is a cluster of casual diners in the CBD offering wholesome homestyle meals to the office crowd, though their clientele includes students and tourists with smaller budgets too. Olive Vine's specialties include sandwiches, salads, pastas and a couple of local dishes such as stews and curries.We ordered the Bolognese Pasta, Beef Stew and Chicken Curry. For an additional $4 we upgraded our entrees to a set meal which includes the soup of the day, a choice of beverages and cakes for dessert. Great value. There is no service charge at Olive Vine - a rarity in cafes/restaurants located in the city's malls.
The homemade creamy mushroom soup was topped with chunks of their own crunchy croutons; it was a pleasant surprise to find whole stalks of honjimeshi mushrooms inside the soup.
The bolognese pasta ($8.90 ala carte) was bathed in a rich sauce redolent with chunks of fresh tomatoes, minced beef and sliced sausages. The generous ingredients makes every mouthful of the pasta sheer joy. This entree has all the goodness of mum's cooking - fresh ingredients assembled together to create a simple yet delicious and wholesome dish.
The beef stew ($9.90 ala carte or $13.90 as a set meal) was likewise chockful of tender chunks of beef in a hearty sauce laced with carrots and celery, making this entree a balanced one dish meal with protein and fibre. I was glad I chose bread rather than rice to go with the stew. Olive Vine bakes its own artisanal bread daily and I savoured coating the warm toasted bread into the thick gravy.
The chicken curry was one of the lowest priced items on the a la carte menu at $4.90. It was served in a deep medium sized bowl - half chicken pieces and half potato chunks. My lunchmate liked the spicy curry - here the spice level is for locals and not compromised and toned down to suit foreign palates with low chilli threshold.
As the tables are quite small, the waitress had to clear our used crockery before serving dessert - a choice of sliced cakes which were thoughtfully warmed up just before being served to us.
The chocolate cake was moist and rich in cocoa taste. The carrot cake was studded with bits of chopped walnuts.The local style tapioca cake was good and thankfully did not stick to our teeth. Three of us liked that the baker had a light hand with the sugar so we could enjoy the cakes without guilt. Our bill of $38.20 for 3 pax inclusive of 7% GST makes our lunch at Olive Vine a pleasurable and wholesome dining experience that is very easy on the pocket too.
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