Olio

What a lovely venue. I’ve walked by this place the last two months commuting home, wondering if it was worthwhile and I must say I’m glad we finally stopped in. When we arrived at the door we were greeted and invited to pick a table. Immediately, Emily arrived to advise that happy hour would be ending in 10 minutes and did not want us to miss out (not the norm in Crows Nest, table service and all). Next Simon arrived, fresh from France with excellent service as a waiter. We enjoyed a lovely meal of salmon and pasta carbonara which were perfectly executed. The salmon in particular was nicely done, kudos to the chef. Simply put, nice, comfortable dining with a bit more service than you typically expect.

The atmosphere and service are good but the food in general is rather average and possibly over priced for what it is.

Without a doubt the best spot in the Forum, but also a really great alternative to the Willoughby Road restaurants.
You’ll get 5 star food and (super-​friendly) service here, the food quality is actually akin to the likes of Café Sydney and Aria (with more standard fare), but for a fraction of the price, and in a lot less formal environment.
Olio’s finest attribute (aside from the amazing staff) has to be the Kopi Luwak coffee. If you’ve never tried it, you’re in for a very special treat. Go read up on Kopi Luwak (on of the finest and rarest beans on the market) and prepare for a taste sensation to rival any coffee you’ve ever tasted before.
Friday’s are a good crack, with a special tapas menu, $ 5 beers and wines, and live music.
(Closed Mondays).

The food’s good, the atmosphere and service are also good — blah blah blah…
What you should really order here is the Kopi Luwak coffee. They claim it’s the rarest coffee in the world. Basically, there’s this animal in Asia that goes around eating coffee cherries from the coffee plantations at night. As the coffee cherries pass through this crazy coffee producing animal, the flesh of the cherry is removed but the coffee bean is undigested. In the morning, these pooped out coffee beans are carefully picked up, washed and then prepared in a similar way to regular coffee beans.
What it produces is possibly the best tasting coffee I’ve ever had. Served as what we know as a short black, it comes with a small glass of sparkling (with lime) to cleanse your palate and a ginger biscuit to neutralize your palate. Then you sip the creamiest, most delicious coffee on the planet and complete the experience with a chocolate truffle.
I kid you not, for me to review just the coffee and one coffee in particular — it’s good. Damn good.

The Forum in St Leonards is quite impressive upon first visit, at least, it is if you arrive via the train system. Walking out into the courtyard finds a (hopefully) sunny sky beaming down on the black shale tiling and the large eye-​shaped water feature, complete with that «theme park water» smell. Slightly chlorine, slightly mystery chemicals, all fond memories. Of course, after six months, you’ll begin to hate The Forum as wind whips through it and the rain makes the aforementioned shale incredibly slippery and treacherous. And you’ll be sick of most of the dining options.
Where better to hide from the cold winter winds than Olio, then? Arguably the most popular destination in The Forum, with the possible exception of McDonalds, and easily the nicest, Olio is at once a restaurant, a café, and a wine bar. I have largely been here for meetings and early coffee runs and the baristas are ridiculously efficient: you will be caught unawares by how fast your coffee is prepared. The wait staff are also very attentive, they seem to have a knack for knowing when a meeting should be winding up and saving all concerned from awkwardness by asking if there’s anything else we need. («Yes, I need to get back to my computer to read the AV Club. Help me get free!»)
I think a lot of the working crowd have only experienced Olio in this way, but there are also breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus and I’d be very interested to check them out. It’s a pleasant place in an otherwise lacking area.