The Olive Tree – Bath

Exquisite is the only word I can use to describe my dinning experience at Olive Tree. I was a little apprehensive at first when we were seated in the upper level but the staff was so outstanding for the two tables there that I think the placement was quite fortuitous. So let’s get right to the food. The amuse Bouche was very interesting, an onion and Parmesan broth but my first course, the sautéed duck liver was to die for. The crab lasagne was also excellent, for which they are known, but I was happier with my choice. For my main course, the veal was as good as I have had anywhere and the flavors of the sauce and accompanying sides were perfectly matched. The halibut was also excellent but again I would not have changed my selection. The blueberry soufflé also to die for.
Ambiance (even on the upper deck) was nice and the service was outstanding. I suspect that my waiter was also the sommelier because his knowledge of the wine list was excellent and he helped me select a red burgundy that perfectly matched the food.
In short, if in Bath and you can only have one dinner, this is the place to choose!!!

A romantic little get away in Bath would not be complete with dinner at an upmarket restaurant.
We needed a break from London and chose to stay at the boutique hotel in which this restaurant is based. It rained a lot which we were visiting so on the first night we decided to stay dry and try out the restaurant on our doorstep.
We had high expectations. We’d heard «Michelin quality» mentioned and the head chef had trained with some of the greats. Even so I was taken aback by the prices that exceeded those of my recent Michelin-​starred meal in London.
The restaurant is intimate with a larger room for parties further back. We went on a Sunday night, but even so many of the tables were taken giving it a warm atmosphere. The service was wonderful and attentive.
I found the food to be well seasoned and packed full or flavour. Some of the rituals, like staff pouring sauces became a little repetitive, but I’m splitting hairs. My main of pork belly was sensational and the cheese plate was very popular with my husband.
I would go again for a special occasion or for a lunchtime set meal if the price was more competitive.

The food here is fantastic, but just a little too salty.
It’s a very cozy restaurant in the basement of the Queensbury hotel for fine dining.
They have a six-​course tasting menu for £65 a person without wine pairing. An extra £30 I think with wine. We didn’t think it was worth it. Instead, we went for three courses a person a la carte.
We started with the crab lasagne with pesto and the fried quail (latter on the tasting menu). As I said before, the dishes were a tad on the salty side, especially my crab lasagne, but the taste for both dishes were delightful. Towards the end of the night, they completely sold out of the crab lasagne.
For mains, I had the highly recommended pan fried halibut by the server, and my bf had the venison with a few pieces of brussel sprout and apple sauce. I loved every bite of my halibut. I’m normally not a celery person, but the celery mix they made went perfectly with the mushroom mix. The venison on its own i was not a fan of, but a bit mixed together with the apple sauce and brussel sprout masked the gaming taste. My halibut won.
For desserts, I got the mango soufflé and my bf got the passion fruit parfait. The mango soufflé was custardy on the inside and the sorbet that was supposed to have melted inside was a bit too tangy. My bf’s parfait was in a giant frozen dark chocolate ball. It was okay. The desserts did not impress — but the dessert wines were a hit for the both of us.
The service was a bit rushed but otherwise good.
The wine selection was great! My bf and I have a penchant for South African reds and was delighted to see they had at 2009 shiraz. The dessert wines that were recommended by the menu to go with our desserts were wonderful.
Some notes:
— automatic 10% gratuities
— portions are small
— they dont offer you tap water when you’re seated but they do serve them in pitchers
An excellent restaurant overall.

I went to this place last Sunday as I was in Bath with my friends and a friend had recommended it. From the website it seemed really cozy and also the reviews were nice so we booked a table for dinner. We were expecting a sort of upscale restaurant but at par with many places in London, but in the end we were quite disappointed (a good part has to do with the staff attitude).
The place is in the lower ground floor of the hotel building and to enter it you have to go down a narrow staircase like the service one: first disappointment as we were all wearing heels and was raining!
Inside it is quite small and something was not quite right with the design, maybe too dark, or the floor. Also to go to the ladies you have to walk through a series of labyrinths within the hotel… I almost got lost on my way back.
Then it comes the food: I admit I am a picky person, and so are my friends, but for a group of 4 people that eats ALL their meals out it is quite disappointing to open a menu and don’t find anything interesting!
Few of the starters seemed nice though (like the crab lasagna or the lobster thing), so we figured that we could maybe order more of them (like 6 – 7), a good bottle of wine and desserts and skip the «not-inviting“mains (and maybe have a second dinner in a nicer place afterwards!). The disappointing part was that we overheard the comment of the waitress about our choice, as if we were trying to be cheap! They basically didn’t get that we didn’t like any of their stuff. [which included tagliatelle as main, lamb, a lot of fried stuff and almost everything with garlic]
Then, I asked the waiter if in the there was any lactose in the free apetizer they were serving as I am intolerant. I don’t know if the fact that we were an Italian and a French speaking english made the whole thing weird, but he and his manager came over as if I had asked if I could eat human meat! I must say that apart from the dessert, they didn’t offer any modification to the proposed food to accomodate my probelm (as they usually do in London), also the way the manager told me what I couldn’t eat (everything) had something sadic in it.
I am giving 2 starts and not 1 because 2 of the starters were actually edible (portions are small), the wine list has some interesting things and the dessert was okay. it is really overpriced for what it is, we paid £60 each which in London usually corresponds to a pretty good meal.
Overall I would not recommend it, there are much nicer places in Bath

Our meal here was amazing. We had the tasting menu with wine pairing and loved every bite. The service was also exceptional.

Once in a while you come across a restaurant which deserves to be really trashed. The Olive Tree in beautiful Bath is one of them. If with my review I have saved only a couple of people from going there and spending their hard earned money on this ludicrous and massively overpriced food then I have done my deed.
When I was doing my research on where to eat in Bath, I really struggled to find valuable pieces of information. Are there no food bloggers in Bath? This place would seriously deserve some critical eaters
Anyway, we ended up at The Olive Tree. When we got the menu we were stunned. These were London prices, but London high end dining: no starter below 10 pounds and the mains up to 31 pounds. If I pay this I expect exceptional food.
Well I got what I wished for, the food was exceptionally bad and pretentious.
Always nice to get complimentary bread, in this case it looked better than it tasted. All three varieties tasted remarkably similar, were over-​salted and doughy. This didn’t bode well for things to come but we were not discouraged yet at this point. What was also weird was that at a restaurant called ‘The Olive Tree’, bread was served with butter and we had to ask 3 times for some olive oil. It’s not in the name as it seems.
The amuse bouche (some potato and leek soup) was well some potato and leek soup.
Then the starters arrived. If the food had been as good as the names were long (Terrine of Duck Foie Gras and Merrifiel Farm Chicken with Hazelnuts, Broad Beans and Peas (13.50)) we would have been happy customers. This was however one of the worst terrines I have eaten in a long time. In fact I was sorry for the poor ducks and chickens who had to die for this.
Heirloom Tomato and Melon Salad with Gazpacho Sorbet and Bosworth goat’s cheese (12.50) was, albeit slightly better than the terrine, still pretty bad. I was apparent that a lot of thought had gone into presentation of the dish and not very much into how the flavours would go together. Sweet tomatoes and equally sweet melon with a sweetish gazpacho sorbet was just. too sweet for a starter. Wouldn’t have worked on the dessert menu either I fear.
Look at Pave of Wild Halibut, Potato Crisp Tiger Prawns, Courgettes and Champagne Cream (27.50)! They even made the effort of carving little courgette balls! What a shame that the fish was miniature and overcooked and the prawns wrapped in seaweed and potatoes tasted hideous. I mean wrapping prawns in seaweed and potato? I somehow couldn’t help picturing Gordon Ramsay in his Kitchen Nightmare eating this dish and using a lot of words that I won’t use here because I am a nice blog.
Then the Grilled Lemon Sole Fillets with River Foewy Mussels, Parlsey Crumb and mariniera espuma (24.50). How can you waste beautiful sole by wrapping it in little curls, resulting in dried out pieces of fish? I just wanted to shake the chef and tell him that nice presentation does not help if the food tastes crap.
At this point we didn’t want to risk the desert actually.
A restaurant providing this kind of cooking wouldn’t survive a day in London and it shouldn’t do so in Bath either. There appears to be not enough word of mouth and too many stupid tourists (and yes, I am one of them) in Bath though. We need a Bath food blog, get working guys!
If you want to see photos

we booked at the hotel, arrived late, and had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Wow. Amazing little dishes arrived before our appetizers and main plates. Great flavor, great presentation, absolutely fantastic food. Our bill was 63 pounds with 2 appetizers, 2 mains, and 1 glass of wine. Well worth it.

The Olive Tree has changed hands a few times over the years. Some changes were not good but the current team are back on track and it is simply brilliant again.

It is always a pleasure to lunch here: the food, service, and atmosphere are all impeccable.

Although a Bath Resident I have never visited previously. Written Reviews were mainly good and it has a strong local reputation — so I decided to give it a go. Went for the set lunch at £19.50 (3 courses) — plenty of choice. Started with a fish Kedgeree and for the main course went for the Salt Cod. Do not skimp on the Dessert Course, this was simply delicious (Chocolate Delice). My companion’s dessert looked equally impressive and tasty.
Service was friendly and attentive. However, delivery was adequate to slowish but they were very busy.
Ambiance fresh and modern with Abstract pieces of art on the walls. Proper napkins — always a plus.
Mixed crowd of all ages gave the impression that this was a lively venue. I noted there were no children — so if you have screaming babies or unruly toddlers, maybe best to avoid.
All in all good VFM — well presented food & goodish service. Recommended if you want to impress a business colleague or a Date.

Excellent restaurant in the basement of the Queensberry hotel that occupies four typical Georgian.
The restaurant though is sleek and stylish and the food is unsurprisingly modern in a way that doesn’t challenge too hard but is still of the highest quality.
Service was excellent throughout. Definitely one of the best restaurants in Bath and well worth taking the trouble to book if you’re in town. Brilliant location too.