Reviews The Olive Grove

The food here is the star. Simply exquisite Chicken thighs were the biggest surprise to me ( usually prefer red meat), very tender moist and full of flavour. Kleftiko lamb very tender, delicious flavours. Sharing platter to start also excellent. All food presented superbly as well. Cocktails, and 'cheapest' wine also very good. Only minor criticism is the service, and I hope the owners take this in the right frame of mind as constructive criticism. This consists of very young staff that just bring your food out and don't really know the art of how to "wait" by observation of their diners for physical clues as to what they need and feel. This lets down the premium feel of the dining experience which clearly the restaurant aspires to, something that cannot be achieved by the food alone. They clearly are sixth-formers or recent school leavers who do not want to do this work for a living and want some extra pocket money - that is fair enough, but I did the same 30 years ago, and even as an 18 year old took pride in my work even though I had no intention of staying in that trade. Some tips: - if your diner is still clearly eating, do not ask them if they have finished - convention is to put knife and fork together and sit back - watch the body language - do not ask them how the food is when they have yet to eat even one bite - and preferably then wait at least 5 to 10 minutes - do offer tap water given there were plenty of glasses out for this, and definitely bring it when asked for (we had to twice). - spend more time talking and looking at the diners rather than the other staff - in that way you can see when they are needing another drink (as their glass is empty), or trying to gain your attention e.g. to get the bill - they should not have to shout out/wave to you - do offer dessert 5 minutes or so after taking away the finished mains if they have not asked for the bill yet - this was not offered to us, which we would have said no to anyway, but it's within the principle of waiting tables. Some schooling in waiting tables is required here to bring the service up to deserving the service charge that is of course is added to the bill without asking. I would prefer my £11-odd service charge to be given to charity.

Absolutely brilliant and the food was amazing. Staff were lovely. Really cannot add anything else just go!!

What a great find. Really nice setting, style and decor. And delicious food. We're a mix of veggie, vegan and gluten free and we were well catered for and all loved the food, particularly the baked aubergine, risotto and hummus. Lovely staff too. Highly recommended and we'll definitely return next time we're in Bury St Edmunds.

First visit here. We loved it. Centre of town, but in quieter and more 'villagy' St John's St. Super selection of food for starters, mains etc, some for sharing. Lamb dishes fabulous. Great, relaxed and friendly atmosphere and staff. Thank you!

Went here for a lunch. Had Lamb Fillet, very nice, came with salad, wedges, pita and dip. Also Bougatza, warm custard filled Baklava. Nice decor, would like to go again.

We had a lovely meal. The staff was very tentative and friendly! It he food was tasty as well!