Restaurant Olivar

I wanted to leave a 5 star review. I come here whenever I visit Amsterdam. Nice drinks, excellent coffee, thoughtful food. The outdoor seating is well shaded and perfect for an afternoon cocktail. My only real point of contention is that, as a chef, I expect the bread and butter to be on point when it's listed as a menu item (3 euro for two frozen rolls on my last visit). I live in France so maybe I expect too much. Anyway, aside from that Olivar totally worth a visit. The octopus carpaccio was delicious.

Great dinner last night! Food was amazing and prepared with obvious care. Great seleccion of wines, friendly waiters... We felt really at home in this little gem. Thanx!

The fish is not fresh there. Smells bad and taste old. When I asked them to change it manager refused.

Absolutely delicious, great service. I fall in love

Short review - dishonest and very disappointing. Here’s a longer explanation. We were too late for a table the evening before and were impressed by the helpful staff who pointed us elsewhere. So we came back (Sat 8 Jun 2019) The menu looked promising. The meal deal advertised outside was not repeated on the menu inside so we asked and were told which dishes were not included. The service was abrupt, diffident and almost rude. No wine menu was produced and we were offered and shown a house red. The starters were good but then the beef was dry and fatty and the ‘potato pie’ was old and reheated. Panacotta was the only desert option and was also old, firm and dry. We were so heavily overcharged that it was impossible not to dispute it! The fixed menu option (€70, became €93), bread rolls (not on the menu, became €10.50) house wine (€33 became €42) the total of €110 became €152.50 (water was €7). That’s almost 40%! Our waitress disputed and defended all the elements we challenged and an odd, almost bargaining process ensued. She got away with €123; we should have just walked out! This performance was a shameful attempt to fleece tourists and I note an earlier review stating this more briefly but I thought a full explanation would help. The owners response should be interesting and I hope the restaurant behaviour will change. So, to summarise, dishonest and very disappointing. This is my response to the owners response (below). First of all, I rarely post but your poor service and this response has really got me cross - 1- We were only offered one menu (which turns out was the A La Carte menu) and actually had to ask about the menu advertised on the billboard outside. 2 - The waitress knew we were not A La Carte because she told us what items were available to choose from on the only menu she gave us. 3 - We were not offered a wine list, but a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine were held aloft from a basket on the bar to show what the choice was, of what we presumed were house wines. 4 - We discovered the price of the house wine (€33) after we questioned the bill when my wife went to look at the price list by the cash till; interestingly the wine we were given is priced at €38 on your web site, not €42 as charged and stated by you. 5 - We argued about the bread because we only had two servings not 3. We were not informed it would cost 3.5 euros for one bread roll. 6 - We had no problem with the water at €7; it was only mentioned for those readers totting up all the bits of our bill. 7 - We could not have told the waitress how happy we were, first because there was no ‘call back’ mid meal and second because by the end of the meal and the amazement at our bill we were certainly not happy. You have not addressed the indifferent or rude attitude of the waitress. We are grateful for your (near) apology but think that if you are happy with this service then you will be lucky to have any regular customers and will have to depend on the gullibility of passing tourists.

I ordered fish expecting a filet rather than a ground up bland patty. The other dish was a homemade pasta that was too thick and tough. We ordered their Mothers bread which I am sorry to say was tasteless The restaurant was nicely decorated & we were expecting a delicious meal. So disappointed.

I had a terrific experience. The service and food were stellar. Probably the best meal for the price in town.

Nice little chilled bar, perfect for a cold Heineken by the canal. By day lots of families and tourists, by night a stones throw from the Red Light District.