olive & anchor

questionable unprofessional service. i went to olive and anchor with my father and sisters earlier this week. apon entering therestaurantwe were greeted by a lovely hostess. she said we could sit anywhere we want- the owner also said we can sit in the larger dining space- which we did. we didn't care where we sat but since the owner was ushering us to the larger table we sat there instead. the waitress approaches the hostess who greeted us and says outloud and quite rudely "just to let you know this table is reserved for parties larger than 5." the waitress repeats this two times over and the hostess remains quiet. the waitress then proceeds to our table to hand out our menues and says to us "oh so just to let you know in the future this table is reserved for parties more then 5" ummm ok. i quickly told her that we were ushered over by the owner and the hostess has been lovely. she then replies "oh well there is a language barrier so i was just letting her know." the waitress is caucasian and the hostess is not. i was livid that the waitress thought it was appropriate to not only address the hostess infront of us but to make a comment that suggests that the hostess does not understand the language she is speaking. the owner also sat in the corner with his laptop and paper work and didn't speak up- i am also sure he heard his waitress as she was fairly loud. we recieved our food and the yam fries were burnt and the fries were cold. we all ordered the fish and chips- and the cod was decent. nonetheless, the whole experience was questionable and their is some unchecked hierarchy that gives the waitress authority to speak unprofessionally infront of customers.

always great!. we've been to olive quite a few times and it never disappoints. the food is consistently excellent. at the last visit i tried the bread pudding and, oh mama!, it was great!


-----22 dec, 2012-----

i've been 5 times in 3 months, each time bringing someone new with me. it's consistently excellent and they have 5 new fans!!


-----29 sep, 2012-----

wow!! so impressed!! the food is really superb and reasonably priced. the servers are perfectly attentive. my only dislike is the noise factor when therestaurantis full. will definitely be telling everyone about them and will go again... often!

went here for dinner with friends.restauranthas a great location, awesome beer list and food is good. family run, you can taste the love in the food. flavours are all there and the presentation is good we ordered the bibimap, tuna salad and the ebi mayo, all of which were great! for dessert, we tried the bread pudding which had an unbelievable flavour but was chewy. totally edible, texture was just off. would definitely recommend for anyone i'm horseshoe bay!

thisrestaurantwas one of the places we wanted to go to when dine out started this year but we never had a chance to try it then. we were hyped and excited when we decided to go tonight after seeing all the good reviews here. the service was pretty good... nothing to complain about. our food came out all at once... which we didn't expect cause we thought our appetizers would come out first. so we didn't know what to eat first. we had the kfc chicken wings and mussels. both were pretty good but some of the mussels were undercooked cause the shell didn't open. my boyfriends oyster burger was not bad however my ling cod entree was pretty bland and dry. my friends fish tacos are apparently pretty tasty. we left work full stomaches.. but didn't feel like it lived up to the hype too much.

woo!!!!  finally have a chance to go olive & anchor at horseshoe bay!!!  date night dinner for my wonderful hubby's birthday celebration.  we made reservation in advance so we were seated pretty quick. . wow!  therestaurantwas smoking busy and packed with people.  they serve traditional pub food and some dishes with the elements of fusion tastes.

unfortunate lack of care. my wife and i have been here many times and enjoy it, but one time it didn't measure up. my wife's oysters were all dry that even i could tell from across the table, my tofu burger was super bland, a side sauce for the crab cakes was exactly what i buy and having in my fridge and the waitress took part of my meal away, i agreed as i thought i was done, but really wasn't and it was gone. being this was a very bad experience, but normally one of our favourite places to go to, i emailed the manager to share about the experience, letting him know i otherwise love hisrestaurantand looked forward to returning. what answer did i get? none. zip. didn't even bother responding to a loyal customer who was full of praise. from where i come from, that is unheard of, but i guess they just don't care about their customers there as it's on the water and they have enough. kind of sad.

delicious food and great service. this place was great overall. here are some details with ratings out of 7:

service (7/7) - we were greeted by a friendly host, who immediately started getting a table ready for us. we waited for about a minute and during that time, two other servers checked in with us to make sure that we had been helped out. all the staff were super friendly and helpful.

kfc (korean frled chicken) wings (7/7) - nice presentation (see photos). wings were fried nicely and were super crispy. the sauce was delicious mix of spicy and sweet. there were pickled carrots and daikon served on the side. wasn't really sure how these complemented the wings, but they were tasty on their own.

fried oyster burger (6/7) - the burger was filled with three battered and fried oysters, tartar suace, tomato and coleslaw in between a brioche bun. the fillings worked well together and the oysters were fresh and crispy. i wish there were more! the brioche bun was tender, slightly sweet, and a pleasantly flaky crust. try this iwth a side salad as it is a bit heavy overall.

seafood chowder (5/7) - topped with croutons instead of the usual crackers, which was a nice change. the chowder itself had lots of salmon and a few bits of clam. it was not as creamy as usual, which was good because the burger was a bit heavier.

pulled chicken burger (7/7) - chicken had a nice smoky flavour which was complimented well be the avocado. the burger was accompanied by kennebec fries, which we had never eaten before. they had a perfectly crispy exterior and fluffly, creamy interior.

i would highly recommend this restaurant. all the dishes were very reasonably priced (comparable to chainrestaurantprices), but tasted amazing.

love love this place for dinner !. so nice to have found this cuterestaurant!! fabulous food !! and you must try it for sure !?,

putting on the wait!. my wife and i had time to kill before taking the ferry and found this little gem. i ordered the take out cheese burger and fries. a nice cheaper option to the dine in menu. plus we could take our food and eat it at one of the picnic tables across the street over looking the bay. beautiful scenery! it took 16 minutes to make while we sat at the bar to warm up on a mid-november day. it took longer than we would expect for burgers and fries. don't do the take out if you are in a rush! we both loved the brioche buns they used and my burger receives a well above average mark. the fries were a little soggy though. the inside of therestauranthad all the characteristics one would find in a decent pub. decor and atmosphere were good and therestaurantappeared clean.

first time visit. i was at thisrestaurantfor the first time today and i was not impressed with this place.i liked to have arestauranta bit cleaner.under our table the floor was very slippery from all the grease and food particles that were not cleaned up.we were very often interrupted by the waitress, asking us if she can take the plate, or are we finished with our meal.are they short on plates? the fish was also very greasy , fish and chips.the yaya oysters were very good and can recommend them, but not this place.

best seafood ever!. went there for the first time since we had a 2 hour wait for our ferry ride home. the food was amazing! being home grown west coasters, we've had our share of seafood experiences. thisrestauranthad the best tasting and presentation of food we've seen! the chef should be making 6 figures. the service wasas good as it gets as well! friendly, fast and efficient. price was a tad high, but hey, you get what you pay for. if you're looking for a great place to eat a fantastic meal and watch a bit of the canucks at the same time, this is the place for you. i had the pan fried halibut and my husband had the seafood hot pot. highly recommend either dish. we will be back!

great food! rude server!. dropped by o&a one evening for some fish and chips....the food was excellent however my server was not! she was kind enough to me, but i overheard her talking down to the other staff. being a fellowrestaurantowner i would never allow this type of behaviour. it seems like she doesn't want to be there at all. great spot and menu, this experience could have been better, but we felt uncomfortable. other patrons were also aware of this exchange of words, i hope this note will encourage attitude adjustment.

group dining. olive and anchor is a wonderful place to take a large group. we are a seniors group with people of varying abilities and disabilities. having the ability to pre-order our meals via email is very important and one of our requirements when choosing a restaurant. they also accommodate wheelchairs in therestaurantand buses in the back parking lot.
the staff is very friendly and the food is great. the best part was to have all 17 meals show up at the table within minutes of each other and hot! i think this was a record :)
the atmosphere is also very good with a wonderful view, interesting wall hangings, and the noise level is minimal allowing for conversation to be easy, even for those with hearing difficulties.
i would really recommend the olive and anchor (formerly ya-ya's oyster bar) for any large group looking to get a pleasant dining experience.