Olivomare

We found ourselves at Olivomare on one of the hottest days of the year (ok, it’s London, so not New York hot). So glad we did and it’s stunningly good – as well as blindingly white. The food – all seafood naturally – is the freshest there is and the grilled lobster (£26) is reputedly the best in London. Brilliant, simple food; sea urchin (ricci di mare) came in a small bowl with crisp toast and was totally delicious, while my companion’s baby octopus (moscardini) stew may have been a bit of an aberration on such a warm day, but was of superb consistency and my fork found it’s way over to her plate with great regularity. Unfortunately my oysters slid down so fast that I forgot to share any and was lucky to get another glass of excellent Gavi. A shared semifreddo with fresh figs was a gorgeous finale even without the dessert wine which I secretly craved. Service was a bit distracted but if one can get the attention of the lovely maitre 'd Francesca, one will be ok. Sit outside if you can. The noise inside can be a bit much when it's full.

I have to say I don't agree with the “all style and no substance” in the official review of Olivomare – the interior of the restau is fab, I love the “seaweed” on the ceiling and the clever wall paper/paint, very funky!

My crab linguine was really tasty and my tuna main course was perfectly cooked. I'll definitely go again next time I'm eating near Victoria.

Having been a big fan for years now of the “pizzeria” sister Oliveto, I was very enthusiastic about the opening of Olivomare last year and had dinner there a lot of times since. It is the place to go to if you are looking for a good quality all-fish meal and although the bright white interior feels a bit cold during the winter moths, I still think it has a cool modern design.
On my last two visits here, however, I was hugely disappointed by the service received and (much worse) by what seems to be a regular trick they play on customers when paying their bill. The bill comes with “service included” but when paying by card, they added another 10% to the total amount, something I didn't realise until later at home when I saw I had paid £95 for a £85 bill. I obviously thought it was a mistake, but the following dinner there confirmed the horrible truth.
The last time there, I had dinner with a friend and when paying the bill we actually ended up with a charge of £42 on each card for a bill which was £74 service included! On this occasion I told them that it was wrong and they apologised and returned us the £10 extra charged on our cards.
The girl (who seems to be the manager) didn't look very surprised though and understood a bit “too quickly” what had happened. So I can't believe they made the same mistake twice and I am not sure I will go there again.