Olivo on Blue

November 5, 2012

A couple of Friday nights ago, a friend and I caught a train to North Sydney to go to a party in Lavender Bay. We came straight from work and needed somewhere to get dinner along the way. We walked down Blue’s Point Road in McMahon’s point, figuring that there was going to be plenty of options to choose from.

The restaurant that caught our fancy was Olivo on Blue.

Located on Blue’s Point Road, Olivo on Blue serves a combination of both Italian and Modern Australian cuisine. One of its appeals is the relaxed, friendly atmosphere. To me it has a bit of a Miami vibe – painted white wood, light and airy, with plenty of plants and wicker chairs.

There’s seating both outside on the pavement and inside. We opt for a seat outside. It’s a nice place to sit and people watch now that the weather is slightly warmer and daylight savings means it stays lighter longer.

We peruse the menu and, having similar tastes in food, make our decisions easily.

We choose to share the entree platter for two and a prawn and chorizo pizza.

The entree platter consisted of mushroom arancini, garlic prawns, calamari, herb crusted scallops and oysters with fresh ciabatta
($34.90). Neither of us like oysters so the waiter very kindly offered to bring us extra calamari instead.

Our entree platter was very, very tasty. Like, super tasty.

I was such a fan of everything on that platter, it’s hard for me to narrow down a favourite.

The prawns were served in this delicious garlic sauce, that wasn’t too overbearing. None of that I-just-ate-raw-garlic feeling you’re sometimes left with after a serve of something super garlic-y. Underneath the prawns were cherry tomatoes which soaked up the sauce and were all kinds of delicious. The garlic sauce was so tasty I couldn’t help but dip my bread straight into it.

My scallop was cooked to perfection. The herb crust was so tasty and added just the right amount of texture. Not to mention, I love the fact that the scallop was served in the shell. Too cute!

Next, the mushroom aranchini was absolutely something to write home about. I’m a fan of aranchini at the best of times. We go way back. This ball of goodness blew my mind. It was so flavoursome and cheesy, crunchy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside. I’d go back for a whole plate of these aranchinis alone. (And probably the garlic prawns too).

The last thing on our entree platter (unless you count the bread, which was great by the way), was the calamari. The calamari was tasty and I have nothing to complain about, but it definitely wasn’t a stand out. Perhaps the mushroom aranchini and the scallops and the prawns set the bar too high.

Finally we shared a prawn and chorizo pizza with tomato and mozzarella ($25.00).

I’ve eaten a LOT of pizza in my day, and this was a good one. Perfectly thin base – just the way I like it – and enough toppings to satisfy each mouthful.

Overall, I was very pleased with our dining experience at Olivo on Blue. It was a very chilled and tasty meal.

Would I go back? Definitely.