Olive
Olive Bar & Kitchen is Mumbai's most enduring celebrity restaurant — a white-walled Mediterranean oasis in Bandra that has been setting the benchmark for elegant, unfussy dining since the city was still figuring out what fine casual meant.
Anisha arrived at Olive for a weekday lunch and found exactly what two decades of reputation promises: gorgeous garden seating under a canopy of trees, Santorini-white interiors that photograph themselves, and a menu of Mediterranean classics executed with the confidence of a kitchen that has done this ten thousand times. The lunchtime crowd was a mix of media, fashion, and celebrity-adjacent regulars — the kind of room where you recognise faces and pretend you don't.
What Anisha Ordered
The Burrata with Heirloom Tomatoes is the dish that built half of Olive's reputation and it continues to deserve every word of it — creamy, fresh, generously portioned, and dressed with olive oil that tastes imported and expensive. 9/10. The Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto was slow-stirred and deeply flavoured — arborio rice with good bite, earthy porcini, and asparagus tips providing fresh contrast. One of the better risottos in the city. 8.5/10. The Hazelnut Chocolate Fondant arrived precisely timed — the centre liquid, the crust set, the vanilla gelato melting against it in exactly the way fondants are supposed to work but rarely do. 9/10.
The Bill
₹4,578 for three courses including dessert. For Olive's setting, reputation, and consistent quality, this is genuinely fair — the restaurant doesn't charge an inflated celebrity premium, and the food earns every rupee.
HEII Score: 2/5 ★★
- Burrata remains the best in Mumbai and is non-negotiable ✅
- Garden terrace setting is unmatched in the city ✅
- Consistent over two decades — rare at this level ✅
- Menu evolution has been minimal — loyal regulars wouldn't have it otherwise ⚠️
Verdict: Olive Bar & Kitchen has earned its institution status honestly — this is a restaurant that produces genuinely excellent Mediterranean food in one of Mumbai's most beautiful outdoor dining settings. The celebrities come because the food deserves them, not the other way around.