Ole Restaurant

www.olerestaurant.com.au

We had been watching and waiting for Ole Restaurant to open for what seemed like months, every time we walked past the site with blocked up windows, I said to L, we HAVE to eat there once it opens. Then Ole opened and... we didn't get there. We read the mixed reviews with a bit of trepidation, and so headed there for dinner last weekend. 

Ole has a no booking policy, so we rocked up on a Saturday evening hoping for a table. Thankfully there was one available, but we were placed perched on the end of one of their long and high group tables. We were hoping noone would be squished in beside us, however someone did end up being seated there. Clearly uncomfortable, they decided to ask to move, and this luckily left us with a bit of elbow room.

We definitely wanted sangria, and so umming and aahing between white and red, ended up with a jug of the red ($28 per jug). The sangria was just beautiful, really spiced and very easy to drink, although unfortunately not very alcoholic. We could easily have sat there and just drunk the sangria all night long, definitely recommended as a refreshing summer drink.

Palitos de queso, or fried manchego with tomato jam ($3.50 each, which is actually a serve of two), was really tasty but otherwise unremarkable. It was just cheese really, although the crumbs had a great texture and the tomato jam was really nice although not enough of it.

Patatas bravas (crisped potatoes with tomato sauce $6.0) was a surprisingly filling dish, the potatoes weren't really crispy but were more-ish and the sauce was great. A good stomach filler all round.

Our most disappointing dish was Bolitas de Garbanzo, or chickpea fritters with hot chilli sauce ($6.0). It was basically extremely dry and doughy chickpea balls that had absolutely no flavour. The chilli sauce was simply hot, but with no other real flavours jumping out at us. It was also a bit weird that the amount of sauce served with this dish was way too much, whereas with the manchego cheese, the sauce was too little. 

Sobrasada Y Vieras ($17), was scallops with pork crackling and soft cured pork and paprika sausage. The sausage wasn't actually a sausage, just small piles of shredded meat that reminded me a little of the look of tinned tuna, the description of which doesn't do it justice! The pork was really packed full of flavour, the scallops were beautiful and plump. The pork crackling was extremely crunchy. This was definitely our favourite dish. 

We were deciding between a lamb dish or the Brochetas de Pollo, chicken and capsicum skewers with saffron pilaf ($19), and L ended up making the decision to go with the chicken. I was a bit apprehensive, as some chicken dishes are super boring. Out came three absolutely huge skewers! The chicken was again really full of flavour and was really tasty. This is definitely one of the more substantial plates on the menu, so order it if you are really hungry.

Others seem to be concerned about the price, but we thought spending $85 for the two of us for dinner and drinks was reasonable, we were definitely really full with our choices, so if anyone is concerned they will still be hungry after eating tapas, then don't worry here!

We were a little disappointed with some of our dishes, we were expecting Ole to be really amazing, as the restaurant is certainly something a little different to arrive in Brisbane. Some dishes need a bit of work, some are really good, so it depends on what you order. We'd definitely return for some of that sangria anytime soon!

Love

C