l'olivo - 171 waverley road east malvern 3145 9572 4487

i do like a restaurant, cafe, or indeed a bar, that has a closing time described as 'late'. it's like 'mheh, if you're here, we're here'. no pressure. in fact i would have to list it up there with the breakfast-all-day. not in the same category of course, but it's up there with the best. l'olivo was entirely unexpected but boy were we glad we chose it.

did i tell you how we picked l'olivo? here's a hint - there's an app for that. eh?! eh?! we used an app called urbanspoon. you pick your area (or just stand under some satellites) and shake your iphone. it suggested l'olivo so off we went - simple as that. we weren't expecting anything great and we didn't know if it was even open. but open it was so, in eating fashion, in we went.

and i couldn't have been more impressed. imagine the opposite of a crappy chinese take-away. you know, dark, dingy, kitchen hidden away behind a sliding door. the 'what-the-fuck-do-you-want, eh?' attitude. l'olivo, by contrast, was open, bright, fun, and most importantly, delicious. yes, we did the over-order thing. we got enough food in four tapas plates for a family of 4! i think i remember a couple of huge fucking prawns on my plate (i was into the second bottle of wine at that stage) and there was lamb. No, not prawns fucki...oh, never mind.

l'olivo - prices were good, food was deliciosio (a bit of italian there for my fans) service was great. i loved it and i will be going back soon. so stay away from my table.