Olivers Italian on a Tuesday evening in September 2019

We had heard many good reviews on Facebook, so for our anniversary celebration the two of us visited. I phoned ahead to book and the booking was accepted. We arrived in good time and were immediately shown to a table and given a choice where we would like to sit, there are only the two of us in the place. There is a refurbishment going on, so the doors are all open. We are asked if we want them closed, but it is warm enough. The restaurant is in the old Mayflower pub - an ugly 1960s concrete building. It still looks like that, but hopefully will improve.

We are asked what we would like to drink. Firstly there is no real ale (but I'm used to that in restaurants), then there is no cider - because the bar area is being refurbished. I opt for sparkling water.

We choose and order our food. The starters are soon delivered and are very nice. There is not much of a wait for the mains. The ravioli is OK, but a little dry. The salmon teriyaki tastes very good, but the salmon is a little dry and poorly filleted.

Would we like a dessert? We are asked by some guy who we haven't seen before, our waitress is now serving the other table where guests have just arrived. He doesn't know what flavour the cheesecake is, he doesn't know if tiramisu is available. It is, and it is nice enough, the cheesecake is strawberry and is nice enough too.

All evening we have been listening to accordion music the only track we recognise is 'O Sole Mio' (If you're a certain age 'Just one Cornetto'), maybe I'm just not good at recognising Italian classics? Most of it reminds me vaguely of Café René ('Allo 'Allo), I was worried that Madame Edith might sing!

The prices are a little high for the food that’s on offer (about £1 too much on a main course, for example).

We were asked several times if everything was OK, yes, it was always OK, always OK, never better than that.

	Starter: "Colours of Italy" - Mozzarella and salad
	Starter
	Main: Salmon Teriyaki
	Main: Ravioli
	Desert: Cheesecake

Failed plans & The Red Lion, Billericay

Today was supposed to be my day to prepare for the funeral training that will occur for newly licensed Readers at the end of November / beginning of December. There is more to it than I realised, and I'm rather glad there is, because I didn't like the idea of 'gate-crashing' someones funeral. Now hopefully, I will feel that I'm invited on some level. We will see. So that effort is now re-scheduled, and the rest of the day is free.
We decided to have lunch at the Red Lion - Jo had been there before, I had not. It did not turn out to be a good experience. The bar staff were running around writing everything on post-it notes. It took a good five minutes to get served, while they busily served the customers who had just arrived ahead of me. Still people make mistakes, so we ordered our food, sat down with our drinks and waited. At least it's in the warm, and out of the wind. And waited. The Knife and fork arrived, and we waited some more. The food arrived. Scampi, chips, and peas - regular pub food, but not in this case. The peas had not yet reached room temperature, and the scampi had only just exceeded it. I was hungry, so I ate it, and I probably shouldn't have. When the waitress came to clear the table I told her about the food. The manager came and apologized, but the damage was done. We are unlikely to return for another try, and certainly weren't going to stay for the free sweet.
It is so true that we only get one chance to make a good impression. That's why we have to be well trained and functioning at our best whenever we are doing something for the church involving those who are not regulars. That's why I'm glad that today's activities were postponed, and will happen later with better planning, and the right approach.