Olympic Studios

The Olympic Café is a curious place, the adjunct to a cinema and private club in Barnes. With its outdoor seating in good weather it is an attractive spot, and the food is much better than you might expect from an eatery attached to a movie house. This is due to the considerable skill of its head chef, formerly of Racine and also head chef of Garnier.

Scallops and chorizo came with with crushed peas, celeriac and rosemary. The scallops themselves were of moderate quality but were carefully cooked, the chorizo had plenty of flavour and the celeriac and peas worked well together, an excellent combination that was probably the best part of the dish (13/20).

Steak tartare came with herb salad and sourdough toast. The beef had good flavour and was well-seasoned, the salad was dressed properly and the toast was good (13/20).

Service was fairly basic but functional. The bill came to £26 with just water to drink. You would pay around £50 a head if you had three courses and shared a modest bottle of wine.