This is so far my favourite dining place in Barnes. Lovely for breakfast, lunch, dinner or an after movie drink. We went here for lunch and had the roast cod and Welsh lamb shoulder which were absolutely delicious. Good quality ingredients made simply to bring out their best flavours. This place also has one of the best wine collection. Definitely recommended!
The Olympic Studios re-opened at the end of 2013 as a cinema, cafe and dining room. This followed a lengthy renovation from it's previous incarnation as a recording studio, which hosted the likes of David Bowie, Rolling Stones, and many more. It's new incarnation as a friendly, local eatery is a welcome addition to the Barnes dining scene.
Rosie Alittlelusciousness
+3.5
I'm not a massive cinema-goer. I absolutely love watching movies, but there's something about going to the cinema that I find a bit restrictive - you can't stop and pause the film, the seats can be uncomfy and you can end up sitting in front of someone who kicks your chair for 2 straight hours, and I often feel the price you pay is unjustified for the experience you get. That was until we went to the Olympic Cinema in Barnes. There were many things that appealed to me about the Olympic, from their on site restaurant's menu, to the fact I could book a sofa seat for 2 of us for the same price as 2 standard seat tickets, so we booked to see A Most Violent Year on Friday evening. To start with tickets are £15 which seems to be cheaper than other local cinemas - we went to Westfield to see Birdman recently (which I really didn't enjoy/get) and that was £44 for 2 of us. The £30 we paid for 2 at the Olympic got a us a double seat/sofa so we didn't have to wrestle an arm rest between us, and each chair comes with its own table for your drinks. As the film wasn't showing until 9pm we booked for dinner first at The Dining Room, which is in the same building as the cinema.The Dining Room at Olympic Studios is bigger than I'd imagined, with about 50 covers, on a mix of individual and longer sharing tables, and is headed up by a chef who's previously worked at Noma and Racine. We had our own table, and decided to go all out, as we were both pretty hungry and had time to kill. Sadly the first thing to pass my lips was the least favourite part of my evening. The Dining Room have an interesting cocktail list, and I chose one that I can't remember the name of... maybe the Basiltini (I'm pretty sure that wasn't what it was called but was something similar) and was made using basil and way too much ginger for my liking. It was also very sweet, and I prefer my cocktails sharper, but I drank it anyway while we ordered our food. We chose the steak tartare and calamari for starters to share. Both were delicious, though we'd forgotten to check if the tartare was already seasoned, which it was, with tabasco, so none of that for the boy! Which was fine by me as I got to eat all of it! It was perfectly seasoned to my liking and the steak wasn't cut too fine - I really don't enjoy the minced version of steak tartare. The calamari were really good too with a crunchy but light batter and soft squid inside, served with very moreish homemade mayo. As I said, we decided to go all out, so for mains I went for whole lobster - it's rarely on a regular restaurant menu and as the food looked so good here I wanted to treat myself. It's served with chips and an almond garlic butter that I couldn't get enough of. The lobster was beautifully cooked, still retaining some bite whilst have the delicate tenderness that seafood should have. The boy chose the sautéed calves liver with smoked bacon, onion puree and savoy cabbage. It was pink as requested and so full of flavour. Both are dishes I would definitely order again there. Our bill, with a bottle of wine, others drinks and the lobster came to £100 between us, which was great value for what we ate and drank. As the cinema and restaurant are all under one roof you can take unfinished drinks through to the screen with you. There's also a bar outside the screens serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and cute bags of old fashioned sweets and different flavoured popcorns.Olympic Cinema is a real treat. It's luxurious without being ridiculously expensive, and has everything you need for a great night out on site. Highly recommended.
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The Olympic Studios has quite a long history. The building was initially an entertainment centre putting on plays and other shows in 1906, and became The Barnes cinema as far back as 1910. The building switched between being a theatre and a cinema in the 1920s and 1930s, before becoming a recording studio in 1966. Bands such as The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and The Who recorded their songs here, the studios continuing until 2009. After a period of uncertainty the Olympic Studios reopened as a cinema, dining room and café in October 2013. The dining room is on the ground floor and serves food all day. This is open to the public though there is a separate member’s clubroom offering the same menu located upstairs. The dining room seats just over 80 customers at capacity, with additional seating outside in good weather.
Head chef Andreas Engberg was previously sous chef at Racine, having worked there for six years, and was head chef of Garnier in Earls Court. The bread is made from scratch in the kitchen each day. Rosemary bread roll was pleasant, as was a brown roll with poppy seeds. The texture could be improved, but it is good to see a restaurant bothering to make its own bread (13/20).
The wine list had 67 wines listed, ranging from £17 to £450 in price, with a median price of £36 and an average mark-up at a reasonable (for London) 2.7 times the retail price. Example wines were Equus Carmenere Haras de Pirque 2011 at £24 for a wine that can be found in the high street for £10, Neil Ellis Vineyard Selection Grenache 2010 at £29 compared to a retail price of £20, and the lovely Antinori Tignanello 2009 at £105 for a wine that will set you back £54 in a shop.
A salad of endive with blue cheese, apple and walnuts had crisp endive, the apple nicely balancing the cheese, the dressing well made (13/20). Mackerel with roast pumpkin and Jerusalem artichoke puree had fresh, accurately timed mackerel with good flavour, the vegetable components fine; this dish could have benefitted from an acidic element to cut through the oiliness of the mackerel, though as it happened the dressing of a side salad that I ordered provided this (13/20).
Pear millefeuille was excellent, the puff pastry made from scratch in the kitchen, the tartness of the pears balancing the crème patissiere filling (14/20). The strength in pastry was emphasised at another meal by a very good lemon tart with particularly good filling and good pastry. Coffee was good too, and service was friendly and efficient.
The bill for three courses but just water to drink came to £32 a head. If you shared a modest bottle of wine then a typical bill would be perhaps £50 a head all in, reasonable given the good standard of cooking on display here. No wonder it was busy even at a weekday lunch. I initially stumbled across this restaurant when I had a quick bite to eat before a film, and was so impressed that I came back and had a full meal here. This is up there with the very best restaurants in Barnes, and represents excellent value. If you want a Hollywood ending to your trip to the cinema then eat here.
Louise Bronwen Veronique Peddar
+4.5
Brunch in the sunshine with a friend. Amazing coffee followed by sourdough with poached eggs. My friend had the French toast which looked amazing. I finished with my own pot of Rooibos tea. Lovely setting...will be back again for sure.
A very warm cozy little cinema, with friendly helpful and welcoming staff. We used the cafe ferclities and was impressed with the comfort and warmth of the interior. Our coffee and pastry was delicious and of obvious high quality. As a local place this does Barnes proud.
One area that businesses fall behind on is the cleanliness and hygiene of the toilets but was very happy to see one of the most spotless clean toilets I've seen in a long time here.
Very muchly enjoyed sitting here with my coffee and pastry.
Lovely food! Great staff! I don’t know what took us so long to come and check it out.. thanks team we will be back
Love the athmosphere, food is simple but always really good, good quality. Lovely interiors. When i pass through Barnes Village i like stop here!Great cocktails.
Hamish & Vivienne Pringle
+4
Friends who are members booked us in recently for dinner. We hadn’t been since it opened when our son was the first manager. The place has more than aged graciously: it’s acquired a really comfortable patina which was a pleasure to be in.
One might have expected good service given our hosts are known to the management, but it was exemplary. Our waiter walked the fine line between familiar and over-familiar with finesse and humour. The food was excellent.
Reportedly there are some Olympic members who are critical of the cuisine and stay away. My guess is their memories are of the early days and they definitely ought to try again.
Love this cinema. Friendly staff, great, comfortable seats and people are courteous and don’t talk / look at phones while the movie is on. Plus a great restaurant on the ground floor! Been going for years and always have a great experience.
The nicest place to watch a movie. Comfortable seats, plenty of space, good bar and refreshments and of course a decent screen and sound system. What's not to like?
Fantastic place with a wonderful choice of films. A temple to film with great projection and sound -I should know because I'm a film and TV director and I am a regular. We are so lucky to have it as our local cinema, long may it continue to serve the local community. As Tarantino once said Vive Le Cinema!
Love this venue, great food, drinks, service backed up with a fantastic cinema
Amazing cinema. The best seats, individual tables at each seat. Top quality popcorn and drinks.
Linked to an excellent restaurant.
All the latest films are available from release.
Pleasant evening in Barnes with dinner and the cinema with luxury seating and amazing sound system.
Five stars all the way.
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This is a great cinema. It has very few seats which means you get to enjoy the film without phones lights or other noises. In addition to this the seats are incredibly comfortable and have a side table and foot rest. While the tickets aren't the cheapest, I think the additional benefits are worth it. Really enjoyed going there and will definitely be back!
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