Lillie’s Wine Bar & Restaurant at Olympia, review

Following a £1.3 billion redevelopment, the iconic 140-year-old Olympia has been transformed. The famous exhibition halls remain, but they have been joined by public spaces, live entertainment venues, two hotels, offices and an architecturally arresting new glass-canopied centre. The result is a miniature city within a city, complete with an increasingly impressive rooftop restaurant scene. There’s Arbour, the food hall; Bar Arriba, for Mexican food and margaritas; Wolves of Tokyo, serving Japanese dishes; and Lillie’s Wine Bar & Restaurant, where we found ourselves on a very hot afternoon, in need of something cold, crisp and preferably involving a large glass of wine.

Olympia, Kensington. Courtesy of Olympia. Photography by Josh Bratt.

Lillie’s is a handsome room, pitched somewhere between an English country garden and a very well-funded greenhouse. Abundant planting means it comes with pollinating bees travelling from flower to flower among the planted beds. Soft botanical tones, natural textures and polished furnishings give it an elegant, contemporary feel without making you feel as though you’ve wandered into a furniture showroom. Floor-to-ceiling glazing opens onto a large terrace, creating that particularly pleasing illusion that you are simultaneously indoors, outdoors and somehow on holiday. Comfortable lounge seating sits alongside high tables and counter dining, while the rooftop setting provides panoramic views over Olympia.

Lillies, Olympia, Kensington. Image credit Billy Bolton. Courtesy of Incipio/ Lillies.

The one-page menu is pleasingly easy to navigate, with dainty illustrations leading you to the “section” you may be most interested in. At the top, three aperitifs are immediately tempting, a Tomato & Basil Martini, Rathfinny English Sparkling and a classic Gin Martini, before the main menu divides into sections. Down the left-hand side is “Land”, covering everything from Gressingham duck and wild boar pasta to beef tartare and Suffolk ham hock. In the middle sits “The Raw Bar”, devoted to oysters, Exmoor caviar and raw sea bream, while “Snacks” occupies the right, offering pickled vegetables, courgette and sage chips, and grilled bread with whipped butter.

Further down, the menu continues in three columns. “Field & Dairy” covers vegetables, burrata, croquettes, peppers, mushrooms and cheese, while the central “Sharing” section features a seafood tower, British cured meats and an impressively specified Neal’s Yard cheeseboard.

Wanting a selection of lighter, summery dishes, we found ourselves in the “Sea” section, where the choices include scallops, salmon, crab, smoked eel, cod and haddock croquettes, and lobster and prawn rolls. It is the sort of menu where you could arrive intending to have a light lunch and leave having accidentally eaten half the North Atlantic.

Four-cheese croquettes and Orkney scallops. Image credit MTotoe/FLO London

We were struck by the freshness of flavour and quality of the ingredients in all our dishes. We began with the four-cheese croquettes, crisp and golden on the outside and properly molten within, accompanied by an English chilli chutney that provided just enough heat to the mix.

The Orkney scallops are served as a plump pair, beautifully seared, with the delicate sweetness of the scallop working particularly well with the moreish and generous amount of garlic and herb butter. We suggest ordering some bread to mop it up.

The Devon Crab Salad with citrus dressing was one of the highlights. A generous portion of fresh white crabmeat came with a bright citrus dressing and crisp leaves of endive, which conveniently doubled as little edible scoops. At £17, it also felt like excellent value, particularly given the generosity of the crab. It was fresh and light, and exactly the sort of dish that makes you think you’ll have just one bite, before discovering that everyone at the table has mysteriously become interested in the same plate.

Lobster & Prawn Rolls. Image credit Natascha Milsom.

Then came the Lobster & Prawn Rolls, served in light, freshly baked brioche rolls with Marie Rose sauce. The decision to make them mini was inspired. They are substantial enough to feel like a proper dish, but small enough to share without the usual lobster-roll wrestling match involving sauce, elbows and a rapidly deteriorating napkin. Ideal date-night food, if you are trying to keep it classy.

The Isle of Wight heritage tomatoes were equally summery, served with just the right amount of lightly whipped goat’s curd. The tomatoes tasted of actual tomatoes, an increasingly notable achievement, while the creamy tang of the curd gave the dish enough richness without obscuring its freshness.

If you must end on a sweet note, there is a restrained selection of petit fours (£6): two macarons, a lemon posset choux bun and a layered carrot cake. Perfect if you just want a little something to finish the meal. For something more substantial, the pistachio choux bun or the British strawberries and cream are the way to go.

Cheese platter. Image credit MTotoe/ FLO London.

Being a wine bar as well as a restaurant, there is a very good selection of wines by the glass. The list includes mostly French wines, with a sprinkling from the rest of Europe and the New World. It feels designed for the way people want to drink now, a glass to start, another with the seafood, perhaps something more serious with the cheese, rather than committing to one bottle.

Lillie’s feels adaptable enough for almost any occasion, a girls’ night out over a cheese platter and a few bottles of wine, a business lunch where the seafood tower and Exmoor caviar are wheeled out to impress, or a quick pre-concert meet-up for oysters and sparkling English wine. And with Olympia’s exhibition halls, theatres and cultural attractions on the doorstep, there is always a reason to come.

Indeed, we’re already planning a return visit this week after a trip to the Design Museum, just a ten-minute walk away. Which is probably the most useful verdict of all: when somewhere makes you want to come back before you’ve even left, it’s doing something right.

Location: 2a Emberton Walk, Olympia, London, W14 8FJ. Opening hours: Mon–Sat 12.00–23.00; Sun 12.00–23.00. Website:lillieslondon.co.uk. Instagram:@lilliesolympia

Review by Natascha Milsom