I have been holding off reviewing as covid has made life very tough for the food game but as life is returning I thought I would start again. Olive is a small cafe style venue with maybe 10 covers inside. We had the platter. Vaired and fresh and well presented. We also had the home made mint lemonade, at £3.50 its not cheap but it was so refreshing and I'd buy again. 22£ for 2 of us and left content. The man that served us was lovely and explained the food with passion and care. Cant wait to visit again. Well done

Popped in for some late lunch.. very welcoming.. and amazing food.. Thankyou 😁

I was cycling along the National Cycle Route and found this gem along the way. So many delicious vegan options!!! I had the kibbeh followed by coffee and vegan baklava. The host was very attentive and kind to this weary traveller. I’m so glad I took a small detour to come to this lovely cafe.

Very chilled Vibe with a brilliant ambience, the food is lovely and the coffee is amazing. The service is second to non with exceptionally kind staff. I wish i was exaggerating but this was an amazing experience for the first time using The Olive Branch.

I love this little spot in Wivenhoe. They do beautiful vegetarian / vegan platters and the food is so fresh, healthy and delicious. We shared a vegetarian platter and then had Turkish coffee and baklava for dessert. The staff are so lovely and friendly. I keep coming back here as I like it so much.

Absolutely delicious and fresh Syrian based dishes. The staff were very friendly, informative and welcoming. Definitely worth a second visit.

Great food, reasonably priced and the minty lemonade was perfect for a hot summer's day. Will definitely visit again!

Love this place. We were immediately made to feel so welcome. What a warm welcome we received. ( Chantel, the server was simply amazing)! We instantly felt appreciated for visiting, allocated seating and checked on regularly to make sure we were comfortable. What’s more, the food was scrumptious! Never ever have I tasted vegan wraps that tasted so excellent. Thank you for making us feel cared for and welcome.

Great little place with excellent food and good service, best to book a table though. I shall definitely be going back.

A cozy and cute cafe, providing good cafe and atmosphere! Staffs are so friendly, really enjoyed the time here!

Really lovely cafe with marvellous range of plant based food. The baba ganoush was stunning! Service was a little slow on the Saturday when we went and they forgot one of our orders, but all sorted out quickly. Be nice to have some music playing in the background.

Popped in after a long walk down the Wivenhoe trail for the first time yesterday and I must say the food is yummy! The falafel wraps were a great size and the platters are super tasty! It is a small little place so I would recommend booking but we will definitely be back and happy to recommend it!

We had visited in July and really enjoyed it another visit in December and it’s drastically changed the food, presentation and staff all really poor more like a cafe than restaurant and the worst falafel I have ever had really dry, stale bread, sad brown iceberg lettuce and little/no tomato, no olives, and not freshly made falafel really bland and dry honestly wont be returning here. The old food/owners were much better.

To be able to order delicious vegan food in the knowledge that is just that is a true relief and pleasure. Wether you are Vegan or not this food tastes amazing and the service is top notch. Syrian food tastes fantastic. The staff are happy to explain the dishes and enhance the experience.

Very lovely place, kind staff and the food is so amazing. It is good to book a table at the weekend as it can get a bit busy - love it!

Food was really lovely. Coffee was amazing. Very friendly atmosphere will definitely visit again.

We had Coffee and Blakava. It was lovely! Service was good and everyone was very Friendly! We will go back and have a meal the menu was very appealing!

Amazing food and coffee. Very friendly staff. Would recommend for a new experience of different foods. Definitely recommend the baklava 😍

Superb place. Great coffee (Monmouth) and fantastic food

Lovely variety of food with good quality and quantity too! Well worth a try.

This one is a real gem. The food is fresh and the owner and staff are really friendly. We ordered labane which was amazing and came with warm pittas, and falafel that was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Everything is vegetarian and most dishes are vegan. We had coffee and baklava for dessert and enjoyed every second. I highly recommend and would definitely be back!

Lovely little spot, just by the station. Wonderful vegan and vegetarian food, very welcoming and attentive staff and they were very accommodating of our toddler too. The pictures are missing food because we couldn’t wait to dig in 😊

Quirky little place tucked away off the High Street on the road down to the station. Syrian based food, veggie based and mainly light lunches. Interesting food and some nice different hot drinks to try as well.

Absolutely brilliant vegan cafe with vegetarian options for Jon-vegan friends/family. We walked over to the cafe along the river and through woodland and enjoyed a meal there. Really good food, super nice staff, attentive and great atmosphere. Husband said it felt like we were on holiday again. Will definitely return.

What a gem of a find. It can be hard to find good vegetarian food. We had a mixed platter for two and it was amazing, fresh, vibrant and tasty. The staff were very helpful and the chef who prepared the food explained each item that was on the mixed platter. recommend highly

Great food and a good price too. Small restaurant so well worth booking in advance to be assured a table. Lovely friendly staff

Quirky, genuine, refreshing food. Very limited menu so be sure you like what's on offer before you go. Tiny place and very friendly.

A little gem of an eatery. After several delectable visits I felt it only fair to write here how delicious the food is and how friendly and attentive the staff are. The sharing mezzes are excellent and the homemade minty lemonade a total winner. Having sampled both hot and cold dishes I can say you able to order anything with confidence. If you are unsure of or unfamiliar with any of the dishes the helpful staff will be happy to talk to you about them to find out what suits best!

amazing food!! always get the platter here and share :)

The Olive Branch maybe small on table numbers, but they are big on flavours. Their Syrian vegan/vegetarian food transports you to a whole new world of food possibilities. If you were thinking of a vegan meal I would have no hesitation in recommending The Olive Branch.

Very delicious food and polite service. May I ask if we are able to visit Olive Branch after the 4th of July?

What's not to like?! Lockdown has been a little tough for getting out but this is a great stop for an amazing and delicious takeaway. Falafel wraps were crammed full of salad, fresh mint, pickles and many more flavours of the Middle East. Will definitely return when everything is back up and running as the dinner menu looks fab!

Ordered ahead on the phone to collect the sharing platter for two and oh my what a delicious feast. Served in helpful compartmentalised containers with warm flat bread, cutlery and napkins to go. We walked down to the water and tucked into this tasty platter. Friendly and efficient service, reasonably priced and freshly made to order.

Good food! good service! 6 out of 5 stars from me

My friend and I had finished a trail walk around Wivenhoe and came across this charming place. Not our usual choice but we thought we would try it. We had a platter which was varied and very tasty. Also some pastries for dessert! The owner was a lovely gentleman as were the two younger gentlemen waiting. I will definitely return with my wife in the future.

Food was really lovely and tasted amazing. Staff were friendly and helpful.

Great food at a great price and lovely staff too!

The food is good if you are a vegan / vegetarian, really big variety of food, the service in there is 5/5 and you won’t be disappointed with this place at all !

Really a nice place, it was delicious. I recommend hummus.

We had the buffet food for a big evening party delivered by the Olive Branch - it was fantastic! We received a selection of dishes (all in ample quantity) and all were most delicious. Various people at the party commented how tasty the food was. I very much recommend it.

Lovely resturant. Lovely staff and food was fresh and delicious.

One of the best meals I've ever had! As a devoted meat eater I've never in my life ever considered trying vegan food, not until I stumbled upon this cute little cafe one wonderful Saturday afternoon. I was greeted by the most cheerful staff and the owner Abdul went as far as to personally take my order. Now, I'm not accustomed to Mediterranean cuisine let alone vegetarian Mediterranean food but Abdul walked me through the menu so well that I felt as if I was in Syria myself, being offered one of the finest cuisines the world has to over. The ambiance of the cafe very comfy and inviting, I didn't want to leave. I finally ordered the make shift pizza that I unfortunately forgot the name of. I would pay whatever is required for me to enjoy that delicacy once again. If you're in wivenhoe and you're interested in trying new things, this restaurant will not disappoint.

Very tasty take away platter

The Olive Branch is a small cafe in Wivenhoe that specialises in serving authentic vegan Syrian food. I went there last week for the first time on a beautiful sunny day for lunch. The place was nearly full when I arrived, and although the tables and chairs were close to each other, they were well-placed so I didn’t feel overlooked. I was served by two staff members during my time at The Olive Branch, and both of them were really hospitable and attentive. I really wanted to have a truly authentic experience, so I ordered their own special minty lemonade for £3. The drink arrived very quickly and looked quite attractive. Although the drink was quite bitter, it was cold and refreshing on such a hot day. The ice used was cloudy and small and looked homemade, which made the drink look cheap and less appealing, but in these hard financial times, I do not blame them. I decided to go for their ‘Double Olive Branch Platter’ for food which cost me and my partner £18. The menu did not have what was included on the platter, but the staff member tried his best to explain and used words such as ‘hummus’, ‘falafel’, and ‘olives’, and I was sold. The platter did not take long at all and definitely had the wow factor. It looked beautiful and fresh, showing a variety of different colours and textures. The platter was served with a basket of warm pita bread, which the staff kindly topped up towards the end of our meal to “mop up”. The hummus and falafels were excellent, I only wish there was more! There was only one small section of hummus with cucumber and one falafel each. There were several other foods, one that looked similar to hummus but had a slimy texture and exquisite taste (I did not enjoy this at all), a couple broad bean dishes that were fairly bland, olives that were coated in a very strong oil, a baby aubergine stuffed with peppers, and a vine leaf that was quite tasty. There was a nice mixed salad in the centre of the platter. I also ordered a slice of their chocolate cake, which cost £4.50. This was probably the most disappointing dish, as the cake was quite dry and looked as if it was a birthday cake bought from Tesco. If you are going to charge £4.50 a slice, then you would expect something homemade and fresh, especially as there is a coffee shop in close proximity that sells homemade vegan chocolate cake that is cheaper and in my experience, a lot nicer. Overall, it definitely felt like an authentic experience, but I would not order the platter or the cake again. However, if you are feeling adventurous, or want to try some new unusual foods, then I would suggest trying the platter. The staff there were amazing, the prices were reasonable (except the cake where I felt a little robbed) and the scenery was pleasant. I definitely recommend their hummus and falafel.

It is new experience to try middetarian food. Specially breakfast

Remember when you go here, it's a cafe, not a restaurant, so has been reviewed with this in mind. Don't get put off by the microwave and make shift kitchen in the corner, the food is good and the service is attentive, which is hard to find these days in Essex. Nice food, although not spicy but tasty. Clean and well presented cafe and food, some preprepared and some packet food, but if you don't have full cooking facilities on site, this is to be expected. Very nice owners and servers, did everything asked and served us well. Batatas was not a good dish, although the babaganouj was excellent. Worth a visit if you are in Wivenhoe.

Absolutely amazing food Customer service was incredible Thoroughly enjoyed recomendations given by staff Look forward to returning

Delicious food to eat in or takeaway such fresh flavours a real asset to Wivenhoe. Accessible for all and fully inclusive menu that will suit everyone, vegan or not. The staff are friendly & helpful and its not far from the station if you wanted to visit by train.

Always a wonderful experience, food is always tasty, some lovely plant based options. staff are friendly, polite and laid back, once you are eating they do not hassle you. It's a very petite restaurant that I imagine could get very busy but it's definitely worth trying.

Lovely fresh food

Really lovely food. Charming and helpful staff.

Warm welcome and astonishingly good food.

Simple but tasty food, and all the better for being mostly vegan. Friendly staff, good value.

Just a little bit dissapointing and over priced, the food seems microwaved and flavourless

Superb food with plenty of choice and great hosts will definitely be going back soon with the family

Delicious food, friendly people. Perfect little cafe.

Lovely food. And very nice staff.

Recently left from a lovely lovely dinner, with excellent food and such a friendly lady who served us. She even went out of her way in her own time to make a vegan cake for my partners birthday, with little notice! Will definitely visit again, can't express how delicious the food was!

Excellent

Absolutely love this food. I am not a vegan but I could happily eat the baba ganoush and Mediterranean stew for any meal any day. We will definitely be back. Great service too.

A fantastic hidden gem. Great quality and selection of food.

Fantastic cafe offering filling vegan and vegetarian meals. Staff are extremely friendly, and can't do enough for you. Would give it a 6 stars if I could.

Lovely food and welcoming place

Wonderful fresh veggie and vegan foid. A real find and treat.

Delicious fresh food

My favourite place to eat! Normally I have the platter which is amazing but today I'm on a very restricted diet due to health issues. The staff were so accommodating and went through the whole menu with me, adapting 2 of their dishes so I could eat..was so delish along with the cozy, friendly atmosphere...love it!

Lovely food, friendly service, hope to visit again soon.

Lovely place to relax and have coffee.

Came here on a recent visit to Wivenhoe. Food was amazing - fresh, homemade, prepared on order and bursting with flavour. Coffee (Monmouth) was the best I have had for sometime. Staff were incredibly friendly and accommodating. I would highly recommend and look forward to returning soon...

Such an enjoyable experience. Will be back

Great flavors from this vegetarian restaurant. Good value on the mains and starters.

Very good falafel wrap.

Good veggie/Vegan place to eat. Nice food. Friendly staff