I was thoroughly impressed with my visit the Ivo Lounge in St Ives the other week.

The chain restaurant has so much going for it; with a diverse menu, a warm and stylish interior, and a great discovery with a Malaysian dish called ‘Nasi Goreng’.

I recently popped into their sister restaurant, ‘Olmo Lounge’, in Huntingdon, which is part of the same Lounge chain.

I was on my lunch break, so was in a rush and looking for something quick to eat on the go. Being a chain, I was reassured that the quality would be similar to my visit at the Ivo Lounge.

I ordered their signature ‘Lounge Burger’, something I thought would be a safe bet as they were willing to put their name on it.

Unfortunately, I was met with a very sad and ordinary burger. It was dry, flavourless, and with little personality. A far cry from what I had experienced at ‘Ivo Lounge’.

In fact, the burger was served upside down with the “meat” resembling a cardboard coaster and a light scent of what could be loosely resembled as beef. The sauce couldn’t rescue it, failing to add any texture to the dryness    

I couldn’t fault the staff, who were professional, friendly, and chatty – exactly as they were at the Ivo Lounge. I was tempted to complain directly to them but as I was on my lunch break and cutting it very fine getting back to my office. I decided that I would spare them the drama, especially since they would only give me another mass produced burger, not solving the root cause of the issue.

The food was a million miles away from what I was expecting, especially for £11. It’s burgers like this which make me understand why other countries mock our food. This standard simply wouldn’t fly anywhere else in the world, even if it was a good deal.

Conclusion

I am genuinely disappointed with my experience at ‘Olmo Lounge’, especially after such an impressive experience at ‘Ivo Lounge’ recently. From my experience so far, it is a chain where you need to be careful what you order, as quality fluctuates across the menu wildly.

With Ely now getting a Lounge, I am of two minds whether I want to spend good money finding out which dishes are passable or not. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the Cambridge Foodies group to hear what other people have to say before making a choice again in the future.

Thanks for reading.