Wild Olive Tree Cafe

My continuing fondness for ecclesiastical cafes took me to the recently opened Wild Olive Tree Cafe, just next to Queen Street station, in the fantastic St George’s Tron Church. It’s a real feature building, which I’ve walked past many a time. The cafe, run as a social enterprise supporting the local homeless to get back into work, has been open for a little over a month so I thought I’d see how they were getting on.

The simple but very neat cafe spills out into the body of the kirk, with the eponymous olive tree located at the back of the main church seating area. There is some interesting artwork around the place. It feels smart, fresh and rather welcoming.

The core of their offering is soup and scones, which is always going to meet with my approval. Their scone range included some intriguing combinations including pear & blue cheese, cranberry, and cheddar & herb.

I opted for the mushroom soup and the cheddar & herb scone. This was promptly delivered by one of the extremely friendly counter folks.

The scone was a monster, dwarfing the previous biggest savoury scones I’d had at Lovecrumbs or Casa Angelina. It was delicious, too.

The soup was a really good rendition of classic mushroom, a soup I cook at home not infrequently. I was very pleased with it.

I rounded things out with very good Dear Green espresso. All that was left was to say cheerio to Robert (a fellow patron who for reasons too complicated to recount drew me a very lovely sketch), then be on my way towards the train east.

So overall, I was highly impressed with the Wild Olive Tree Cafe. It is one of the best cafes of its ecclesiastical type that I’ve visited. I look forward to coming back to try more of their delicious scone flavours. I recommend a visit.

Scores
Blythe scores Wild Olive Tree
4/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
4/5 for setting
4/5 for service
giving an overall 16/20

I ate: mushroom soup; cheddar & herb scone

I drank: espresso, water

I wore: brown

Total bill: £6.30

2 Nelson Mandela Place, Glasgow, G2 1BT
http://www.wildolivetree.co.uk/