Olivio’s Mexican and Italian bar restaurant

94 Victoria Road

Old Town

SN1 3BE

Tel: 01793 423247

WE might be spoiled for Italians and Indians in Swindon, but Mexican food is hard to come by.

With the short-lived Texicans restaurant now closed, and Manuel’s in Old Town long gone, that leaves only the national chain Chiquitos at Greenbridge and the new venture Olivio’s in Victoria Road.

The owners of Olivio’s decided to hedge their bets on opening last year, opting to serve both Italian and Mexican dishes, presumably to try to please all of the people all of the time.

But with such a huge gap in the market, I wonder why they didn’t decide to be brave and go it alone with the chilli-fired South American menu, because it is something they are doing well.

All of the dishes on the restaurant menu are available for takeaway, including the fllet steak (£21.95) and sea bass (£15.95), but on this particular night I was in need of heat, and plenty of it.

I was tempted by the fajitas (£10.95 for either steak, prawns, chicken, vegetable or blackened salmon), but a dish like that needs to come spitting and sizzling on a skillet and I imagined much of that effect would be lost en route.

Instead, I opted for a good old chilli con carne (£9.95), drawn in the promise of Mexican rice and nachos on the side.

The nachos were not to be – what came in their place was a whole, soft tortilla – but the rest of the dish was a big success; masses of meaty chilli with a powerful, fiery kick, and a mound of tasty fried rice.

My son chose a Mexican enchilada (£9.95), filled with BBQ pulled pork and served with black beans and Mexican rice. With a generous side order of garlic bread (£3.25), he struggled to finish it all, which was fine by me as it meant I got to have a taste of his leftovers.

While I was somewhat insulted by his comment of “that was the best meal I’ve had in a long time”, he wasn’t far off the mark. The wrap was crammed with the highly-flavoured juicy pork, then smothered in chilli sauce and melted cheese, a combination which really set the tastebuds alight.

Delivery was also spot on, with our dishes arriving within 25 minutes of ordering, beating the stated 45.

My one niggle was that the menu I had (only recently posted through my door) must have been out of date as the prices I was charged were higher than those printed in front of me.

And when I questionned the £1.50 delivery charge (the menu says delivery is free), I was told a charge now applies.

With an added 50p charge for paying by debit card, my bill came to £26.15 – £4 more than I was expecting.