A left towards Habitt City from Sharae Faisal takes you to the food street in Karachi’s Tipu Sultan neighbourhood. A short drive down the street brings you to the Olive Tree Bistro and Bakery, beside Espresso.
Having heard good things about it, my friends and I made a reservation for dinner. We were seated upstairs, where an open kitchen is the centrepiece. Equally surprising was the extensive menu, which offered everything from pizzas and pastas to more elaborate dishes.
As we eyed the kitchen, the friendly chef talked diners through the ingredients and the preparation before plating their orders. A few of us approached the chef, intrigued by the open kitchen, and were fascinated by his patient and detailed narration.
Most of us bypassed the pizzas and pastas, as well as the various Olive Tree bowls on the menu, opting for the signature dishes instead. We started with ‘Escargot Shots with Herb Butter’ — a classic French preparation of snails cooked to delicate perfection and served in their spiral shells — and the tantalising ‘Steak Tartare on Potato Pave’ — multi-layered potato topped with marinated beef tenderloin tartare and truffle aioli.
From escargot and steak tartare to salmon and lamb shank, Olive Tree Bistro and Bakery in Karachi offers a menu that goes well beyond usual café fare
Next, we had the Norwegian salmon fillet — served skin-on, and seasoned and cooked to perfection — the ever-so-popular grilled tiger prawns and the meat-lovers’ ‘Steak with Salsa Verde’ — tenderloin and multi-layered potato and butter-poached carrots — for the main course.
There was also the ‘Returns’ steak sandwich, served in a French baguette packed with roasted beef and mushrooms and topped with Dijon mustard, a satisfying blend of taste and textures.
The ‘Los Pollos Tartine’ — a crisp slice of toasted bread topped with savoury ingredients — was chased down with a vanilla frappé by another in our party, while the lamb shank — with potato mousseline and garlic confit — also somehow made it to our crowded table of very hungry habibis.
The bakery on the ground floor remained largely unexplored by our friends’ party upon arrival. We had assumed that we would explore it on our way out, after dinner. But, by the time we were done with our culinary experience, we were too full to even look at food, let alone check rows upon rows of baked goods on display in the bakery. That is a story best left to be told another day.
The Olive Tree Bistro and Bakery is a welcome addition to the burgeoning Tipu Sultan food street, with its growing number of cafés and restaurants, serving local, pan-Asian and continental fare. If you are looking for a more intimate dining experience, where every mouthful feels considered, Olive Tree is worth a visit.
The writer is a member of staff.
He can be reached at quraishi.faisal@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, EOS, September 20th, 2026
