The Wild Olive Tree

This is a lovely place to have some lunch in the city centre. Although I am in no way religious, the café situated inside the church is a nice respite from the busy street outside.
I have visited a couple of times now and each time it has been busy but the service is excellent and very quick. The menu is very small, offering just soups, scones and cakes but the limited selection means that what they do offer is of a very high standard. They have a choice of 4 – 5 soups daily, as well as a selection of about 5 – 6 scones, including both savoury and sweet choices. For £4.50 you can get a bowl of soup and a scone of your choice. On my last visit I had Thai Sweet Potato soup and a Parmesan and Black Pepper scone. It was a very generous portion for the money and both elements were delicious. The scone is probably the nicest I have ever eaten: you could really taste the salty parmesan.
Although it’s situated on Buchanan Street, it is easy to miss if you aren’t aware that it’s there. I would urge anyone to seek it out though — you won’t be disappointed.

So I finally visited the wild olive tree with my wee sister and charming mother, who thoroughly recommend this place as it’s a social enterprise café and the first of its kind in Glasgow.
Now as a devout, practising catholic as well as being an ex alter boy and choir girl… yes you read that correctly, I’d normally rather be put to death than set foot in a Church of Scotland but given the circumstances and as this was not for a service I agreed to pay a visit. So we headed inside and took our seats — the café was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday lunch time, which can only be due to high demand and popularity I imagine, anyway we then gauged the room and noticed some rather unique features which add to the cafes ambiance — little stools shaped like olive tree leaves, a real olive tree in a plant pot (with free olives just to take) and also a painting entitled ‘the last supper’ which was a modern take on the Renaissance classic but instead of Christ surrounded by his 12 disciples, the subject was actually a table patron with mental disabilities. This is very unique conversation starter, and I believe there are even opportunities to meet the artist responsible!
So almost immediately after we sat down, a rather gorgeous tall waitress graced our table with a glass bottle of water and some glasses. Water is free and chilled here — it’s a nice touch. Before we had a look at the tiny menu and decided what to have. My charming mother had the spiced sweet potato and parsnip soup with a poppy seed scone, my wee sister also had the sweet potato and parsnip soup but with sour dough bread, and I had the red lentil and vegetable soup with white bread. I also noticed that there are gluten free options available for all you PC freaks out there.
So after not waiting too long our soups arrived and the first thing you notice is the generous portion sizes! The bowls themselves are probably capable of housing about 3 litres. I have to confess that even though the soup was delicious and homemade I’ve defiantly had better! I’ve even had better soup made by my own charming mother! The best part of the entrée was the bread which isn’t always a great thing to have to say — my mum and wee sister left about half of their portion (I imagine in protest).
So yeah in conclusion a very generous 4 stars for the wild olive tree which is very luck to have the brilliant reviews it receives on Unilocal not to mention its location — I mean you couldn’t be more lucky in the heart of Buchanan street. I feel what let me down was the waitstaff as there was one girl who was so loud, happy and enthusiastic that served other tables around us who seemed great but the rest of the staff looked sad and unprofessional!

In the middle of the hustle and bustle of black Friday there is this lovely sanctuary. Staff were friendly and inviting. The home made soup was lovely. The portion was excellent and it was value for money. We’ll definitely return. The whole ambience was one of tranquillity.

An oasis on Buchanan Street, an oasis of soup!
I’d never been inside the church before and was pleasantly surprised to find this wonderful café. It’s really spacious and has a peaceful atmosphere with lots of pot plants surrounding the tables as well as their centrepeice olive tree. The menu consists of homebaked scones of various flavours, cakes and soups. There were four different soups on offer with meat, fish and veggie options. They have espresso coffees, teas and lots of soft drinks as well. I had the cullen skink soup and sourdough bread. The portion was huge and the soup was really hearty and tasty. It’s great value for £3.50.The staff were really friendly and I think about three people came over and asked how we liked the food so they obviously care about quality here! Definitely a new favourite for me.

The wild olive tree café, is a new and well needed place to go in Buchanan street, this is based inside of St George’s Tron Church of Scotland, I saw the sign so In I went.
A simple café that serves good coffee, homemade soups, home baking & scones in peaceful surrounding.
I ordered a latte to sit in with their homemade toffee cake, complimentary chilled water was served automatically, coffee & home baking was about £4.50.
The wild olive tree café work with the Glasgow City mission & Bethany Christian trust as a social enterprise offering skills training for people seeking to get back into employment.
Well worth a visit if you are in the area.