jamie’s italian

If I’d known the night would end with Firemen I would have definitely urged for a booking. As it turned out we only had half an hour to wait in the bar before being called to a table.

Jamie’s Italian has a unique feel to it. The interior is a mish mash of industrial and market place with giant crystal chandeliers contrasting against the piping and brick work.

I ordered arancini balls and the polenta chips to start and the girls shared a bottle of house white. The polenta balls were soft inside with a crispy outside and hit the spot. They’re a favourite at all his restaurants. The arancini was nice but nothing to call home about.

At the table I ordered a glass of Jamie’s favourite red – it was delightful. I see why it’s his favourite and definitely recommend if you’re a red drinker.

The staff are quite attentive and they’re obviously trained to engage in conversation about the food. If my waitress said ‘it’s sooo delicious’ one more time with that big smile, I’m not sure what would have happened! Personally I don’t particularly enjoy engaging in convo when it’s interrupting the convo I’m already having with my friends at the table. Can’t say they weren’t polite though.

I hands down had the best main. Lauren went with the pasta of the day which was a fettuccine with salumi and lemon, I found it quite bland. Trish ordered the lamb and ricotta tortellini which was beautifully presented and tasted nice.. But shouldn’t something from Jamie’s taste better than nice? I had the beef carpaccio which again was nice but the star meal, even though they bought me the wrong one to begin, was the truffle tagliatelle. I’m a sucker for truffles but this was seriously, in the words of my waitress, sooo delicious!!

All the meals are very reasonably priced. Big portions of the pasta meals are only $25.

The fun and games started not long afterwards with a VERY loud siren sounding and some obviously untrained staff standing staring at each other. We were told to remain in our seats for a while. Eventually we saw and smelt smoke coming up from the lower level and were asked to evacuate.

Cue fire engines arriving at the door while we waited in the park.

Not the best look for a new restaurant.