Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Jamie's Italian

It was a Friday night, we made an online “reservation” for in 70-80 minutes (which was about 6.30 - we had met straight from work), sat and had a couple of pre dinner drinks until 6.30, and that counted as a “walk in”.  Perfect.

You know what they say about location, location, location - Jamie’s nailed it.  The old bank building is just stunning.  The super high ceilings, big antipasto station (that’s right – an entire station dedicated to it - actually that's where they do the desserts too), mood lighting, an open kitchen to have a sneak peak at the chefs, and a less obvious but very, very important feature - the prison-bar toilets that were previously the bank vaults.

If you’re not already sold here’s a hot conversation piece for you - Kim and Kayne dined there and apparently one of them was very rude and difficult and it was not Kayne.  Feel free to use that one to fill a conversation void/win over your date with some Kardashian knowledge.  Don't blame me if it goes the other way for you though.  

We were seated as soon as we got in and being there on a Friday night in the comfy romantic, dim lighting with a male friend we got asked “so are you celebrating anything tonight?”  Fair question.  Apparently “yeah, he’s leaving” was not the best answer.  To clarify, we weren’t celebrating his soon coming six-month hiatus from Adelaide, but I panicked. 

Andy had been to Jamie’s twice already so he took the reins.  We ordered three items from the “Plates” menu and an entree sized pasta dish each.  If I’d ordered a main pasta I probably would have finished it, just hated myself after… It was a tough call because I’m pretty sure it would have been worth it.   We started with the Italian Bread Selection - which is a must do.  It’s a great little starter with a selection of three different breads and olive oil/balsamic and for $1.50, your wallet and taste buds are winning.

From the Plates (not Planks - which I will be trying next time I’m there) menu we shared the Sweet Mini Capsicums, Fried Three-Cheese Gnocchi and Crispy Squid.  I thought Andy was exaggerating when he said the squid was the best he has ever had, but after I had that melt in your mouth deliciousness, I had to agree that it’s definitely up there.  Personally (and totally personally because Andy loved them) didn’t particularly rate the mini capsicums, but I’m not a huge ricotta fan so I wouldn’t listen to me.  The Gnocchi – oh my lord.  Cheesy, with a tomato relish-type sauce, crunchy on the outside but so soft once you’d broken that crisp barrier.  I found it difficult to share those.  

The service was brilliant.  They were on the ball the entire time we were there, even when all their tables were full and the line to be seated was at the door, our drinks and food were coming out at an ideal pace, nothing was rushed and nothing lagged.

After hearing again and again about the daily made pasta, I obviously couldn’t go past a pasta dish for my main.  As a kid, I loved prawns.  As an adult, I didn’t.  Actually, it was probably the moment I had to start peeling them myself that I stopped eating them.  Anyway, I had tried them again and remembered why I used to chow down on them so much, so here I got the prawn linguine.  It did not disappoint.  My general aversion to seafood is that "fishy" taste that can sometimes go through a meal, I know it sounds weird because why would I buy a fish dish if I don't want the fishy taste, but I hope someone out there gets what I mean.  Anyway, it was definitely a comfort food.  It made me warm.  While it was just a tad salty for my liking, it was a decent sized bowl of flavoursome goodness. 


For our three Plates, two entrĂ©e pastas and two beers it came to around $80, which with the service, atmosphere and quality/amount of food, we definitely paid a more than reasonable price.  Without a doubt I will be returning.


Jamie's Italian Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato