Jamie’s Italian – My wife’s rather delayed 2013 review (unedited!)

The first time I walked into Guildford and saw that it had a Jamie’s Italian I was excited to go. I had heard such great things about the food, plus being a Naked Chef fan it was definitely on the ‘to do’ list.

I spoke to Tim about going there one evening and sadly he didn’t share my enthusiasm. His opinion is that it is over priced and pretentious. A little disappointed I didn’t bring it up again. Until one Tuesday afternoon as it was my turn to pay for dinner I decided I would twist his arm and force him against all his will to go.

We looked at the menu at home before we went, and as someone who is incredibly fussy with her food I have to admit there was only a couple of things that tickled my fancy, but I wasn’t going to be talked out of going.

Reading the menu it sounded impressive, using combinations of ingredients that I wouldn’t have thought of putting together, but that’s one of the reasons going out it so appealing, to eat food we wouldn’t normally cook ourselves.

Walking into the restaurant we were greeted really warmly by the staff and I instantly loved the atmosphere. We were surrounded by decorative produce as well as  pots, boards and wine ready to be bought. We were taken to our table and I had a proper look around the building, the exposed brick and pipe work gave it a real industrial feel but it wasn’t overdone, I could have been in a NY studio apartment.

The chunky wooden table, vintage metal lamp and napkins styled as tea towels made it feel like I was sitting in Jamie’s kitchen.  The waitress seemed nice and took the time to go through bits on the menu that we needed. She took our orders and prepared our bread bowl starter in front of us (although I did wonder how long it had all been out on the side).  This went down a treat though dunking away in oil with extra vinegar.

I also ordered some polenta chips mainly because I’ve never heard of them before. When they arrived I have to admit they weren’t what I expected, they looked like little misshapen  roast potatoes. I’m also not a fan of food that either disguises itself as other food or can’t decide what food it is itself. It was the texture of a potato but almost slightly doughy, I also couldn’t quite work out the flavour. They were nice, I think? Just not as flavoursome as I had expected. I’ve since found out that polenta is cornmeal boiled with either water or stock. Doesn’t sound that exciting really!

My wine was going down nicely, though, I don’t think Tim’s beer was. When I asked if it was nice he gave a shrug and said that it was alright, I was desperate for him to have a better experience this time because what if I wanted to come back?

Mains came along and sadly disappointments came with them. I had the Free-Range Chicken, it was a leg/thigh piece sitting on a tomato, chilli, olive and caper sauce with a neat pile of rocket sitting alongside. The chicken was really flavorous and juicy but I would have preferred a breast, I didn’t get enough good meat as I would have liked. The sauce again was nice but far to thick and chunky for my liking not so much a sauce. Though my garlic and herb chips were yummy, maybe a bit dry but otherwise not too many complaints there.

Tim had the burger and posh chips. It did look impressive when it was first brought over and the meat looked lovely, he was about halfway through when I asked him how it was and he still was  not impressed, I wasn’t winning at this but to be honest I hadn’t been completely blown away.

I also had chips and they weren’t very nice, but maybe I’m just not posh enough to appreciate them, Parmesan I don’t think was the best cheese to go with the truffle oil something a bit lighter would have been better.

We ate as much as we could but had definitely over ordered on the chips. I obviously still had room for pudding though. I have given up chocolate for lent so went for a toffee ice-cream with honeycomb and butterscotch sauce. It fulfilled my need for something sweet but still wasn’t as satisfying as chocolate, though that’s not Jamie’s fault.

I know that it’s impossible to like every restaurant that you go to but I really wanted to love this one. The atmosphere cannot be faulted, it’s a beautiful building and really has that rustic kitchen feel. With the food I can see what is trying to be achieved, exciting, unusual Italian inspired food being brought to the table that isn’t being served in every other ‘high street’ Italian Restaurant.

The waitress brought us our bill and commented on how it was nice to see us again, she was left slightly speechless when I said it was my first time.

It was the most expensive glass of wine and bread bowl I’ve ever had! And sadly I won’t be going back in a hurry, give me ASK or Prezzo any day. For me I think that simple is better! And Tim is probably secretly happy that he was right and I won’t be bugging him to go back.

Sorry Jamie.

Jamie’s Italian. Italian dining from Jamie ‘I’m a genuine cockney geeza, innit’ Oliver.

Jamie’s Italian, Guildford

Ok, so let’s kick this thing off, shall we? After a week of using and trying various new things I find I’ve now had something of a boring week, until last night. Jamie’s Italian, step up to the plate and be judged.As it’s my first review, I’ve not really settled on a format, but we’ll see what happens, the important thing is getting the information across… right? Oh, but I will tell you, I’ve settled on a ‘marks out of 5’ system, it’s tried and tested, but also ambiguous enough. I mean does rating something 82% really tell you more than 4 out of 5?

Damn, ok, I’ve become mired in random thoughts about how to do things rather than actually doing them. Next time I decide to have a bit of a brain fart, warn me?

As you might have guessed the ‘Jamie’ referenced in this restaurant’s moniker is Jamie Oliver, he of ‘mockney’ TV cheffing fame. I think he’s a bit of a prick, I’ll admit it now, but believe me when I say it hasn’t clouded my judgement.

First Impressions

Well I’ve been before. Despite the abundance of Italian restaurants in Guildford (and every other city this side of the Isle of Wight) there is still a limited number and lets all be honest, Italian is the go-to choice for a night out when you have no better ideas.

The building Jamie’s Italian resides in has had many guises, in my time in Guildford it has been a bank and a music store before the story eventually reached its inevitable conclusion. It is an interesting place, a circular building near the biggest road in Guildford’s town centre. However, on the edge of town it’s in a prime position, with passing motorists and shoppers all conscious of its existence. Well decorated and with a nice ambience, Mr Oliver has done a good job.

4.5/5

Service

All pretty straightforward here. An Italian looking and Italian sounding lady (probably an Italian) looked after our table of 9 for the evening. She was a nice sort and we were never left for too long without attention. She put up with the regular hassle given to her (especially from the girls of the group) and despite spilling a beer on the table and knocking over Alex’s ‘Eat & Mess’ dessert, she was very professional. He offer of a ménage-a-trois left for her on our receipt (along with Davies’ number) was certainly well earned.

I will review said 3-some if she calls.

4/5

Food

At the end of the day, no matter what goes on around you, how well lit the restaurant is or what brand of European you have serving you, the main thing you go out to a restaurant for is the food. Unfortunately, this is where things turned a little pear shaped.

I don’t really know how to put this, because it might sound a bit unfair, but to be quite honest, the menu is a little pretentious…

There, I said it. And actually, I’m not being unfair, because it’s true. Jamie has positioned his burgeoning chain of restaurants to compete with the ASKs, Zizzis and Prezzos of this world, but he’s missed the point. All of those restaurants serve us the food we want to eat. I can go to any of those places and get a lovely Bolognese, Carbonara or even a Steak and it will hit the spot expected of it. Whilst all of those things exist on Jamie’s menu, very few of the other staple Italian dishes remain; heaven forbid you decide you’d like a Pizza.

I will admit, I like a poncy menu as much as the next guy, but when I am in a poncy restaurant. When you go to one of these places, no matter what you order, or what your gastric preferences may be, the food will taste bloody amazing, at a chain restaurant type affair Michelin quality chefs are fewer and farther between.

I went safe, or so I thought, I had a Tomato Bruschetta to start, Spagetti Bolognese as my main and Tuscan ‘Eat & Mess’ for dessert.

The poncification (Ponce-ifi-cation – to ‘poncify’ or ‘to make poncy’) of my starter was a sign of things to come: –

1. Ricotta doesn’t work anywhere near as well as mozzarella.
2. Don’t put pepper in my bruschetta, particularly without warning me first.
3. The tomatoes look like a mess and don’t taste of much.
4. Concentrate more on the food than the presentation

I ate it all, although I was done after eating my first slice (of two) and not long afterwards the mains began to appear.

First impressions here is that there isn’t much meat, making this dish rather poor value for money. Second impression, Jamie, or his chef, has decided exactly how much parmesan I would like on my Bolognese. Now even in Pizza Express they grate it for you at the table. What if I didn’t like cheese? What if I was lactose intolerant? Well, to be honest, that wouldn’t have been too much of an issue because they were about as frugal with the cheese as they were with the meat.

In terms of the way it tasted, disappointing would be an understatement. It was a pretty straightforward dish, but I have had better from a microwave meal. It was admittedly presented well (again) but beyond that a very average dish. I will admit everyone else at the table seemed largely satisfied, but to be quite honest my friends are plebs and might have been aiming for ‘polite’ over ‘opinionated’, a strategy I also opted for. However, their general positivity will certainly contribute half a mark here (which is probably generous).

Finally, dessert. And we have a winner! The dessert, an Eton Mess labelled with a ‘hilarious’ play on words (which tickled Alex’s penchant for a pun), was spot on. The ‘tower’ presentation was very good, it tasted exactly as one would hope and offered plenty of meringue, an ingredient often coming up short in this traditional English dessert. A welcome end to a disappointing meal.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I only drank beer. I don’t know much about wine, so, can’t really help you there. If you care about that sort of thing then yeah, great, but you’ll have to eat the crap food to try it.

2.5/5

Price

As with any pretentious restaurant, the food immediately appears over-priced. ‘Fine’ one tends to think… ‘It’s probably pretty nice, so it’s ok… this time.’ Well, as we’ve already covered, it wasn’t very nice. One expects a bit better at the more premium end of this particular market and on this score Jamie’s was a real let-down. Whilst it’s not far off Zizzi’s or Prezzo in terms of price, the food is definitely not value for money.

Budget around £30 per head, although this may easily stretch to £40 with a bottle of reasonable wine included.

2.5/5

Overall

A good ambience and perhaps there are better dishes on the menu than I’ve tried; however, with a glut of Italian restaurants populating our high streets, Jamie’s Italian is unfortunately a case of style over substance and should be considered only when other options have been exhausted.

3/5

1,217 words – and I’m spent!