Jamie's Italian

5 Average

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  4      Value  4     

Having heard a lot of hype we decided to give Jamies a go. Being British I understand his rise to fame as a hyped tv chef as opposed to someone know for the produce on a plate.

The food was nice, nothing special and certainly not better than the numerous good authentic italians in Sydney. Always busy so a good buzz, but the product is below par for the pricing and not really worth it. I had the truffle risotto. Average at best. Not much truffle at all, in fact possibly none.

Wouldn't return, but thats exactly what they expect. A tourist trap that doesn't rely on repeat custom.

May 16, 2012 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

I visited Jamie's for the first time on a Wednesday lunch time and arrived for a late lunch at 2pm and found the place half full and plenty of tables. My partner and I were warmly welcomed and taken to our table and introduced to our waiter who I think may have been Italian with a very broad accent.

I was very impressed with the service, our waiter was friendly, courteous and attentive to our needs.

I noticed a lamb leg special on the board but sadly it had run out so I ordered another special which was a twice cooked bream from the mid-north coast of NSW on a tomato sauce. My partner ordered the Ligurian fish stew.

For wine I ordered a glass of Clic Pinot Grigio but sadly they had run out so I tried the Vino Bianco Della Casa house wine which was very light and quite nice.

Our meals were served very promptly and were cooked beautifully, my bream was moist and the flesh broke apart with crispy skin on one side, the fish sat on a rich tomato sauce which was just so delicious.

I tried the Ligurian fish stew which looked wonderful and its taste was just so fresh and flavoursome, I think it was one of the tastiest fish stews I've ever tried.

Sadly we were too full for dessert so we just enjoyed a good piccolo latte after the meal leaving very satisfied. Based on some of the reviews here about the long waits, I might stick to the late lunch as it was a great experience.

May 10, 2012 

6.5 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  3     

Had dinner here a few times. I've always found the food to be quite good, with some very creative dishes.

However, for how small the mains tend to be (there is a pasta main here which contains only 5 pieces of pasta, albeit they are quite large), I would put Jamie's on the pricey side. I would stick to the entrees here and avoid the mains, unless you're not feeling very hungry.

May 07, 2012 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  9     

Had dinner here for 2 last night. Food was simple, fresh and amazing and service was just as great. Only let down was the Chocolate Brownie dessert we ordered, which was more dry chocolate cake. Otherwise it was a fantastic meal and very reasonably priced for what we got.

May 03, 2012 

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

A group of 6 from work have just had lunch there - arancini balls for starters (delicious and crisp with a lovely spicy salsa and we all had a pasta main course. All dishes were really tasty and generous serves, with special mention to the pumpkin ravioli and squid ink spaghetti with scallop dishes. A few of the meals, however, the pasta was undercooked and chalky, though the accompanying sauce was tasty. The waitress (a lovely girl from Liverpool, UK called Jenny) was very helpful and offered to replace the dishes. Service was prompt & friendly and I would return.

May 03, 2012 

3.3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  3      Service  4      Value  3     

Absolute rubbish. We had a group booking at 6.15pm and exited at 9.45pm after only having a main and dessert. I ordered the osso bucco with polenta, I was graced with one piece of meat and polenta that resembled lumpy soup. Totally tasteless. The bill was incorrect and sent back 3 times in an attempt to rectify it.

I fail to see what the hype is about. Its noisy and difficult to hear. Totally overrated.

Apr 30, 2012 

7.3 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  5      Value  7     

Bustling. Food tasty.

Downsides: teapot for 2 given for 2 tea orders yet tea not enough for even 2 cups! poor signage for toilets, no doggie bag allowed (against policy!), isn't Jamie all about sustainability? Asked for wine glass 3 times, whats with the bread at the bar upstairs? hope thats donated and not thrown out (not sure hygienic out in open too!). I'd recommend it for the food. We had a booking thou (must have 6 to book!).

Apr 29, 2012 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  9     

This was our second visit here. Food is served quite promptly, is very well executed and fresh. Not sure why others have complained about the service. I have found it friendly and efficient. Prices are very reasonable. Spat Bol was sensational. Tried the meat anti pasta tonight, excellent. Deli pus eat, great cheese and very interesting coleslaw side. The posh chips are very good. Would gladly go back again.

Apr 25, 2012 

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  2     

We waited for 2 and a half hours, despite being told we'd have a 90 minute wait. Was lied to by the staff, who told us they'd been trying to contact us.

When we were finally seated, they offered to tell us 'what specials we have left' (9pm on a Saturday night!). They had ran out of Spag Bol (it's supposed to be an Italian), the $40 steak was average at best, the rest of the food adequate but dull and uninspiring.

The atmosphere is terrible - far too loud to relax or enjoy the 'experience'. If you want an Italian meal, there are 100 better Italian restaurants in Sydney.

If you want to ponce about because you're in 'Jamie's', buy a mug and tell your friends, then go ahead. After being handed the bill for over $200 for crap food and a crap evening, I felt like the biggest mug in Sydney.

Let's just say this place will only survive on one off guests, as there won't be many returning customers.

Apr 20, 2012 

6 Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  5      Value  6     

Went there on a Wednesday night with my wife. We managed to get a table at 5:50pm, it looks like the restaurant generally gets filled up by around 6pm and from there, it's a long wait.

The waitress was very busy and we hardly got any attention. No other waiter/waitress will serve us and we were told to wait. Finally when our waitress got to us, she was huffing and puffing. Feels like they are very understaffed despite seeing many of them.

We started the night with a Spanner Crab Bruschetta, very nice! One of the best Bruschetta that we've tasted and very unique with the crab. We also ordered the Mushroom Fritti, also very nice, it's like long mushroom chips with a garlicky mayo dip, very impressed at the moment.

For Pasta we ordered the Crab and Squid Ink Rissotto, very bland and tasteless and also ordered the pasta of the day which was in a tomato sauce. The taste was decent, but the pasta was on the dry side. I've definitely had much better hand made pasta in Sydney before, for example Spago in Beverly Hills.

Our Sides finally came after we finished our mains and had our plates collected already. It was pretty much downhill after the entrees.

Dessert we had tiramisu. Not what I expected. Very watery. But maybe this is how the Italian's like it, so I can't comment since I don't know.

Overall, Worth a try since everyone is talking about it and the queue/waiting time is ridiculous if you miss the early rush.

Will I go back? Yes, but won't be ordering any pasta. Their burger looks rather appealing.

Apr 19, 2012