Following on from my previous post….
Sooooo… NEXT STOP?
Jamie's Italian!
Personally I had never been to Jamie's Italian before this but Jasmine (you remember Jas I pretty much wrote a whole post about her…) has always been raving about it because it's probably one of her favourite go-to places for good food. It was also right in front of my old work building so it's pretty unbelievable that its taken me this long to find an excuse to come here. But food tour with some people from the Philippines? We got to at least visit ONE celebrity restaurant hehe and that will be Jamie Oliver ✨ ✨
Cathy apparently loves Italian food much more than sushi so it was also really good to come here!
We waited at the entrance as the waitress headed down into the restaurant to find a free table. From the outside, this place looks absolutely tiny! But walking inside we discover that the restaurant is actually very long and narrow with even an upstairs area.
Apparently it can comfortably accommodate for 200-300 people … wow!! 😱
The bar
Upstairs seating!
The entire vibe of the restaurant is extremely cool. I hope you can get the feel through my photos! It's rustic, it's industrial, it's lively. I just love places like this :)
As soon as we were seated, we were served with some menu's.
There was a really good lunch deal going on from Monday to Fridays 12 - 5pm where you can get 2 courses (entree & main) for $25 or 3 courses (entree, main & dessert) for $30!
Such a good deal!!!
But hey let us get into the food so you can see why I think so...
Our table was right next to the open kitchen. Sneaky photo hehe
We tried to make conversation but this place is actually extremely busy, bustling and noisy. It's really hard to hear people across the table which is a bit of an inconvenience. And not only are the diners noisy, so is the kitchen! Pots and pans are being clanged around as they rush to complete every order as soon as they can.
Despite this, our food actually took AGES to come out and we probably demolished it in less than half the time they took to serve it. But on the bright side, they all arrived fresh and hot and at relatively the same time!
We shared two 2 courses for $25 but I will be listing their regular menu prices if I can find it online:
Entree: Truffle Tagliatelle w/ handmade pasta, luxurious and silky truffle butter, aged parmesan, nutmeg, and shaved truffle
- The pasta was made with loooooveee, albeit some it was stuck together which was kind of unpleasant
- The truffle butter was just as they said; luxuuuurious and very silky and creamy! 💕
- There was one shaving of truffle and I don't know who's plate it ended up on but it wasn't mine 😢
- All of us except for Francis agreed this dish was the best. Would order it in a larger main size!
Entree: Crispy squid w/ garlic & lemon mayo, chilli, parsley and fried garlic $14.90
- Each squid was coated and fried so evenly!
- The aioli was bomb but the parsley and fried garlic was sparse.. or might as well say non-existent
Main: Pumpkin Ravioli filled w/ roasted squash & ricotta in pumpkin sauce with rosemary and crushed amaretti
- I don't like pumpkin, I can't stand pumpkin… but I LOVE this 11/10! 🎃
- But what upsets me is why is there only 5 ravioli for a main! 💔
I would want much more, they were so good that I ate my boyfriends share as well
Main: Tagliatelle Bolognese - Gennaro's original pork & beef bolognese recipe, slow cooked, served w/ herby breadcrumbs and parmesan $14.90 / $23.90
- This was a bolognese done right because it was so clear that the minced meats had infused with the tomato sauce to form a perfect bolognese sauce~
- Francis' favourite!
I thought I should mention… recently I've started watching Gennaro's videos off Jamie's Youtube channel and he is such a delight! I can really feel his passion for home-made cooking and he's really inspiring me to make my own pasta some time *adds to never-ending need to do list*
The view on the way out
Overall I really loved the food at Jamie's Italian! It's always a bit of a weird feeling to go out and buy pasta at a restaurant since pasta is literally the go-to budget dinner you can make at home but this has really opened me to the taste of hand-made pasta as well as more interesting pasta sauces :)
Since the wait time at Jamie's was so long and we didn't have much time left to complete my whole planned food tour - we ended up just picking up some watermelon and strawberry cake at Black Star Pastry in Kinokuniya, and a Mary's burger and Fried chicken burger at Mary's in the CBD.
TL;DR:
Price: Expensive but the lunch deals are awesome value!
Quality: Extremely fresh food being made right in the kitchen to order, however it is a bit rushed
Service: It's very straight-forward, nothing special
Ambience: A lot of NOISE from both diners and kitchen! But the feel of the place is good
Jamie's Italian
107 Pitt St,
Sydney NSW 2000
