Food Review Jamie's Italian
The first Northern branch of Jamie Oliver's Italian chain opens up in Leeds, Tom Goodhand heads over to see if it lives up to its proprietor's good name
Food Review: Jamie's Italian
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Jamie Oliver is a massive celebrity in this country. He’s known for his chummy, cockney laddish ways, his obsession with stopping kids getting fat, his stint as a drummer in post-Brit-pop also-rans Scarlet Division, and, most of all, being a bloody good chef with a slew of television series and cookery books to prove it. It’s fair to say that new Leeds restaurant Jamie’s Italian had a fair amount to live up to.
So is it any cop? Well, as Jamie himself might say, it’s all pretty “pukka”. Based in a former bank on Park Row, we walk in to the restaurant at 7pm on Tuesday night, and it’s already getting close to capacity, and an hour later there are queues outside.
The building still boasts some of the old trappings of the bank – Roman-esque pillars, a grand staircase – but it’s clearly seen a big refit, the ground floor is now dominated by a long open kitchen, while the upper floor boasts another space for something of a charcuterie, with legs of cured pork hanging proud ready to be hacked at. The décor is all exposed brickwork and impressive brightly coloured tiles – a mix of rustic Italian and very traditional English styles.
Sitting down at our table, it appears our waiter has taken a few tips from Mr Oliver himself – charming in a cheeky-chappy kind of way and rocking a tie with an open top button – and the menu certainly reflects the personality of the man himself. Check out some of the dishes’ names: world’s best olives on ice, good old grilled steak, fish in a bag, my amazing chicken salad and awesome chocolate and espresso tart.
Does the food live up to its hyperbolic naming? Yes it does.
We start with the world’s best olives (£3.60), and while I’d question whether they were indeed the world’s best, they’re certainly the best I’ve had in Leeds in sometime, and the accompanying tapenade and music bread was also bloody impressive.
Appetites whetted, we leap in to our starters. My antipasti, a seasonal meat plank (£6.65), was just what the name suggests. A small plank covered in meat. The meat comes from those aforementioned hanging legs of cured pork, and each one was explained to me at the table, and tasted vibrant and fresh, while the cheeses that came with were just as good. It was washed down nicely by a bottle of Messina lager (£3.35), a nice light easy-drinking beer. My partner also loved her pappa pomodoro (£5.25) a proper rustic Tuscan peasant soup that was perfectly seasoned.
Jamie often prides himself on the relative simplicity of his dishes, so you have to give him credit for his fish in a bag (£15.95). Wild seasonal fish (sea bass at the moment) cooked, yep, in a bag, with potatoes, fennel, anchovies, mussels and clams all picking up the flavours as they cook together and coming served still in said bag.
And vegetarians needn’t fear that they’ll be left hungry by Jamie. The wild mushroom ravioli (£10.25) served up to my partner was rich, flavoursome and more than substantial. Indeed, it’s the kind of vegetarian dish that could win over die-hard carnivores.
Finally, on to dessert. Between us, we worked our way through a soft, spongey chocolate and hazelnut tart (£4.85) a bowl of ice cream (£4.35) (double chocolate, vanilla and prune Armagnac – yep you read that right – flavours, since you ask). Both lived up to the highs set by the previous courses, as did the espresso (£1.95), made from a special rich and powerful Italian blend.
The final bills weighs in around £60 which, while nowhere near a bargain, does reflect the kind of quality you get at Jamie’s Italian. This is no shoddy restaurant with a famous name attached just to boost sales, this is the kind of eatery you can imagine Oliver visiting and loving. Lovely jubbly!
Posted on Thursday 27th May 2010
Jamie's Italian
35 Park Row, Leeds, LS1 5JL
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Comment by Louise Winder
Posted on Wed 16th Jun 10 1:45 am
I think your synopisis is a little unfair would you really expect to have a bargain of a 4 course dinner here? Jamies bolognaise for 9 quid is a complete bargain which surpised me as I would not expect to find a bargain in such a quality brand. However, having dined and paid similar I think at £30 per head for 3 courses + an appetiser is excellent value for such excellent ingredients and fantastic services. Jamies is a breath of fresh air, the menu is oustanding even more so when compaired to so many others in Leeds that trade on their name, pretenciousness where the quality of the food comes third.
Nice one Jamie
Comment by Matt Andrews
Posted on Mon 28th Jun 10 2:18 pm
I went last night - quite impressed despite expecting it to be a bit gimmicky/overpriced.
One of our companions ordered a ‘salami platter’ starter (which was £4 or so) which turned out to be 10 or so lonely-looking slices of meat on a little wooden board - no accompaniment or garnish. The meat plank was good though and my flash steak was awesome.
One other complaint though - mains don’t come with accompaniment (chips, potatoes, whatever) - a £12 steak effectively becomes a £15 steak when you factor in chips or something else. This is a little cheeky - nobody’s going to order just a plate of meat with a bit of salad. Damn tasty steak, though.
Comment by Vincent Barlow
Posted on Tue 29th Jun 10 6:51 pm
I just ate at Jamies in brighton last week. I’m not a big fan of his at all but the food was excellent. The menu seemed a little on the pricy side when I sat down I thought. However by the end of the meal we’d had 3 courses of great food a nice bottle of red and desert wines and all at about £30 per head. There was five of us so we ordered four antipasti mains with two sides of chips and a salad and all just about managed to force ourselves to a dessert and were more than full. I would like to go to the one in Leeds and presuming it’s the same would thoroughly recomend it.
Comment by Lalia Chappez
Posted on Wed 30th Jun 10 11:49 pm
I booked for a staff night out for a party of 12 people for a meal last night, when I made the reservation the hostess started to say she was nearly full but as it would be early that’d be fine. when most of us arrived there the waiter started to rush us in a rude way, we were still expecting 2 people to join us. when we finally all ordered food the last guests waited at least 10min to be served their drinks. Then big disappointment when the waiter brought the bread as starter (it was order as a side for my main) and then when the main courses arrived what a surprise about the Buffalo Ricotta Ravioli main size that included only 7 pieces of ravioli for £10.25 . the waiter all along kept checking on us and started to clear our plates when some were still eating but refused to bring us desert menu we decided to leave it there. when bill came what a disappointment to see that they charged us service charge as we were a party over 6 people 10% so £22.30 for a waiter who was not very professional and nearly rude to us all. A total disappointment will never go back and certainly won’t recommend it quality is very low quantity is poor as well as service
Comment by Charlotte Mckay
Posted on Mon 5th Jul 10 2:42 pm
Four of us decided to go on a sunday night. We were quiet excited about it as I am a big Jamie fan.
We arrived and were made to wait 20 minutes in the bar until a table was available. This was no problem but when we were taken upstairs to our table there were loads of empty tables. When we asked why we were made to wait we were told it was because there were not enough waiting staff to serve the tables!
We were then told everything that they didn’t have on the menu which is never a good start and the excuse was that it was sunday?!
We then ordered the meat boards to start which were 4 pieces of salami which were nice but at almost £5 seemed rather expensive. There was nothing accompanying the meat so we ordered some bread. The bread was good but we were told it would be enough for 4 but there were only 2 pieces of bread and 2 breadsticks!
For mains two of us had pasta dishs which were very tasty but again small portions. The other two dinners had steak which came with no chips. We ordered two portions of chips and were told that would be enough for 4 but again the portions were tiny!
One member of our party then went to the toilet and our waitress came over and started telling us what was on the dessert menu. We asked if we could have menus so the other girl in our group could have a look and she tutted and said that it was easier if we just listed to her!
We decided to leave at that point and went to the local pub for a dessert! It cost us £95 for four people and we were all hungry. The quality of the food is good but you need more!!
Comment by Mo Khan
Posted on Tue 6th Jul 10 11:15 am
I loved it! Went on my birthday and I think for a named Chef, it is great value! The main thing is the food is of high quality ans tastes yummy!
Comment by Barbara Tuncay
Posted on Tue 27th Jul 10 8:36 am
Went to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and was so looking forward to it. The meal was ok and the service was good. But a few hours after eating the plaice which was a special on the board my husband became ill with what looks like food poisoning. He has never been ill before when eating out. Unfortunately don’t think we will be going again which is a shame but neither of us want to be ill!!!
Comment by Mario Merola
Posted on Mon 2nd Aug 10 10:27 pm
we are couple of italians living in leeds who appreciate good quality of food….something that we didnt quite get at jamie’s italian!i think he’s very right to call it that, because if you go italy itself you will be eating very differently. i will give him a 10 for effort though, he really knows how to present things on beautiful wooden boards and description on the menu that makes you think this time you’ll get a proper italian meal with a bit of Jamie’s twist, SORRY GUYS….NOT THIS TIME!!!!!!...the power of television eh??!!!
Comment by A R
Posted on Tue 3rd Aug 10 3:12 pm
Wish I could say I had a similar experience.
I just reviewed Jamie’s Italian in my blog.
http://bit.ly/b67kNg.
My lunch, desserts and drinks were all sub-par. As an Italian, I am somewhat critical of Italian dinning. I will not be going back to Jamie’s again.
Comment by Adam Freedman
Posted on Thu 26th Aug 10 12:24 pm
I recently visited Jamies with friends and i have to say it’s one of the worst meals i’ve ever had, very small portions, rude staff, and very salty food, very limited and confusing menu, this is a very hyped restaurant but sadly lacks the basics.
Comment by Tom Wood
Posted on Sun 7th Aug 11 11:29 pm
Ate there tonight. Was slightly underwhelmed - it’s not that expensive bit I’ve eaten better Italian food for less money elsewhere. I had the scallops with squid ink spaghetti, which tasted mainly of salt and anchovies. The bread was nice but at £3.75 you’d expect it to be! Overall not that impressed - I’ve cooked better meals myself using Jamie’s recipe books!
