J is for... Jamie's.

My Mum's visiting this week! She toyed with the idea last week and then decided she would come yesterday on a whim, I got a couple of urgent text messages announcing her arrival, and we met after I finished work. We decided that since Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Jamie's Italian, is new in town that we'd check it out; you know, just because it's new, we don't really like eating or anything like that... So my mother, my cousin Hattie and I went to see what all the fuss was about. I say fuss... I'd actually heard nothing but bad reviews, but we had a good time! Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery so I didn't get to get a lot of photos, but I got a few and stole a couple.


This is what I wore:


(shoes Moda In Pelle, jeans ASOS, top MinkPink, belt Topshop)

In retrospect, I think I was channelling my inner rock-chick (as one does when one's mother has come to stay...).But I think it was ok, I feel alright about it.

Here's some pictures of the venue and us:







The atmosphere was cool. We were sat in the upstairs dining room, which used to be the old courtroom. The high ceilings and original seating were definite highlights. I wasn't so sure about the italian meat display in the middle of the room though...



Bit overkill (literally). I counted that around 22 animals would have had to die for that- charmed.

That being said, it didn't stop me sampling some. We shared a vegetable plank which consisted of chargrilled vegetables and Italian cheeses and the bread selection to start; for mains I had the proscuitto, crispy pear and parmesan salad, Lynny (mum) had the prawn linguini, and Hats had the scallop and squid ink spaghetti; and then for dessert I had the pannacotta with peach and rhubarb compote, and Lynny had the lemon curd. And the food was good and very reasonably priced! We washed it down with a couple of bottles of Soave (...), which was greatly enjoyed by all. The staff were also most accommodating and very helpful.

I guess maybe the bad reviews that I had heard before were down to the restaurant being so new. I really think that it takes time for the staff to get used to working in a new environment and gelling together- plus the pressure on the chefs must have been exceptional when it first opened, and therefore, I would like to put those bad reviews down to teething problems. But I wasn't there. I can only go by my own Soave-tainted experience!

In any case, recommended. Maybe not quite so highly as watching Submarine, but also a very enjoyable thing to do of an evening.

L.