Jamie's Italian Sydney

After a few years and all that hype, I finally get to dine at Jamie's Italian. If not it being a birthday dinner, I think I would have had to wait even longer before I give myself a reason to eat there. Not that dining at a celebrity chef's restaurant needs a reason.

As I was the last person to arrive, there were already two boxes of bread for us to munch on while we decide what to order.

And while we waited for our food to arrive, we took photos of the place, as well.

Much like a Peranakan long house, it is well, long and narrow.

All the dishes were served simultaneously. M wanted to try the Black Angel Spaghetti ($14.50/$24.00), as she was curious with the taste of squid ink. This squid ink pasta with scallops, garlic, chilli, anchovies, wine and capers was too little a serving for us! Or for me. Haha! Should have ordered a main size for this one.

I don't know about the other girls but the Fish Baked in a Bag was a disappointment to me. The first mouthful of fish meat included a fish scale. Hm... M finished every bit of the couscous, though.

Another dish that was just a so-so for me was the Wild Truffle Risotto ($14.50/$25.00). The finely minced black winter truffles with butter and parmesan could have had a slightly longer time in the pot, me thinks. Taste-wise, it was great but texture-wise, not so great.

The Vongole Tagliolini ($15.50/$25.00) was made up of tua tua clams, garlic, chilli, white wine, parsley, butter and lemon and was a consolation to the previous two dishes. This was a main serving, so everyone had plenty to share.

The best main dish was the Honeycomb Cannelloni Three-ways ($22.50). The three different fillings were eggplant and sun-dried tomato, pumpkin, as well as ricotta and spinach. It arrived piping hot and it looked mouth-watering.

I found it really cute, as I slowly separated each "ball". I managed to eat the ricotta and spinach one, and I really liked it. Maybe because it had some green in it.

"Are we having dessert?" "Of course we are! What kind of a question is that?" And so we did.

I did not take note of what this dessert is called because I found it disappointing. It had berries and that, sounded appetizing but so not.

Originally, we wanted a Chocolate and Vin Santo Pot ($9.50) but they ran out (bizarre because we were one of the first ones in that evening). The waiter then recommended the Tutti Frutti Lemon Meringue Pie ($9.50) with limoncello and pistachio brittle. Not something I would recommend, unfortunately. So far, dessert: fail.

After what seemed like forever, we asked if our Special Tiramisu ($11.00) was ready to be served. Turned out that they sort of forgotten about that and it quickly arrived after our query. It was easy to tell (taste?) why this coffee-flavoured trifle with orange mascarpone and chocolate was the most expensive dessert on the menu - it was da bomb! Or maybe because it had alcohol in it? Haha! It was not too sweet nor was the alcohol too stronge. Coffee was not overpowering, either. Finally, something that we all really liked!

Due to the large group bookings (and also perhaps too few waitstaff on duty), service was not up to par. The washrooms are a little tricky to find because they do not use signage that most of us are used to. Just ask the waitstaff and they will tell you: At the bottom of the stairs, door on your left.

If you want to watch the kitchen in action, head to the upper level to get a clearer view. Oh, and make a reservation if you do not want to join the crazy long queue.



Jamie's Italian Sydney
107 Pitt Street, NSW 2000, Australia.
+61 2 8240 9000
Daily 11:30am to late