NOTE: Prior post on Jamie’s Italian located here.

What’s more wholesome than Jamie Oliver? He’s got the boyish appeal all moms like. Even my mom.

My mom was visiting these past few days and, barring any Qantas lockouts, she was due to fly out yesterday. As much as I tease her on facebook, it was great having her over. To commemorate her visit, I took her out to Jamie’s Italian, my second visit. (I’ve now been once each of the two weeks it’s been open.)

We start with the Meat Antipasto plate comprised of cured meats (San Daniele prosciutto, Wagyu bresaola, finocchio & capocollo), cheeses (Buffalo mozzarella & pecorino with chilli jam), pickles (Curly green chillies, green & Gaeta olives & caper berries) and a small serve of salad (Shaved root veg with chilli, lemon & mint).

Meat Antipasto $13 per person

Our other entree was the Crab and Squid Ink Risotto, black creamy rice with hand-picked spanner crab & crunchy herby breadcrumbs. This was fantastic. The lemon combined with the crab flesh had a sour, even slightly sweet taste. I thought of tamarind but my mom reckoned it was just the lemon.

Crab and Squid Ink Risotto $15.50 (for a small serve)

For her main, Mom had the 10oz Rib Eye Steak, rib-eye steak from Wagga Wagga, with grilled mushrooms & dressed peppery watercress. She asked for medium rare but a well done steak came out. To their credit, they changed it and got her a new steak in under 3 minutes. As for the flavour, it was very very smokey. Good if you like that sort of thing but it’s plain if you don’t. I like that sort of thing.

10oz Rib Eye Steak $38

I had the Veal Saltimbocca, wafer-thin veal with sage & prosciutto flash-grilled with a spicy tomato, basil & chilli salsa. The lemon and prosciutto on this one gave it a light sour salty taste but not overwhelmingly so. Delicious.

Veal Saltimbocca $27

I’m still enjoying this place after my second visit but service appears to be experiencing teething issues. It felt hard to get the attention of the waitstaff sometimes.

The word? I’m inclined to say Jamie’s Italian sits in a niche between family chain restaurants (say, TGIF) and fine dining restaurant but that’s not giving it enough credit. As I mentioned in my prior post, the food is yummy and affordable and the decor is laid-back. A winner.


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