JAMIE’S ITALIAN, LEEDS | QUEENBEADY

This Christmas both Mr C & I managed to wangle the full week off. HALLELOOOO. That means a full week of indulging in all things fine (and terribly unhealthy) whilst enjoying one another’s company (which has been divine if I may say so myself.) So naturally, when we were invited to spend a tab of £50 at Jamie’s Italian in Leeds this week we of course said yes. What can I say, we just enjoy food so much. So for anyone who doesn’t know, Jamie’s Italian was founded by Jamie Oliver and his Italian mentor, chef Gennaro Contaldo, back in 2008, with the first restaurant in Oxford. Now they have more than 60 restaurants worldwide with even more in the pipeline.

Jamie’s Italian is situated at 35 Park Row in Leeds in an old bank, so the outside facade is absolutely stunning. And on entering it’s even cooler. Slightly industrial with a real rustic feel gives the place a really warm and welcoming vibe that instantly makes you want to slip your coat off and share a bottle of wine and talk all night. (The attention to detail in the loo’s is pretty darned special too. I just wish I’d gotten a photo of the #sinkporn) It was also my first little outing with my new  55-250mm Canon lens that Mr C got me for Christmas and boy, was I happy with my snaps. Hashtag humble brag.

We arrived about 15 minutes earlier than our pre-booked time so when we “checked in” we were asked if we wanted a drink in the bar first, we politely declined as I personally wasn’t in the mood for drinking and Mr C was driving so we went straight to our table. I had a little look through the cocktail menu and there was a nice number to choose from, ranging between £6.95 – £8.95 which is a pretty typical price in Leeds. We ordered a Moretti Beer and a bottled Diet Coke. Our waiter was pretty quick off the mark asking us for our drinks that we asked him to pop back in a couple of minutes are we had fully digested the drinks menu. The same went for when we ordered food too. In between all of this, the kind gent brought us a carafe of water too. On first impressions, if you knew what you wanted and were in a rush to grab a bite to eat then this place is perfect. Sadly, on this occasion with it being our first visit to Jamie’s we needed that little bit extra to make our way through the rather large A2 menu.

With it being the 27th December we were still in the throes of Christmas and it was clear a lot of people had had a hard days shopping in the sales and Jamie’s was their go to spot for an early doors dinner. A table next to us were busy chatting away with one of the gang piping up with which dishes she loved. Her enthusiasm for it all was infectious so I couldn’t wait to try what we ordered.

Because we are so adventurous (not) we both ordered the same starter, the Fantastic Fried Gnocchi, on hindsight I really wish I had gone for the Mushroom Fritti, whilst the one we chose wasn’t bad per-se, because of the copious amount of cheese and fried-ness it took quite a lot of manpower to chew through the little balls and although it was tasty, always say yes to the the bottle of water they bring to the table to help it slide down your throat (you’ll need it.)

Now, my main is where I got it allllllllll so very right. When I head to an Italian restaurant I’m always straight to the pasta section but the Slow Roasted Prochetta (£13.95) was calling my name. What was it you ask? Well, it was a thick slice of juicy pork belly stuffed with garlic, chilli & herbs, served with pan-roasted mushrooms, sage & lemon zest. To. Die. For. I tempted fate and ordered the Chill Rub Fries (£3.90) too and my word, were they tasty? Boy, they were. I love spice so these were a great little extra for us to both share. James went for the Spicy Sausage Penne (£11.95) which I had a little bite of, to me, it was a little bland but Mr C certainly enjoyed it (I think he just chose to give me some of the pasta that had no sausage on, the cheeky little monkey keeping it all to himself!) We were both thoroughly pleased with our choices. Whilst you might agree, this is not the cheapest Italian you could go to but by no means was it too expensive, especially if you were just looking for a quick pizza or pasta on a shopping date.

And because I’m a greedy pig writing this for review purposes, I had to test-drive one of the deserts (of course) after having a little peruse I settled on the Epic Chocolate Brownie, which came with “proper” chocolate sauce, salted caramel ice cream & caramelised popcorn. I subbed the salted caramel ice-cream for vanilla as there was a whole load of caramel going on up in this desert. The brownie and ice cream were deeeelicious, the popcorn was a little surplus to requirement but it wasn’t offensive. James settled for an Americano (black, no sugar) because he just adores coffee after dinner whilst I pile on the pounds eating pudding.

If you wanted to learn to cook like Jamie Oliver, there was plenty of cook books and utensils you could purchase to take home which was obviously a marketing ploy but also pretty cool. I mean, everything was copper. What Blogger wouldn’t love that? The best thing I liked about this place was the decor, the food was good, it didn’t blow me away but it was a great option for a quick bite to eat whilst enjoying a days shopping in the City Centre of Leeds. The prices were reasonable-ish if you didn’t go the whole hog of three courses with alcoholic drinks. Our bill came to around £56 (with £50 being deducted from that) which I personally don’t think is cheap. The food is great, providing you make the right choices. I’d love to try a pasta dish next time I visit and maybe indulge in a cocktail too.

A massive thanks to Jamie’s Italian for inviting us and keeping the festive spirit alive for us too. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

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