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Critic rating
Jamie Oliver’s latest Italian grub is pukka
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh 16 Sep 2009
Two things prejudiced me against Jamie Oliver’s new restaurant: (1) you can’t reserve tables, and (2) the idea of swelling the chubby-faced chef’s equally chubby bank account.
Don’t let it put you off. This place is ace. The lovely, down-to-earth meet and greet lady told us a table would be free in an hour — and it was. An acceptable length of time to chill in the bar, particularly when staff regularly brought round antipasto platters groaning with free Mortadella ham, focaccia bread and olives. The décor speaks of equal attention to detail. Stylish green and white floor tiles, a marble charcuterie bar and a cool whoosh of graffiti on the way up to the authentic Crapper loos.
The food is brilliantly priced, as is the wine list: it’s £37 for the most expensive bottle. My £6.50 plank of seasonal antipasti was not only cracking value, but came cutely balanced on two tins of tomatoes. A £6.95 prawn linguini starter was garlicky chilli yum and my XL portion main, the Jamie’s School Dinners special of spag bol (£9.75), made me feel like a happy kid again.
A Sicilian pork skewer (£11.95) stuffed with Italian cured meats, breadcrumbs and parmesan was like a meaty cheese puff — though surprisingly light. Just as well, as we couldn’t resist a £2.95 side rightly described as “posh truffle chips, insanely good with truffle oil and parmesan, proper posh!” Mixed Italian ice cream (£3.95) was okay and if an “ultimate chocolate, banana and nut brownie” (£4.95) was selling itself slightly too high, it could be forgiven, because this is head and shoulders above the local Canary Wharf competition. Pukka stuff.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (3)
Five of us went for a family pre-christmas meal and were really disappointed. The starters (we chose a mixture including anitpasti) were delicious, but after that it went downhill.
Three of us ordered pasta vongole, the dish lacked flavour, had very little sauce and the clam shells were empty !! Certainly not what we were expecting from a restaurant of this kind.
The steak and the other pasta dish were ok, but nothing more. We have all eaten better at home or in a small cheap italian restaurant! The staff kindly offered us an alternative choice without extra charge, the two carbonara dishes were stodgy, sickly and contained hard overcooked pancetta or bacon, so awful that neither of us could eat it.
The fish in a bag was overcooked and dried up and the mussels were really dreadful, dry and tasteless too.
I must point out the staff were very good and offered us a free dessert but really what we all wanted was a nice meal, 6 meals were awful and the other two were very mediocre, a real disappointment, especially after waiting for an hour and forty five minutes in a cold, drafty entrance for our table. We tried to purchase some nibbles while we waited and were assured this was not necessary as waitresses would be coming around with complimentary nibbles - in the hour and forty five minutes we were there, there were no waitresses in sight !!
We will definitely never go back to this restaurant, somebody should be looking at the kitchen and what is being served !!
- Ailee Baxter, Hertford UK, 15/12/2009 10:44
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so price is what matters, not quality?
bit of a silly statement to say the wine list is "brilliantly priced" becaused the most expensive bottles is £37.
so if that bottle happens to have a retail cost of £8 (say) then that is brilliantly priced? but if another restaurant offers that same bottle for £30, but has its most expensive bottle at £100 then it is not brilliantly priced?
- Scotty, london, 17/09/2009 13:46
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Food in London is really expensive compared to even New York.
- Jenny, san francisco ca ( ex-londoner), 17/09/2009 12:36
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