Monthly Archives: July 2010

Jamie’s Italian, Glasgow

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We were excited to try Jamie’s Italian which has just opened in Glasgow. So excited, that the day that Jamie Oliver twittered that it had opened, we went the very next night. Too bad Jamie seemed to be a bit ahead of himself as it wasn’t opening for a few more weeks. Anyway, it is now open and we ate there last night.

 



Jamie’s Italian is a chain of restaurants with a casual, relaxed family atmosphere - they are trying to build a neighbourhood feeling instead of something high class and pretentious. As it has only been open a short time, they are still having slight problems but you can see they are not a far way off everything running more smoothly. When we arrived, there was a wait for a table – there are no bookings (unless booking a table for 8 or more people). We were directed downstairs to the bar with a device that would flash when our table was ready. I really enjoyed this as the bar downstairs is really lovely and it would be sad to miss spending time there. I’m not sure what their policy is on just going down for a drink, but it is a great space with tables, benches and booths. 



We were told there would be a wait of 25 minutes for our table – it was closer to 45 minutes but that wasn’t a real bother as we were just excited to be there, and it was really busy for a Tuesday night. 



The dining area is a really lovely space, open, bright and sparsely decorated. It has a really vibrant atmosphere without ruining your ability to have a conversation with the people at your table. I think we had the best seats in the house, we were seated on the far wall in a booth. Of course I’d like to try sitting somewhere else next time, perhaps nearer to the windows. Another thing I liked about the restaurant is the amount of food they use as decoration, there are fresh vegetables right near the door and meats hanging from the roof. It gives it a really authentic, interesting appeal without being too over the top. 



So let’s get down to the food. 

Covert shot of a neighbouring table’s burger – it was huge!

We were dining with my parents who have been in town visiting Glasgow for the first time from Australia. We decided on two bruschettas to share for entrée: 

Tomatoes in season, basil and creamy ricotta - £4.75

I really enjoyed this one. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and the ricotta was smooth and delicious. 

Cornish spider crab with chilli, Amalfi lemon and zesty mayo - £6.75


I am a real crab lover and really liked this one, although perhaps it would work better with the crab and mayo separate, instead of being mixed together. It was a lovely creamy texture though, and the crab was succulent and had a real zing from the lemon.

Shell roasted Brixham scallops – delicious grilled king scallops with  crispy pancetta, crunchy fennel and lemon salad with salsa rosso crudo – £15.25

You might be able to tell I am real seafood fan. This was amazing! The scallops were beautiful, really soft, delicate and delicious. I loved that they were wrapped in the pancetta as this gave a lovely crunch before you got to the scallop. I really loved this dish, but it really needed a side order of some chips as I missed the carbs. 

Wiggly pappardelle polpette mini meatballs - Delicious mini pork and beef meatballs with a wonderful slow cooked tomato, cinnamon, tomato and basil sauce - £10.25

I am going to leave the review of this to my boyfriend to write as I didn’t taste enough of it to write about it properly! (I was too busy defending the scallops from attack). 

My parents ate: 

Chicken cooked under a brick - A lovely free-range, slow grown bird from Broadoak farm in Dorset.  Halved, boned, marinated and chargrilled, with a warm tomato, olive, chilli and caper sauce – £12.85

I really enjoyed this but it was slightly too spicy for my Mum’s palette. I would definitely order this next time we eat there though, it had a really warm spice to it and the chicken was so moist and delicious. 

Prawn linguine - Pan fried garlicy prawns with tomatoes, chilli, rocket and fennel – £11.25

Another dish that some may find slightly spicy but I found it amazing, it had real depth of flavour and I would have loved to have nabbed a prawn (but didn’t want to give up a scallop in return!). This dish also made me realise I need to start using fennel more in my own cooking has such a wonderful flavour to it. 

And for dessert!

Trio of sorbets

Tiramisu - Classic Italian coffee flavoured trifle with mascarpone and chocolate – £4.95

Probably the only dish that I didn’t love – because I really wanted the chocolate brownie, and they were sold out of that, and this really didn’t give me the chocolate hit I wanted! Everyone else really loved it though. 

Jamie’s Italian was a great experience and I really enjoyed eating there. The restaurant is relaxed and easy going – I had thoughts it might be quite speedy service with a view to turning over tables quickly – but it wasn’t like that at all. I really cannot wait to go back and would highly recommend it. 


Edited to add: In hindsight, the portion sizes at Jamie’s are probably not big enough on their own, and you would need to order a side to go with it. For example, the chicken dish just came with a small salad whereas I think people may assume that you would get a potato mash or chips side to go with it. 

Jamie's Italian on Urbanspoon

Never-fail hollandaise

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I’m not sure if people are interested in home-cooking recipes, but I thought I’d post one and see what the response is like.


Here is the never-fail hollandaise recipe from our bible, Economy Gastronomy. 

  • Ingredients: 
  • 150g salted butter
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  1. Melt the butter over the stove
  2. Whizz the yolks, mustard and lemon juice in the food processor for a couple of mins until light and fluffy. 
  3. Once the butter has melted, bring it to a rapid boil, then immediately drip-feed it into the whirring food processor. I like to do this step over four parts – adding 1/4 of the melted butter at a time as I don’t have a drip-feed blender, just a trusty magic bullet!
  4. As soon as it’s all incorporated, tip the sauce into a bowl and season with salt to taste and some freshly ground black pepper.
You may find this makes quite a lot of hollandaise – probably enough to serve four so you may wish to adjust accordingly. 
The only time I have had this hollandaise fail (ha, so much for being never-fail!) was when I didn’t whizz the yolks, mustard and lemon for long enough so the end product was runny and watery. And tasted yuk. 
Enjoy!

Byron Hamburgers, Gloucester Road, London

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We were lucky enough to go to London for the weekend and eat at some amazing restaurants. The first place we went to was Byron Hamburgers in Gloucester Road, right opposite the tube station if you’re looking for it.

I have a total love-hate relationship with hamburgers. I hate hamburger chains that put themselves out as being funky and alternative, when all they are is expensive and bland. But I love hamburgers because my boyfriend and I shared a very special meal at Centre 4 Hamburgers in Takayama in Japan:

Image from the flickr of LivAnon
So I was nervous about trying Byron as the place was very sleek and modern and they made bold claims about the hamburgers. But wow, these burgers really did deliver and exceed all my expectations, I really shouldn’t have been worried at all. 
Chicken fillet burger – £8.25  

 Byron burger – £8.50
All burgers come in the softest bun imaginable – or, if you choose, you can have yours bunless, which I think is a great idea – with lettuce, tomato, red onion, mayo and a massive side pickle. I loved the side pickle! I chomped on mine as a refresher in between eating the burger and the side of fries & aoili.

And I cannot forget to mention the beers we enjoyed with our lunch:

Brooklyn Lager
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Perfect beers to accompany burgers – both light and refreshing and not too filling. I found the two beers quite similar, despite one being a pale ale and the other being a lager. The Sierra Nevada is available at Tesco and is currently on a 3 for £4 promotion – highly recommended!

I found the experience of eating at Byron a lovely start to our weekend away, it was relaxed, friendly, efficient and the food was outstanding. I would definitely seek out Byron again next time we head down south – Byron doesn’t have a Scottish presence yet, but all its beef is Scottish so you know it’s good! 

Byron on Urbanspoon

Wedgwood the Restaurant, Edinburgh

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This is by far one of my favourite restaurants in the UK. We make sure to eat at Wedgwood the Restaurant every time we go to Edinburgh as it is reliable, amazing and delicious. We discovered this restaurant purely by accident, wandering along the Royal Mile. They have a great lunch deal – £10 for two courses (although I can’t see this advertised on their website, so apologies if that deal is no longer offered).

I recently had a friend over from Australia and took her to Edinburgh for a day. As she is a big food lover too, lunch at Wedgwood was a must.

We both ate the same thing:

 Salmon and baby lobster salad
Duck leg
(Apologies, because I am quite behind with my posts, I have missed out on stealing the menu descriptions!). This was a delicious two course meal that really impressed. Some restaurants tend to skimp on their lunch or pre-theatre menus and offer sub-standard food. The fact that Wedgwood doesn’t do this is what really impresses me. They were really generous in the salad with the salmon and lobster, and as you can see that was a big duck leg. My dining companion is not normally a fan of duck but really praised the texture as it was lovely and soft, not overcooked or chewy. 
I love Wedgwood and recommend it to anyone who is going to Edinburgh as a great place to lunch. I have now eaten there four times for lunch and every time has been exceptional, with warm and friendly service. And even though it is a very high standard of restaurant, it is never pretentious or pushy. I can’t wait to try it for dinner next time we are having a weekend away. 

Wedgwood the Restaurant on Urbanspoon