Jamie's Italian Glasgow

I was kindly invited to try out the new evening meal deal at Jamie’s Italian in Glasgow. The Evening Meal Deal is three courses for £18.95 which I think is a pretty good offer. I’ve heard mixed reviews of Jamie’s Italian and the man himself is slightly contentious but I was keen to see (and taste) for myself. 

Jamie’s Italian in Glasgow is handily situated at the corner of George Square. The restaurant is vibrant, lively and welcoming. I went with just my husband but it’d be great for a family meal too. My son has a dairy and egg allergy and one of the things that I really liked about viewing Jamie’s Italian menu online is that you can select dairy free choices which saves a lot of hassle looking through the ingredient list. In fact you can select vegan, gluten-free, healthy or vegetarian which really is a nice touch for people on special diets.

There’s a range of seating available at Jamie’s Italian and if you read my previous food reviews such as Prezzo here you’ll see that seating is important for me. We chose to sit on booth type seats. Our server was incredibly helpful and polite, taking time to go through the menu and any other questions we had.

So onto the food! There’s five starters to choose from. My husband went for the Cured Meat Plank. A selection of cured meats such as fennel salami and pistachio mortadella is beautifully presented on a wooden plank with mini buffalo mozzarella, pecorino and chilli jam with pickles, olives and rainbow slaw. This was absolutely gorgeous and makes a perfect starter (although it’d be great for a savoury end to the meal). There’s also an option to make this vegetarian. 

I went for Mushroom Fritti which is a mix of King oyster and Paris brown mushrooms coated with herby breadcrumbs and served with garlic mayo. I really enjoyed this starter and it was actually deceptively filling. The coating on the mushrooms was crispy and not greasy in the least while the garlic dip added very nicely to the flavours. My husband also enjoyed this. (Please don’t touch my food again).

There’s also five mains to choose from. There’s a good mix of dishes and I went for the Italian steak and fries. The flash-grilled prime steak was very tender and cooked beautifully. It comes served with heirloom tomato salsa (although I’d say they were sliced tomatoes) with Parmesan, and spiced fries on the side. I can’t fault this dish at all, the tomatoes were fresh and juicy, the steak tender and the fries were amazing. 

My husband chose the Famous Prawn Linguine. Prawns and locally sourced Scottish langoustine tails are used in this pasta dish. They’re mixed with garlic, fennel, tomatoes, chilli and saffron in a fish broth with lemony rocket. My husband said this was a well-balanced dish that didn’t have an overpowering seafood taste. Everything was cooked just right. ( I didn’t try this dish, I’m not a fan of prawns). 

By this time I was pretty full but for the sake of you guys I forced myself to have a dessert. How am I supposed to give you an idea of what the food’s like if there’s no dessert included? I’d be a terrible, terrible blogger. So, dessert! There’s a choice of four desserts, my husband went for the Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake. The cheesecake is made from mascarpone and served with fresh raspberries and smashed amaretti. Now this I did have some of. It’s rich but not overly sweet, just really creamy and delicious. 

I picked the Molten Chocolate Praline Pudding for my dessert. Oh my goodness, this was good. The soft and warm chocolate cake has an oozing praline centre. It’s a rich dessert and I couldn’t actually finish it all off, but I did try. The vanilla ice-cream helps off-set some of the richness of the praline pudding. It comes with a tiny Jamie’s Italian flag which is a cute touch. 

So despite my initial reservations I thoroughly enjoyed my evening at Jamie’s Italian. The food was good and the surroundings friendly and comfortable. The next time I go (and I will go back) I’d like to try out some of the cocktails. They looked absolutely amazing and there’s a brilliant selection to chose from. Also, I should mention they do a special lunchtime menu for just over a tenner for two courses of if you fancy £13 for three which I think is a really good deal. 

Have you been to a Jamie’s Italian? 

* Our meals were paid for but thoughts very much my own (and my husband’s).