N.B. If you can't be bothered reading the whole essay on the experience, just drop to the verdict and breakdown at the bottom! I can rant, a little, so I wouldn't blame you...
It was a Saturday and as such eating out was required. Captain Bank might disagree, but Captain Belly overruled and overdrafted Bank's concerns into oblivion.
JC has been putting on weight recently. Obviously eating out a lot might be playing a part in this fallacy. However, shelving restaurants for any period of time is strictly out of the question, so an alternative had to be arrived at. As a result, in combination with trying to get an extra 20 miles walking in a week (well, at least 10) and eating cereal for breakfast *and* lunch during the day job, we also set ourselves the high target of a "healthy" meal out.
Pubs were out of the question - where options range from pie to deep fried fish to sausages and mash - almost always served with chips (excluding the latter, of course).
In fact most eateries have little concern it seems for the healthy eater.
On our scourings we did spy a rather tasty looking health oriented "all you can eat" (never thought I'd see those two concepts combined) restaurant on North Street, which I am certain will fall foul of our blog rather soon.
We thought fish might be a healthy option, without chips. And batter.
We had a look through Fishy Fishy's menu, but nothing seemed to jump out to agree with the mood of our taste buds that particular evening.
We wandered near Jamie's new Italian on Black Lion Street (see map below). It's called "Jamie's Italian". Clever stuff.
(In all honesty I despise "trying-to-be-clever-and-is-perhaps-only-slightly-funny-first-time-but-now-stuck-with-it" restaurant pun names like "In Cod We Trust" - so the simplicity of this one I do actually appreciate).
The irony of this visit is both my and VT's distinct dislike for the multitude of "Italian" restaurants in Brighton. We've never found any to be any good, and mentioned in our opening gambit on here that we won't be reviewing almost any of them. Then our first review is an Italian restaurant. But this one isn't run by an Italian, and somehow that makes it a safer bet. Sorry Italians, but your legions of ex-pats in Brighton seem to think they can put two grates of cheese and a tomato on a pizza and sell it for £3.00 to a student birthday party and run home with a profit margin of about £2.99. One always gets the vibe of being patronised into a false sense of authenticity simply because the people working there have Italian accents. The old "well the waiter is Italian so it must be authentic and good" trick. They're the Ikea of restaurants in Brighton; cheap and pretending to be posher than they are to make people who go there feel better about themselves.
So, on to our experience at Jamie's interpretation of this Brighton over-stock.
The Welcome
We arrived at 7pm. We were welcomed by a girl at a very fancy till and informed smilingly that there would be at least an hour and three quarter wait.
After some serious indecisiveness by JC, VT took the gamble and booked us up for 8:45pm.
I wasn't too hungry yet to be honest anyway, so I was quite looking forward to having settled on somewhere to eat and building up an appetite.
We were told we could wait in the bar in the restaurant (with thick trendy ye-olde wooden tables). Although the bar looked not half bad, we opted to spend an hour sipping cocktails at Havana round the corner. (Honestly, I don't know how I'm putting this weight on...).
We were given a remote buzzer to take with us, which was interesting. It would buzz when the table is ready. Handy. Except the radius only provides as far as the few pubs next door. Although I'm sure that's good for those pubs' business, it wasn't going to be so good for our insatiable cocktail appetite.
Overall, the welcome was swift, pleasant and well organised.
The initial vibe of the place was of a chain with a bit of fun injected.
They were right about the wait, and after a few glasses of crushed ice and alcohol, we wandered back and got ourselves sat down rather quickly.
The Vibe
We sat at our table next to, I believe, a couple of friendly recent lottery winners.
The restaurant seemed to have got one thing spot on from the outset - something that is a bit of a black art in the restaurant business: noise.
It was a fun level of noise, enabling you to be bashful and laugh out loud without feeling as though someone is giving the back of your head a rather menacing stare. VT has a quiet voice. She struggles in loud places. But Jamie's Italian struck that perfect balance of "being able to laugh" and "being able to hear". Super.
The décor was very trendy, but not annoyingly so. It sort of worked, and gave you plenty of interesting things to look at when conversation ran dry (which of course it never does between me and VT).
It had the feel of a chain with a dash of independence. There was a good mood about the place, and I felt very comfortable there. Possibly even grandparent friendly (if they're the lively sort). Definitely a fun one to take your folks out to.
The waiter who served us was very "I am a professional waiter, and will do my waiter tasks perfectly" type. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it was perfectly good service. You get all sorts of types of waiters/waitresses - playful, overly smiling "fun" types; depressed "I-should-be-in-an-office" types; older "I-was-in-an-office-once-and-I-gave-it-all-up-to-run-a-restaurant-in-a-mid-life-crisis-and-like-to-mingle-with-the-guests-and-talk-about-my-divorce-happily" types; the very sexy and well dressed but can't pour wine to save a puppy type; and this guy. The very professional, "I-used-to-work-in-the-Ritz" type (alternatively known as the "I-wouldn't-look-out-of-place-serving-on-the-Titanic" type). He was pretentious, but only a little.
The Loo
There's nothing worse than having to visit a horrible loo in the middle of a lovely night out. So we value this in our reviews. Don't laugh.
Jamie's toilets are one of the best I've ever seen, with Thomas Crapper toilets that look like something out of an H.G. Wells novel.
They were perfectly clean too, and nicely separated from the restaurant.
Although you have to go upstairs to get to them, so bear that in mind if you're in a hurry. Or old.
The Drink
We opted for a bottle of the house white. Except they don't serve it in bottles here; they have to take things one trendy step further and serve it out of an unlabelled jug. Classy. I didn't much like this, but that's how it worked.
The wine was fine, nothing to write home about. Drinks were subject to the usual restaurant mark-up. In other words, you're getting pretty badly ripped off, but no more than in absolutely anywhere else.
To be honest I didn't get too much of a good look at the wines on offer, but nothing surprised me.
The Menu
Now, remember our healthy aim? (I didn't say remember the cocktails).
Most things on the menu, if not all, I would be very happy to eat if delivered how they were described.
Starters
We had starters - healthy ones. We shared a vegetarian platter, which came fashionably served on a long, thick wooden chopping board. There was mayo-free home-made coleslaw, a tiny bit of cheese on a triangle of some kind of flat bread with a miniscule blob of very tasty chilli-sauce, a salad (with two *huge* olives in it, some jalapenos, thin slices of aubergine and other such goodies) and some bruschetta with a sort of sweet potato et al topping. That's all I can remember, anyway. The contents of the salad was quite oily. The salad was refreshing, not heavy and all round tasty - and about £12-13 for the two of us.
So far, so good.
It was a Saturday and as such eating out was required. Captain Bank might disagree, but Captain Belly overruled and overdrafted Bank's concerns into oblivion.
JC has been putting on weight recently. Obviously eating out a lot might be playing a part in this fallacy. However, shelving restaurants for any period of time is strictly out of the question, so an alternative had to be arrived at. As a result, in combination with trying to get an extra 20 miles walking in a week (well, at least 10) and eating cereal for breakfast *and* lunch during the day job, we also set ourselves the high target of a "healthy" meal out.
Pubs were out of the question - where options range from pie to deep fried fish to sausages and mash - almost always served with chips (excluding the latter, of course).
In fact most eateries have little concern it seems for the healthy eater.
On our scourings we did spy a rather tasty looking health oriented "all you can eat" (never thought I'd see those two concepts combined) restaurant on North Street, which I am certain will fall foul of our blog rather soon.
We thought fish might be a healthy option, without chips. And batter.
We had a look through Fishy Fishy's menu, but nothing seemed to jump out to agree with the mood of our taste buds that particular evening.
We wandered near Jamie's new Italian on Black Lion Street (see map below). It's called "Jamie's Italian". Clever stuff.
(In all honesty I despise "trying-to-be-clever-and-is-perhaps-only-slightly-funny-first-time-but-now-stuck-with-it" restaurant pun names like "In Cod We Trust" - so the simplicity of this one I do actually appreciate).
The irony of this visit is both my and VT's distinct dislike for the multitude of "Italian" restaurants in Brighton. We've never found any to be any good, and mentioned in our opening gambit on here that we won't be reviewing almost any of them. Then our first review is an Italian restaurant. But this one isn't run by an Italian, and somehow that makes it a safer bet. Sorry Italians, but your legions of ex-pats in Brighton seem to think they can put two grates of cheese and a tomato on a pizza and sell it for £3.00 to a student birthday party and run home with a profit margin of about £2.99. One always gets the vibe of being patronised into a false sense of authenticity simply because the people working there have Italian accents. The old "well the waiter is Italian so it must be authentic and good" trick. They're the Ikea of restaurants in Brighton; cheap and pretending to be posher than they are to make people who go there feel better about themselves.
So, on to our experience at Jamie's interpretation of this Brighton over-stock.
The Welcome
We arrived at 7pm. We were welcomed by a girl at a very fancy till and informed smilingly that there would be at least an hour and three quarter wait.
After some serious indecisiveness by JC, VT took the gamble and booked us up for 8:45pm.
I wasn't too hungry yet to be honest anyway, so I was quite looking forward to having settled on somewhere to eat and building up an appetite.
We were told we could wait in the bar in the restaurant (with thick trendy ye-olde wooden tables). Although the bar looked not half bad, we opted to spend an hour sipping cocktails at Havana round the corner. (Honestly, I don't know how I'm putting this weight on...).
We were given a remote buzzer to take with us, which was interesting. It would buzz when the table is ready. Handy. Except the radius only provides as far as the few pubs next door. Although I'm sure that's good for those pubs' business, it wasn't going to be so good for our insatiable cocktail appetite.
Overall, the welcome was swift, pleasant and well organised.
The initial vibe of the place was of a chain with a bit of fun injected.
They were right about the wait, and after a few glasses of crushed ice and alcohol, we wandered back and got ourselves sat down rather quickly.
The Vibe
We sat at our table next to, I believe, a couple of friendly recent lottery winners.
The restaurant seemed to have got one thing spot on from the outset - something that is a bit of a black art in the restaurant business: noise.
It was a fun level of noise, enabling you to be bashful and laugh out loud without feeling as though someone is giving the back of your head a rather menacing stare. VT has a quiet voice. She struggles in loud places. But Jamie's Italian struck that perfect balance of "being able to laugh" and "being able to hear". Super.
The décor was very trendy, but not annoyingly so. It sort of worked, and gave you plenty of interesting things to look at when conversation ran dry (which of course it never does between me and VT).
It had the feel of a chain with a dash of independence. There was a good mood about the place, and I felt very comfortable there. Possibly even grandparent friendly (if they're the lively sort). Definitely a fun one to take your folks out to.
The waiter who served us was very "I am a professional waiter, and will do my waiter tasks perfectly" type. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it was perfectly good service. You get all sorts of types of waiters/waitresses - playful, overly smiling "fun" types; depressed "I-should-be-in-an-office" types; older "I-was-in-an-office-once-and-I-gave-it-all-up-to-run-a-restaurant-in-a-mid-life-crisis-and-like-to-mingle-with-the-guests-and-talk-about-my-divorce-happily" types; the very sexy and well dressed but can't pour wine to save a puppy type; and this guy. The very professional, "I-used-to-work-in-the-Ritz" type (alternatively known as the "I-wouldn't-look-out-of-place-serving-on-the-Titanic" type). He was pretentious, but only a little.
The Loo
There's nothing worse than having to visit a horrible loo in the middle of a lovely night out. So we value this in our reviews. Don't laugh.
Jamie's toilets are one of the best I've ever seen, with Thomas Crapper toilets that look like something out of an H.G. Wells novel.
They were perfectly clean too, and nicely separated from the restaurant.
Although you have to go upstairs to get to them, so bear that in mind if you're in a hurry. Or old.
The Drink
We opted for a bottle of the house white. Except they don't serve it in bottles here; they have to take things one trendy step further and serve it out of an unlabelled jug. Classy. I didn't much like this, but that's how it worked.
The wine was fine, nothing to write home about. Drinks were subject to the usual restaurant mark-up. In other words, you're getting pretty badly ripped off, but no more than in absolutely anywhere else.
To be honest I didn't get too much of a good look at the wines on offer, but nothing surprised me.
The Menu
Now, remember our healthy aim? (I didn't say remember the cocktails).
Most things on the menu, if not all, I would be very happy to eat if delivered how they were described.
Starters
We had starters - healthy ones. We shared a vegetarian platter, which came fashionably served on a long, thick wooden chopping board. There was mayo-free home-made coleslaw, a tiny bit of cheese on a triangle of some kind of flat bread with a miniscule blob of very tasty chilli-sauce, a salad (with two *huge* olives in it, some jalapenos, thin slices of aubergine and other such goodies) and some bruschetta with a sort of sweet potato et al topping. That's all I can remember, anyway. The contents of the salad was quite oily. The salad was refreshing, not heavy and all round tasty - and about £12-13 for the two of us.
So far, so good.
Mains
Yep, we were greedy enough to have mains too.
However, as usual there was not a huge array of healthier options. We had chosen Jamie's Italian for one dish seen in the window menu: Fish in a Bag. It has a sort of "signature dish" sound to it, doesn't it? Fish in a Bag. It's nice to say.
Yep, we both had the same thing.
It arrived and I can't help but feel the "bag" part of it is both gimmicky and lazy. It is basically sea-bass wrapped in tin foil, with some small boiled potatoes and a drop of sauce underneath the fish.
I have to say, this is where the restaurant let us down.
There was a fair amount of sea-bass, but it's abundance of fish was countered by a distinct lacking of flavour. The sauce was thin and scarce, and the potatoes (once you'd found them hiding in the corner of the foil) were flavourless.
It wasn't a horrible dish, but I would have to say you can find a lot more flavour in a sandwich from Pret than with the "Fish in a Bag". VT agreed. And so did the female half of the lottery winning duo next to us, who suffered the same choice of mains.
Pudding
Seriously, I'm doing walking what more do you want?
Well, I will admit that VT ordered this, not me. Ice cream - assorted. Ginger, strawberry and hazlenut, topped with butterscotch and nuts.
And not any old ice-cream. It was creamy, smooth and bloody tasty. I don't normally like ice-cream. Whenever VT orders ice-cream for pud, I usually have a taste and I'm done, simply because it doesn't excite me. But in this case I made an exception and shared with VT.
I did order my own sin, however - a Cappucino Martini recommended by Camelot on the table next door. This cold-coffee-and-alcohol mix was equally sublime. Recommended.
The Bill
The total was £70.85, so around £35 a head. Nigh on £40 each when you include a tip. This was for three courses each and some wine. Not cheap, but not expensive either. A fair deal, if only the main course had lived up to the rest of the experience.
Finally, we paid and left.
The Verdict
Jamie's Italian is a restaurant with a great vibe and great décor, and mostly (it seems) great food. But don't have the Fish in a Bag.
6/10 - everything was great, but the main course (the most important part of your eating out) totally let the team down.
Breakdown
Vibe - 8/10
Toilets - 9/10
Drinks - 6/10 (not including Martini)
Starters - 7/10
Mains - 4/10
Dessert - 8/10
Price - 8/10
Value - 6/10 (heavily let down by main course)
Suitable for...
Family - 8/10
Mates - 8/10
Dates - 8/10
Mate dates - 5/10 (you really ought to be a couple or a group in this place, I think)
Go again?
We'd definitely give it another shot. But we wouldn't have the Fish in a Bag.
Map
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Yep, we were greedy enough to have mains too.
However, as usual there was not a huge array of healthier options. We had chosen Jamie's Italian for one dish seen in the window menu: Fish in a Bag. It has a sort of "signature dish" sound to it, doesn't it? Fish in a Bag. It's nice to say.
Yep, we both had the same thing.
It arrived and I can't help but feel the "bag" part of it is both gimmicky and lazy. It is basically sea-bass wrapped in tin foil, with some small boiled potatoes and a drop of sauce underneath the fish.
I have to say, this is where the restaurant let us down.
There was a fair amount of sea-bass, but it's abundance of fish was countered by a distinct lacking of flavour. The sauce was thin and scarce, and the potatoes (once you'd found them hiding in the corner of the foil) were flavourless.
It wasn't a horrible dish, but I would have to say you can find a lot more flavour in a sandwich from Pret than with the "Fish in a Bag". VT agreed. And so did the female half of the lottery winning duo next to us, who suffered the same choice of mains.
Pudding
Seriously, I'm doing walking what more do you want?
Well, I will admit that VT ordered this, not me. Ice cream - assorted. Ginger, strawberry and hazlenut, topped with butterscotch and nuts.
And not any old ice-cream. It was creamy, smooth and bloody tasty. I don't normally like ice-cream. Whenever VT orders ice-cream for pud, I usually have a taste and I'm done, simply because it doesn't excite me. But in this case I made an exception and shared with VT.
I did order my own sin, however - a Cappucino Martini recommended by Camelot on the table next door. This cold-coffee-and-alcohol mix was equally sublime. Recommended.
The Bill
The total was £70.85, so around £35 a head. Nigh on £40 each when you include a tip. This was for three courses each and some wine. Not cheap, but not expensive either. A fair deal, if only the main course had lived up to the rest of the experience.
Finally, we paid and left.
The Verdict
Jamie's Italian is a restaurant with a great vibe and great décor, and mostly (it seems) great food. But don't have the Fish in a Bag.
6/10 - everything was great, but the main course (the most important part of your eating out) totally let the team down.
Breakdown
Vibe - 8/10
Toilets - 9/10
Drinks - 6/10 (not including Martini)
Starters - 7/10
Mains - 4/10
Dessert - 8/10
Price - 8/10
Value - 6/10 (heavily let down by main course)
Suitable for...
Family - 8/10
Mates - 8/10
Dates - 8/10
Mate dates - 5/10 (you really ought to be a couple or a group in this place, I think)
Go again?
We'd definitely give it another shot. But we wouldn't have the Fish in a Bag.
Map
View Larger Map
