Summer has Landed at Jamie’s Italian

July 24, 2016 by Rachel Kershaw in Eating Out 2

I love the kind of restaurants that make you feel like you’re on holiday. You know the ones, where you could easily sit there all night sipping ice cold cocktails as the evening sun cascades through the windows. If that sounds like your cup of tea too then I urge you to head to Jamie’s Italian in Newcastle where a taste of Summer awaits!

I recently paid the city centre restaurant a visit with my other half, James, for a post work pick-me-up. We were delighted to discover that the Super Lunch Menu was still on offer when we arrived (it’s available Mon-Fri 12-6pm) as it offers great value for money. Dine from this menu and you can get two courses for £10.95 or three course for £12.95 and there’s plenty to choose from, about four different starters and five yummy mains plus a handful of rather tempting desserts.

James and I enjoyed pints of Liberta while we perused the menu, it’s the restaurant’s own craft brewed lager and it’s quite floral with a hint of honey so it’s perfect for enjoying in the sun! We also asked the waiter to bring us some of ‘The World’s Best Olives on Ice’ after remembering how much we’d enjoyed them on a previous visit (which you can read about here). To be honest, they weren’t quite as good as last time as they were a bit on the soft side but the rest of our meal was absolutely spot on…

For starters I enjoyed a bowl of rustic Italian soup which was served with a little wedge of focaccia. It’s not often I order soup, especially in summer but this was so tasty and wholesome I could have happily had seconds!

James went for the Fritto Misto which was a generous portion of fried fish & squid tossed in fennel-spiced flour and served with a zesty garlic & lemon aioli. He said the batter was light and crispy and was happily informed that Jamie’s only use sustainable for the dish.

I couldn’t resist the Super Food Salad for my main as it was packed with lots of my favourite ingredients, including roasted beetroot, quinoa, black rice, curly kale, sprouting broccoli, fresh herbs, pomegranate, toasted seeds, spicy harissa & creamy cottage cheese. It also came with avocado which to be honest I’m not a massive fan of but it went perfectly with the colourful plate of food.

Rather predicatbaly James ordered the Italian Steak & Fries. To be fair it did look rather irresistible, served with a tomato salsa and a dressing of rocket and aged Parmesan. There was a modest £2 supplement for this dish which is to be expected for steak. We struggled to identify the cut of the meat but it was tender and not over cooked so went down a treat.

When it came to  dessert, we both gave in to temptation and chose the Epic Chocolate Brownie. It pretty much cancelled out the healthy starter and main course I’d had but come on, just look at it, how could I resist? The brownies came with proper butterscotch sauce, vanilla ice cream and bizarrely some toffee pop-corn, which to be honest wasn’t really needed but still got devoured!

In my opinion, the Super Lunch Menu is a bit of a bargain, particularly as it can be ordered right up to 6pm. It definitely competes with many of the happy hour menus at the cheap and cheerful Italians around town but feels much more upmarket. The service has been fantastic every time I’ve been to Jamie’s Italian too so I have no hesitation in recommending it.

For more restaurant recommendations, check out this section of my blog: www.lifeingeordieland.com/category/food/