With much anticipation we went to Jamie's last night.
As we arrived at 5pm to beat the rush (a show was on at the nearby theatre) and noticed a few people milling at the bar.. the restaurant was full.

Luckily we were dining with an associate of the restaurant so had a table (known as the unofficial chefs table) which has an angled view of the very fast paced kitchen.
The booth was extremely cramped (table is too big for the space) with 4 adults & 1 child.

We were greeted warmly by a lovely waiter, given menu's & wine ordered. Opted for a lightish Italian red with smooth spices & hearty finish - very good indeed.

For nibbles we went for the polenta chips with rosemary & parmesan (very tasty & crunchy), a insalata caprese (tiny, only 2 small buffalo mozzarella balls & ordinary tasting cherry tomatoes) together with little chunks of parmesan drizzled with balsamic vinegar (beautiful cheese but an incredibly small serve).

For mains we chose fish stew, gnocchi with pesto & the pork belly with seared fennel & citrus sauce special. I tried my sons gnocchi & it was bland & tasteless (no pine nuts, no parmesan, no seasoning)... the actual gnocchi seemed be of supermarket quality! The fish stew looked excellent & apparently tasted very good. My pork belly was horrid. It had a burnt taste & some of the crackling was indeed burnt, it was very, very fatty & what meat there was had a dry stringy texture. The fennel should have been crispy instead it was cooked to death, dripping in oil and just revolting. I also ordered a side of apple & gorgonzola salad - plenty of rocket, a few honey walnuts, a few tiny droppings of cheese & 2 thing slices of apple. It tasted good but had there been more apple it would have been so much better.

For desert we opted for the pannacotta, a bombe type thing & chocolate brownie. The pannacotta was excellent, silken & wobbly. The brownie was a dismal failure - overcooked, dry, not oozy, weakly chocolate flavoured (made from milk chocolate cocoa I suspect) and the sauce - OMG, I can do better with my eyes closed... drinking chocolate powder, milk & very little cream - yuck, no other way to say it. The bombe... supposed to be a beautiful shell of panettone with ricotta, dried fruit & peel with ice-cream & the same gastly chocolate sauce. It was blah - no panettone & hardly a piece of fruit/peel insight.

To top it off - the stupid noises the chefs make constantly inbetween yelling out the orders is just horrid. I understand a kitchen during service is noisy but this was like being in a circus. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

I feel so extremely disappointed by last nights experience & I will never, ever return.

Approximate cost: $24 - $38

Went with 3 other people, luckily we didn't have to wait too long. Both the entrees and mains were all delicious and very fresh tasting... it was very Jamie Oliver type of cooking. The only downside was the air con was a bit too cold but overall would love to go there again for yummy Italian food!

Extensive seasonal menu, very rustic way of displaying the dishes.

Visited the much hyped Jamie's Italian and watched the pasta being made, sat on the uncomfortable chair and was served a very standard pasta. It had a lovely lemony sauce but the pasta was a bit tough. Has potential and is passable but nothing to rave about.

I love this place you expect having Jamie Oliver's name behind it to be brilliant and it is , It can be quite a wait so I recomend going early , The Buffalo ravaoli is devine and the Green olives on Ice the italian bakewell tart is also very nice , All the staff are very helpful and also very good looking .