My love for the Jamie’s Italian brand has been documented several times. I’ve only ever visited the Manchester restaurant, but have fallen in love with its gorgeous building, roomy restaurant layout and tasty-yet-accessible menu. It’s the kind of place the whole family can go, either for a nice lunch mid-shopping, or for a slightly more formal evening meal, and there is something for everyone.
So when I was asked if I wanted to try out the new Super Lunch at Jamie’s Italian, I of course jumped at the chance.
It was a gorgeous sunny day when we visited last week (and before you say it – yes, we do get sunny days in Manchester) and we had booked a late lunch for 4pm. The Super Lunch menu actually runs from 12pm – 6pm, so you could even order from it as a pre-theatre dinner, but you can still order off the regular menu during these times as well.
Essentially, the Super Lunch menu offers a set two or three courses for a great price, and I assume this is to try and encourage people to choose Jamie’s as their lunch spot, even if they weren’t planning a formal sit-down meal.
We started off with a couple of cocktails (gots to) – Scott went for the Dark and Stormy, I opted for the Blackberry Mule (vodka, blackberry puree, lime juice and ginger beer). Scott’s was definitely more visually-pleasing, poured so that the contrast of the dark and light colours was really impressive. Mine looked less so, and a little more like a mocktail, but it was a refreshing choice on a hot day.
We ordered two starters to share – the Fritto Misto and the Truffle Tagliatelle. The fritto misto was fried fish and baby squid served with a garlic aioli and a couple of crispy sweet potato crisps. I only tried the fish (slightly weirded out by baby tentacles, but that’s just me), but we both agreed that the batter was wonderfully light and not at all greasy or heavy, as can sometimes be the case.
The truffle tagliatelle was divine – rich, creamy, decadent, with an almost earthy tang from the truffles, and I could have easily eaten a bowl twice the size and declared myself out. The portion was also exactly the size you would get in Italy as a pasta starter, so it felt extremely authentic.
On to the mains. I ordered the Gennaro’s Chicken Club, while Scott went for the Penne alla Norma. Naively, I assumed that, this being the set lunch menu, the portions would be smaller than usual, and so we ordered two portions of chips as a side (the Funky Chips – my favourite – and the Spiced Fries, based on the recommendation of the waitress). When my club sandwich turned up, I realised how wrong I had been.
It was a huge chicken fillet stuffed inside a brioche bun, with a creamy mayo and cheese. Oh, and rocket. Lots and lots of rocket. So much rocket, in fact, that I had to offload some on to Scott’s plate. Not sure why the kitchen went so overboard on the greens – perhaps it was to cover up the fact that there was no tomato or pancetta as advertised on the menu? Regardless, this was a chicken burger of epic proportions, well-cooked and extremely rich, and I found myself flagging towards the end, particularly as I’d scarfed down more than my fair share of the garlicky chips.
Scott’s pasta was perfectly cooked, the sauce deep and smoky, with a lovely addition of aubergine. A great all-round tomato-based pasta dish, if you ask me. The spiced fries were the only slight let-down. They didn’t really have the fluffy quality of the funky chips, and were topped with dried chilli and (I think?) cayenne pepper, but just didn’t offer the wow factor of their other potato counterpart.
By now, any normal person would be stalling, but, this being me, I was determined to soldier my way through the dessert menu. Nobility, I like to call it. There’s only a choice of four desserts on the Super Lunch menu, and one was ice cream (which I never order out of principle – who orders ice cream when you can have cake?!), so we both ordered desserts that we’ve eaten at Jamie’s in the past. I went for the Epic Brownie, Scott for the Orange Blossom Polenta Cake.
I’ve talked about the brownie in a previous review, and it was just as decadent, gooey and delicious as in past visits, albeit it slightly smaller (well, they had to reduce sizes somewhere), so I won’t talk about that again here.
Scott’s polenta cake was a marvel. Moist, soaked with an orange syrup, warm and crumbly, this cake is so comforting that I would throw all of my rules about fruity desserts tasting too healthy out of the window. The whipped creme fraiche on top melts in the mouth, and cuts through the citrus like butter, while the pomegranate seeds offer a little refreshing zing in each mouthful. Divine.
We ended with a glass of Amaretto, recommended by the waiter as apparently it is a brand only available at Jamie’s Italian restaurants, and sat back to nurse our ever-expanding stomachs. Despite the odd time of day (it being the witching hour between the lunch and dinner rushes), there were still a few tables coming in, and neither the atmosphere, food or service suffered. Yet again, another successful visit to Jamie’s. Bring on the next.
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