I have been meaning to try one of Jamie's Italian Resto's for a long old time since a friend of mine claimed 'it was some of the best pasta (he'd) eaten'. Being a bit of a pasta snob (DeCecco for everyday, Giuseppe Cocco for posh - trust me, it makes a difference) this claim stuck and therefore when I was invited down to try one on my doorstop for lunch I jumped at the chance...
Taking Miss R as a birthday celebration it was luckily one of those gloriously balmy summer days and we were able to sit outside (they have a fabulous terrace). Quickly ordering two of their blush rose we settled into the menu and found it rather hard to choose...
Starters however were an easy choice and made to share so we dived in with...
Chilli squid, garlic lemon mayo... battered to perfection with a perfectly crisp coating. For £6 this was a rather generous portion and totally delicious when dipped into the punchy lemon mayo.
Mains were a hard choice between their classic Italian grilled meats and fish, healthy sounding salads and the 'raved about' pasta.
I opted for the latter especially as two of my favourite dishes are on there... prawn linguine and crab spaghetti with chilli. The crab won my vote and I certainly wasn't disappointed. A wonderful light tomato sauce coated every strand which gave a perfect hit of chilli and a salty caper/anchovy punch. There was an abundant amount of crab meat apparent (both white and brown) which was well worth the £13.50 price tag... The pasta itself held a good bite to it and again, well cooked! I was pleasantly surprised.
My lunch date went for the salmon salad... which again was rather generous in size and very pretty but, lacked a little on salmon portion. However, taste wise it went down extremely well.
Would I re-visit - yes... Jamie's is easy, affordable and quick. It caters well for the local business minded people as well as an abundance of tourists. I was pleasantly surprised by the whole meal, the ingredients were top notch, the food tasty and the staff all wonderfully friendly. Thank you!