Tag Archives: jamie’s italian

I love Italian food!

I mean, who doesn’t right?

We have so many great Italian restaurants in Germany, authentic Italian food, thin stone oven baked pizza, original bolognese ragu etc. You get the gist.

When I was younger, I used to watch Jamie Oliver on telly, my dad used to record his cooking shows, this was back in 2002, a verrrrry long time ago.

Jamie’s not the tidiest cook but as us ‘part-time-chefs’ know, the kitchen will always look messy when you’re trying out new recipes.

You experiment with different spices and herbs and go with your intuition.

I love dining out and would normally never order a dish that I could cook myself, I just don’t see the point in it. It’s about trying new things and getting inspo for new meals. Because, if we’re being honest, don’t we all tend to cook our signature dishes over and over again?

For my sister’s birthday last week, we went to Jamie’s Italian in Manchester. It was quite busy and a broad mix of people, from families who lunched together, to couples celebrating their anniversary.

The Drinks

We ordered some Aperol Spritz because it originated in Italy after prosecco got massive and Aperol needed a big push for their product.

Unfortunately, for the price of £7.50, the glass was super small and barely had any Aperol in. Well, we won’t be judging Mr Oliver based on his drinks just yet.

The Starter

 

 

For the starter, the three of us had pork cracklings which came with a spicy tangy sauce. Again, I wasn’t in awe of them, you can pretty much get pork cracklings at Aldi and they’re pretty tasty.

The Main

 

For the main, we opted for three different pasta dishes. Linguine with beef & pork ragu (fancy for bolognese), pasta carbonara and spaghetti with prawns and langoustine tails. It goes without saying that we had some garlic bread to share.

We shared the three dishes between the three of us and I was super happy with our choices. All meals were seasoned to perfection, we didn’t need any additional seasoning. The tomato base sauce for the prawn pasta had anis and cinnamon in it, given this time of year, was the perfect addition.

The carbonara had small bits of smoked pancetta in the cream and parmesan base sauce and gave it a nice salty aftertaste.

The meat in the bolognese was super tender and literally fell off the fork, spiced with oregano and fresh basil.

The garlic bread though….garnished with rosemary made our meals complete. Garlic butter on brioche, that’s pretty clever and super tasty.

The Conclusion

Yes, I wasn’t happy with the drink, nor the starter, however, the main evened out any doubts I had before and I can happily say that I will be returning for some fresh pasta dishes … and garlic bread obvs.

Love, Nina x