I recently visited the Jamie's Italian in Liverpool, and seeing as my friends are sick about me going on and on about it to them, I thought I'd go on and on about it to you guys!

So what is it?

An Italian restaurant chain designed by the ever-present celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, there are restaurants in Oxford, Liverpool and Manchester among others. The Liverpool restaurant is situated on 45 Paradise Street and opening times are Mon to Sat 12 - 11pm and Sun 12 - 10.30pm.

Starters

For starters there are a range of dishes for single or to share, and both meat and vegetarian. There was 3 of us and we ordered to share an Italian Bread Selection (£3.75) and Italian nachos (£3.55). As a vegetarian I couldn't have the nachos as the cheese used was not vegetarian, but the other two found the nachos to be bland and didn't finish them. The breads however went down a treat, there was a good range of breads provided and olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip them into.

Main

There is a wide range of mains from the traditional Bolognese or cannelloni dishes to meaty steak and prosciutto dishes. There are also a wide range of seafood dishes such as scallops and Scottish salmon. Prices range from £10 - £17 which is a little on the pricey side, but quite reasonable when you take into account the quality and portion size.

For mains I ordered Honeycomb cannelloni (£10.95) which was small parcels of pasta with 3 different fillings - aubergine and tomato, pumpkin and ricotta and spinach. It came piping hot and was delicious, and despite being given a very generous portion, I polished it all off!
Both my friends went for the Jamie's Italian burger (I think they were playing it safe). Happy smiles all round although neither managed to finish their portion.

Desserts

Unfortunately none of us had any room left for dessert (a novelty !!!) but the chain offers ice cream and sorbets, as well as tiramusu, brownie and lemon curd slice.


I thought that the meals were a little pricier than say Pizza Express, but the quality of the food and the generous portion sizes more than made up for this.

I would note that the day we went a lot of the seafood dishes were unavailable as there hadn't been a delivery (but not sure if this is a regular problem, but at least you know it's fresh).

Drinks

I was driving so had to stick to orange juice - but was glad to do so (as it was freshly squeezed!)
Other options include cocktails for around £6 - 7, martinis, mojitos and the yummy sounding Berry Brulee.
There is an extensive wine list and the waiters advise on what would best suit the dishes you selected.

The service

Good food aside, what really sold this place for me was the service. As you can imagine, the place gets very busy (so I would suggest booking!), but there were plenty of staff on hand to keep are drinks topped up and answer our queries. The waiter that took our order was very knowledgeable about the menu, explaining all the vegetarian options to me, and even talked my friend out of the meal she was planning to go for (as it would have been to peppery for her!). He discussed where the ingredients were sourced from and how they had been cooked, and seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the food. When we got the bill we noticed we hadn't been charged for one of the starters, we queried it with him and he said he did it on purpose as it seemed as though we hadn't liked it!

The atmosphere

The interior has quite a rustic feel to it, lots of heavy wood tables and chairs, and obviously lots of Jamie Oliver merchandise dotted around. Despite being incredibly busy, the place had a really nice relaxed feel and we didn't feel rushed at all.

My opinion

I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a good meal in a nice atmosphere.
They really do take their food seriously, there is a huge range of dishes and you get very generous portions. Service wise the staff go above and beyond, they are friendly and efficient and know what they are talking about. The atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming, and I can't wait to go again!