Jamie's Italian - Leeds

I took my other half for lunch on her birthday, we already pre booked and it was a welcome break from walking around all of Leeds to look at clothes..
We were given a free taster from the app on our phones, which turned out to be the exact same thing as we ordered a few minutes earlier (bruschetta with whipped ricotta cheese and tomatoes).. which actually tasted light and refreshing, I got the fritto misto (lightly battered squid and fish).. that too was also light and just enough for a starter. For mains my other half got the steak where as I got the pappardelle pasta, I really enjoyed it.. it was peppery but I like that.. I tasted the steak too which was beautifully soft and garlicky. We got deserts as the deal was 3 dishes for £20 which is pretty good for Leeds in itself.. we got the lemon polenta cake and the chocolate brownie, I'm a sucker for a brownie and have to at least try one whenever I see one on a menu.. it was gooey in the middle and tasted delicious. It was actually one of the finest meals we've had in Leeds and I'll definitely be going back again.

It definitely wasn't as expensive as I expected it to be and the food was really nice. Tasted fresh, good portions too which I was surprised at. I don't know what I expected but I actually had a really nice time, we will definitely go back to Jamie's again.

We've been looking forward to returning to this place since our last visit to England and it didn't quite live up to how we remembered it however I still believe it earns 4 stars and here's why:

1) Food: selection is great, tasty and affordable. My daughter's kids meal was very bland, mine was decent and my husband loved his.

2) Service: great service! Got us a table during half term without a reservation within 10 minutes and ferried our bar orders over to our table no problem. Also, the kids packet they give is amazing! My three year old was so entertained by the activities and the little viewer toy that she didn't really eat.

3) Drinks: superb bar drinks! Great selection and delicious non alcoholic ones available which this preggo much appreciated.

Overall come to Jamie's for good food, great value and family friendly meals.

I have been to Jamie's Italian in Leeds three times now and every time I have enjoyed my meal! There is always a queue to get in on a Friday & Saturday night (I've been once on a Friday & twice on a Saturday) and the waiting time is usually 30 to 40 minutes to get inside and then once inside, it's then about another 20 mins wait at the bar before you get your table. It may be quicker if you go later in the evening though as I have always gone at around 7.30pm.
The breads are delicious if you fancy a nibble before your starter/main course and the meat plate is a lovely starter. I've had the fritto misto, veal and lamb lollipops as main courses when I have visited. They were all really tasty but the lamb was probably my favourite.
I'd definitely recommend this restaurant but the wait for a table is irritating. They do bring food round whilst your queuing though to keep you sweet.

My Husband and I go here for all of our important anniversaries and birthdays. We had our 3rd Wedding Anniversary on Monday and we went to Jamies for an Early Dinner. Approximately 4pm we arrived.

We were seated immediately upstairs. It was my first time sitting upstairs so that's why I'm updating my review.

I have to say, upstairs is now my favorite. They have big lovely comfy booths that line the wall that overlook their little upstairs kitchen. They can easily seat 4. Along the bar they have all of the Ham on hooks up there and it just makes you drool. I wanted to eat everything ! I also enjoyed watching the bartender make my favorite Martini there. It's called the English Garden and it isn't on the menu. It's a special you have to ask for. It's very delicate with hints of apple juice. A couple of them though and you'll be giddy.

I decided to have a steak this time and it was grilled to perfection as anticipated. It had lovely mushrooms and a rocket salad to the side. This restaurant is true Italian style so if you want sides you have to order them, and I chose the Funky Chips. If you're an American reading this, think Gordon Beirsch Garlic fries but chunkier fries. They are tasty with thin sliced garlic, salt and parsley.

My Husband had the Chargrilled chicken. That was equally pleasing and I couldn't help but steal the sauce off his plate :-)

For desert I had the Amalfi Lemon Curd. It was like a very tart creamy custardy cheese cake . But it's not a cheese cake and it's delicious with a glass of the unoaked organic chardonnay di puglia. Because of it's dryness it wont over power the sweet and tart of the Lemon flavor of the desert.

Hmmm I'm getting hungry writing this... As usual and what I would expect - Jamies was fantastic and as always the staff were lovely :-)

Being awkward and having a December birthday, I thought I'd be asking too much to go to Jamie's at a reasonable time on a Friday night in the run up to Christmas. So we went early, having been advised that the queueing starts at 7.30-8pm. We got there just after 7pm and were seated straight away in a booth at the front of the restaurant. Fine by me, it then meant we got front row seats for a drunk woman screaming at the staff that Salvo's was better and that's where she thought she was (she'd been there a while and had been perfectly civil up till this point, I'm told) and then for a car of blokes being pulled over and searched outside NatWest. Made for an interesting start to the evening!

Service was attentive, Adam, our waiter made sure everything was okay and if we were okay for drinks, giving us time to actually look at the menu before we decided on drinks and then again when it came to ordering food.

We shared a starter, bruschetta with crab. It was tasty, I've never tried crab before and the lemon on the side really complimented it and brought the chilli out too. For mains, I had prawn linguine which had quite a bit of chilli in it but was still delicious. The other half went for good old carbonara, which he demolished in about 5 seconds flat. It tasted good, I guess! For dessert, I went for the panna cotta. It was beautiful and creamy, not too rich and not too bland. Perfect.

And the best part was seeing the bill. Having braced ourselves for it to be a bit pricey, we were amazed to see that our 2 drinks each, starter, 2 mains and dessert came to just under £54! Adam even wrote 'Happy Birthday' on the top of the reciept too, which I thought was a nice touch.

Very impressed with everything, the service, the food, the ambience. It was a nice end to a nice day.

I love Italian, what more can I say.

Some people seem to think this is over rated and small portions. I feel those people are likely used to spoons or mcds. Good food is always served in small portions.

Roughly the same price as eating at GBK and other similar restaurants. I've been to a number of Jamie's restaurants and this is a or with great character, a qwerty layout but with scrumptious food.

Highly recommended.

Now that I have been to Jamie's Italian I am asking myself why I haven't been before when it has been open for 3 years!!

They make the pasta fresh on site which means it tastes similar to how my Mami in France makes it from scratch - always a good start.

The building its self is a big open space with rustic brick walls and epically big sturdy chandeliers. The seats leave some comfort to be desired but then you start eating and suddenly who cares.

We went straight for the mains to save ourselves for desert which was a mistake we have now learnt - deserts were not amazing but have a feeling the starters would be as amazing as the mains. I had the Wild Rabbit Tagliolini, the flavours worked so well together I just couldn't stop eating it even when I was full.

I fully intend to go back and sample more of what this place has to offer.

Oh, happy happy tummy. Yes, I've returned to Jamie's. To be fair, I've returned to Jamie's several times since my first review, but today there was a new menu. No mozzarella, I cried. No truffle pasta!!! Tears were near. Bravely, I overcame them and decided to try something new.

Mushroom bruschetta for starters was not a new choice, but so delicious. I am a big fan of Jamie's recipe books also and the way he recommends mushrooms in the Naked Chef is the way I always do them, so it is highly gratifying to see that it is also good enough for his restaurant. For my starter I had baby mozzarella and tomato salad. The waitress complemented me on my choice, leaving the boyfriend looking sulky to say the least. When it arrived, I have to say I was a little taken aback. There were an awful lot of tomatoes, and I am a person who only started enjoying tomatoes a couple of years ago. However, the tomatoes here were SPECIAL. Crimson, orange, green, pale yellow. None tasted like normal tomatoes. The star was the cherry tomatoes though; I have never had a tomato so sweet. I finished feeling confident that would be my favourite bit of the meal.

Then my fish stew arrived. OH. MY. GOD. The fish was lovely, with some cockles and mussels (not alive alive oh, thankfully) and some very nice veg, but the star was the wild garlic aioli. I don't have enough words for how happy it made me. Seriously. I tipped way above usual and made some somewhat inappropriate suggestions to the boyfriend about great things that could be done with such aioli, none of which were met with any great enthusiasm I have to say. I have just found that my Naked Chef does indeed have a recipe, which has just rounded off my evening perfectly! In the future, when you go to Jamie's, anything with that aioli is worth ordering. Hurray! I'm so happy.

I had my first experience of Jamies Food a couple of weeks ago and I must say, it lives up to its reputation. I thought the restaurant would be pretentious and very over priced but I must say I was completely wrong. It has a very homely Italian feel to it, which was lovely.

The staff were great and the food was fantastic! Probably the best stuffed Canelloni I have ever had!

I just wish there was a Jamie's in Ireland! Its fantastic!