Jamie's Italian - Milton Keynes
3-5 Silbury Arcade, Milton Keynes, MK9 3AG
Italian
: 12:00 - 23:00
Reservations: 01908 769011
N/A
3-5 Silbury Arcade, Milton Keynes, MK9 3AG [Map]
£19.00 £36.00
(Avg Price is the average cost per person for two courses, coffee, half a bottle of house wine and tip/service)
REVIEWS OF Jamie's Italian - Milton Keynes
Jason (11 September 2011)
Saturday 10/09/2011. Went with my wife for a late lunch, liked the ambience with fresh pasta being made at the door . we thought this was going to be a treat. We were given a small table for two, the problem was that they have crammed so many table in there was barely room for the staff to get by and since we were in the main traffic way from the kitchen, we found ourselves constantly being touched by passing staff. Most restaurants don't really cater for couples we always seem to end up fighting for space on tiny tables. We duly ordered. My wife ordered the Squid in batter and I ordered crab risotto to start. The restaurant was about three quarters full and we waited for 55 minutes for the starters to arrive. At about 50 minutes the chef came out and apologized they had messed up in the kitchen. When the starters finally arrived we were agitated and ready to leave..... The squid was very greasy, and whilst it is a fried dish, we felt it should have had less oil on it. It was tasty and the ali oli was very garlicky, which I like. the portion was very small compared to Carluccios up the road, about 1 baby squid. My Rissotto was of a good consistency, but the crab was dry and there was too little of it. Taste wise, is was bland and I expected something that would wow me, it was just ok, nothing special at all. After the starters were cleared we waited another 30 minutes for the mains to come at which point we were really annoyed. My wife had the Fish stew which was served in a copper pot, the soup just covered the bottom of the pot with very little fish, with 3 mussels and 3 clams, with a piece of brusetta on top. The soup was nothing special, there was nothing exceptional about it at all and it was not enough for a main course meal. I ordered Jamie's signature dish, fish in a bag. I was particularly attracted to the description of 'Shell fish' being part of the dish. The shell fish content was 2 clams and 4 mussels one of which was shrivelled and dried out. I could taste the fennel and there was a bit of kick from some red Chilli, i would have liked a bit more Chilli. I enjoyed the buck wheat/cous cous base and the salsa. Overall, it was ok, But it was not at the standard that I expected from a restaurant trading on Jamie's name, I was expecting to be wowed with taste and flavour and we both concluded that it was average. We also ordered two side salads. Crunchy salad which was a small bowl of julienned carrots, cabbage and radish with just a drizzle of oil. Rocket and parmesan salad had very little parmesan and the dressing had too much balsamic vinegar in and not enough oil. The manager came out to see us, to apologise for the greasy squid, which they deducted from the bill. The meal was so late and we had to be somewhere else there was no time for desert or at least for some coffee, which for me completes a meal. The manager told me that everything was carefully measured according to Jamie's recipes and herein is the problem. A good cook uses a recipe and then the talent comes in with the 'je ne sais quoi' factor that adds the something special to a recipe that is determined by the current ingredients in the pot that are imminent. I am afraid that you cannot package this and do it to order, or cooking by numbers. We both very much feel that Jamies' is just a chain of very well packaged ambience with no substance. Very disappointing and expensive for average food. We would not go back.
drianhodgson (9 September 2011)
went in to eat on the off chance of getting a table in this very busy central milton keynes branch of jamie's. Managed to get seated upstairs and the service was actually good, courteous and quite prompt considering how busy they were. We ate the Crispy Squid starter with Garlicky mayo and a small pot of chilli paste - mmmmm. The garlicky mayo really is so if you like very strong garlick you will love this. The crispy squid comes with a lemon wedge - whatever you do DON'T use it on the squid as the batter used is very similiar to pancake mix and the squid then tastes like a pancake. Forget the lemon and it is fine though, also tried the spicy polenta chips - sorry, not very nice. For the main we tried Milanese Risotto which was a bit of bone with marrow in the risotto which was NOT VERY NICE - very salty. The other dish was a spaghetti Bolognese with parmesan - not bad, the pasta was NOT al dente and frankly supermarkets do far better spag bol. Having eaten Italian in Rome, Naples, Capri, Pisa, Florence, Luino and the Italian quarter of Lugano I can say that this is a rather poor version of Italian food. Probably like Jamie's version of school food, great in theory, rather nice presentation, good surroundings and 'just about acceptable' food. Try it once just to see, and you will unless you are lucky.
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More Info for Jamie's Italian - Milton Keynes
Children welcome
Air condition- Reservations
- Groups allowed
- Outside seating
- Cover charge
£15.40
£15.35
Not included, 10% (optional) for 6 or more
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