Jamie’s Italian

The reviews say enough: ignore the hype and you can skip this restaurant.
I went with a group of 6. Despite knowing of the poor reviews, we were right next door and they had a table available so we figured we’d give it a shot (expectations already low).
We shared a few appetizers, ordered a pasta, and shared some desserts to sample as much as we could.
The «Italian Nachos» ($ 78) were just fried ravioli, the Portobello Mushroom Fritti ($ 78) were just deep fried slices of portobello, and the Crispy Squid ($ 78) was just fried calamari. Just bunch of plain fried food without any excitement. The appetizers were «just ok» at best, but it’s pretty hard to mess up fried food anyways.
For the pasta, I ordered the Rigatoni Pomodoro and couldn’t believe what I was served. The sauce was like a pasty ketchup with a few chicks of canned tomatoes and a spoonfuls of what I imagine must have been the mascarpone.
For the desserts, we tried the Lemon Meringue Cheesecake ($ 88), Tiramisu ($ 78), Epic Brownie ($ 88). Again, to no one’s surprised, nothing special.
As noted, we were all aware of the bad reviews so maybe it’s our own fault, but we wanted to try it for ourselves. None of the other 5 people in our group said anything would warrant a second visit and we’re all disappointed despite of already low expectations. Lesson learned… Unfortunately.

This entire experience was quite a disappointment. I personally think that because Jamie Oliver has such a widely known name, people naturally associate his level of cuisine to his restaurants and that should happen. However, this place is a complete tragedy compared to that of his other works.
The pasta did not disappoint. It was cooked perfeclty and the dressing was amazing.
However, the fish of the day was an absolute piece of garbage. The fish itself was of low quality and the dish was presented in a horrible fashion. The fish had no taste and was cooked to the point where the meat became hard and dry. For its relative price it was absolutely horrendous.
The dessert (which seems to have a lot of positive comments) was absolutely horrible as well. The epic brownie was dry, there was no epic lava explosion (what I expected) and the popcorn bits were subpar and the whole thing tasted like it was prepared in a microwave with premade gross popcorn.

If you guys happen to have a copy of ‘FACE’ magazine talking about the grand opening week of Jamie’s Italian, you might be able to see a small picture of me as one of the ‘guests’ that loves their food.
In actuality, I told the reporter I had a steak for lunch cooked to medium rare and at most I would give it a 5.5÷10.
Anyways, long story, short, Jamie’s Italian serves up bistro and causal dining food influenced by his culinary learning of Italian and British Cuisine. The style of plating and the causal atmosphere reflects Jamie Oliver’s philosophy quite heavily, which is good as I hope no one was expecting a fine dine experience.
If memories were correct, we ordered a ham and cheese platter, steak medium rare, and a pasta in white sauce (forgot exactly the pasta dish).
Although not horrible, I was not particularly impressed with my steak. It was seasoned well, and that was about it. The quality of beef was sub par of what I hoped and the grill (charring of the outside) was not done correctly. The inside was more towards medium and texture was missing bold beefy flavors you expect from a nice piece of well seasoned steak.
However, High points include a relatively open floor plan and is designed to be inviting and accommodating for patrons. Simple, contemporary, and rustic-​just what Oliver’s philosophy is all about! I wish the quality of food is can match the ambiance of the restaurant and wish the the ratings would go up!

I tired other restaurants from Jamie Oliver before and the quality was always up to my expectations.
Today I have to say I’m disappointed; I ordered a Truffle Risotto and I must say I had much better once in my life.
The rice is hard and the only taste you can recognize is the Truffle. The mushroom have no taste, the sauce used to cook the rice tastes flat.
The Atmosphere:
The design and interior is nice.
Everything is very clean.
The service team is extremely friendly and fast.
I was placed between the bar and the open kitchen.
The noise brought my memories back to the time when I had to go to the university canteen.
Btw. The desert was great — tiramisu

Was excited, but they felt short of our expectation in terms of quality of food, service and value for money. Ordered the stuffed nachos, but there was hardly a cheese we can taste. Supposed to have 3 cheese. Even my son was surprised that there’s supposed to have cheese inside. Must have overly fried it. Porcini balls was not so great. Over all Food taste, could have been a lot better than expected from Jaimee Oliver.
We wanted to order sliders from the kids menu for my 12 yr old son but the supervisor said its only for 8 yr old or less. Told the waitress, there’s none in the regular menu and besides we already ordered a main course from the menu for my son, they could have been flexible. That was supposed to be extra sales for them and good service.
When our cutleries were replaced, it was just p, aced in the table without a napkin. My husbands order came in first by according to them the pasta section is busy, thus we can’t b serve at the same time.
For an Italian Resto, you have to pay for your bread too. Also my Osso Bucco had no starch served even on the side, you’ll have to pay for it too. There should always be a balance of starch, veg and meat. I mean how much could a mash potato cost anyway esp if the meal is $ 198.
Overall, that would be the last time they’d see us who loves to eat outside. My kids were disappointed.

Not sure what the hype was all about? This celebrity chef restaurant definitely did not live up to expectations. When it first opened, there was a queue every time I went. I had to leave because the way line was too long to wait. Then a few weeks later, I went at 11:30 for lunch and I was able to get a table. We ordered calamari for starter. It okay but wish the portion was bigger. For entrée, we ordered a burger and prawn linguine. The burger was tasteless and dry and is one of the worst burgers I’ve had! Not to mention that it’s about $ 20 USD.
The prawn linguine is also such a joke! First of all, they didn’t give you prawns! They were more like bay shrimp… super tiny! I had about five of those. Seriously, don’t call them prawns if they are not decently sized. Secondly, the pasta was very liquidy, as if it was not drained properly. It looked like the pasta was in a soup! So disappointed with this restaurant. Don’t go. It’s not worth the money.

I’ve been here twice, and both were not up to my expectations. I would say, go to Jamie’s Italian if you really have nothing else you want to eat. It won’t be terrible but it won’t be amazing either. It’s mediocre at best.
Food: 3.5÷5
I came here for lunch because I was craving pasta, and while it’s not amazing, it’s decent. Ordered the lobster linguini and a mushroom pasta. The mushroom pasta had pretty good flavour, so that was a thumbs up Also ordered Posh Chips, which are fries cooked in truffle oil and topped with parmesan cheese. The fries were absolutely dreadful, don’t order them!!!
Service: 4.5÷5
The service was definitely amazing, but for a good reason. Unlike practically all the restaurants in Hong Kong that add a 10−15% service charge to your bill, Jamie’s Italian follows the western way where no service charge is included. So you tip according to whatever you feel the waiter deserves at the end of the meal. Therefore the waiter was very attentive to our needs, constantly filling up the water. I suppose this is a very good way to motivate waiters since many restaurants in HK don’t really have that good of service and attitudes.

very disappointed.
Heard that since they just open, however I wasn’t in HK cannot go visit till April 2015.
My friend was reserve the table, however booking was full, the only available time would be 9:15pm. We had no any other choice
than my friend suggest that how if we keep reserve the table and also go like 7:30, see is that more faster if we just follow the queue.
my friend went there before 7, and around 7:30 the told us a table is available. however their staff told us, we are not able to get in the restaurant till all of us show up. we had 6 people, and right that time half of us were there. so, all of my friend had to wait outside.
till 8:15 we got 5 people over there, we asked is that able to let us in, cause the last person was coming would arrived in 10 min. the reception lady, who is very impolite, answered yes, they were making the table. my last friend arrived before 8:30, and we reminded them again. they have same answer for table was setting.
Tell me, when they tell you table is available and just setting, how long you expect you have to wait? for me, the acceptable waiting time is not more than 10min. Well, finally, we get in the restaurant 9:00 pm. WTF! how could they keep telling me table is available and spend 40 min for setting!

Finally have time to come and check out this famous place, when no reservation nor long queue was needed. Soon to find out exactly why there’s no long queue for this…
We came in at 11 AM when the restaurant is open daily. Got seated by the window. The place’s spacious and with nice décor. Service here was excellent. Our server came and explained today’s specials and took our orders shortly after. We ordered the ravioli taco, crispy kale salad, sirloin steak, and tiger prawns linguine.
The ravioli taco was okay, not wow. Salad was small and bitter. The steak was cooked too well, we ordered medium but it came as medium well. The most disappointing dish was the tiger prawns linguine. Please don’t call it tiger prawns when it’s actually very very small. Linguine was too chewy for my taste.
I have had better Italian food in Hong Kong. This visit to Jamie’s Italian will be my first and only visit.
Overall, great service, below average food, with a big name that don’t match up to expectation. Remember to tip your server when you pay as there’s no fixed service charge on the bill.

As a homemade cooking advocater, forget about celebrity chef, fresh produce and comforting balance should come first.
That did not match the scene. We started with Bellini, way too artificial/​flavoured that over exploded your palate. And the sparking just dead. The service is decent though they keep on taking away your glasses. I know when to order dear.
Then fresh grab bruschetta is the starter but also the only dish I think highly off. The fun thing is it was laid in the whole toast base. Cut as you want. The crab meat is balanced and the dressing is heaven.
Disaster came as pasta showed up. VONGOLE TAGLIOLINI was my call. Never a fan of tomato base ones. Garlic and clam, I hold high expectation. The presentation is tempting. From the very first bite, it was plain, way too light for the taste. And devastatingly too watery. The waitress checked on us, I delivered my disappointment.
I got to re-​order. I am not gonna give Jamie a safe Tagliatelle Bolognese. I went for semi interesting Sausage Papperdelle. Perfect one. Rich, meeting, pasta has a texture. I still doubt if it is homemade. That makes the difference.
The tiramisu is far from wow us.
We paid the bill and it was saying some soho dude can do way much better. This place has no heart. And it goes against the comfort food concept.

Overpriced but at least the name got me through the door. It gives you high hopes until you see what the food is. In hong kong, you can’t be serving average food…
I was wholeheartedly disappointed by the quality of the food and the waiting time for drinks — most of our drinks as a table of four arrived mid-​way through eating our starters.
Our starter consisted of Italian Nachos (deep fried ravioli), which were pretty empty and required considerably more filling.
Main courses we ordered were:
Squid ink spaghetti which came with precisely four mussels, one piece of octopus 1cmx1cm and the same for the piece of squid.
Lamb on the bone. Osso-​something or other. Most expensive main except for lobster and another dish but no salad or side with it. Just a piece of meat which is not worthy of being classed as a main course — at all!
The other dishes, bolognese and claim spaghetti were overcooked and this is something I could make better at home.
If you’re still reading then here’s the good bit… The service is friendly but they must know that a lot of the customers won’t become regulars. I know I won’t come again. My friends are of the same opinion and I strongly urge the person who checks these reviews to take the criticism (which may I add is constructive) into account.

Fried ravioli and risotto balls were both poorly executed. In theory and on paper they sounded good but both were thoroughly disappointing. Neither came close to being as good as what my friends and I imagined they’d be like. Bland is an understatement for both appetizers.
I had beef Rosso bucco for my main course. What main course doesn’t come with a side of some sort?! Literally just meat. For 2 hundred hkd they should at least serve a side of garden salad or potatoes. I’ve had set lunches that were better put together for a fraction of the price.
My friends pastas were all over cooked and the proportion of seafood to pasta was preposterous. My friend was left with sauce less and seafood less pasta 2 minutes into his dish.
Jamie Oliver your name has been tarnished by this joke of a restaurant.
Two thumbs down.

The food was bland. We ordered the chicken wings, arancini margherita, cauliflower and cheese fritters and they all tasted like frozen food. The crab avocado bruschetta is awkful! Do not order the apple coleslaw, it was the worst I’ve ever tasted!!! The squid ink pasta was tasteless. The only decent dishes are the fish in bag, honeycomb cannelloni trio and the cured meat planks! This would be my first and last visit to this place!

I’m sure many people like me have heard mixed reviews on Jamie’s Italian. Without having too much expectation, it did meet my expectation on being just an average restaurant.
We ordered some chicken wings, squid ink spaghetti and lamb chop. In terms of the flavor, every dish was just so-​so… The spaghetti was so tasteless that I had to add more salt to it. I mean I cook pasta a lot and it’s easy to bring up the flavor… some butter, garlic, salt and pepper will do. Is that perhaps Jamie’s recipe?
The price for the food and portion was reasonable. I must say the outstanding service at Jamie’s made up for the average quality food. All the wait staff were very attentive and they were always willing to help.
Overall, I’d say I wouldn’t mind coming back again if my friends want to come here but it wouldn’t be one of my go-​to places in CWB especially if there’s a queue.

Just had lunch here. Ordered a fish-​in-​a-​bag (HK$ 170) for myself and shared the fried portobello mushroom sticks with a friend. It was Thursday at 12.30pm and there was no line at all.
Décor: Nice wide booths for groups. High ceiling’s rare in Hk. Cozy.
Food: good in general. Nothing too hard to make either. Portions are American portion so quite huge.
Service: Our waiter was very energetic and passionate. They don’t include a service charge in their bill so remember to tip before you leave!

Just had drinks here, but places and other food looked delish. We sat at the charcuterie bar and watched them make appetizers with super fresh ingredients.

The 2-​star is solely for the décor and service. The food is TERRIBLE. And I never use such a strong word in any of my reviews. We ordered many dishes and NONE of them is better than a regular Italian restaurant. I wonder if Jamie ever did a tasting for all the dishes. I am surprised he approved such poorly-​executed dishes.
— Italian spiced chicken wings: The sauce is solely being placed with the wings. And the sauce is nothing but the regular canned tomato basil sauce you use to make pasta. The wings itself don’t have a lot of taste
— Crab & Avocado Bruschetta: this is okay. The bread is actually pretty crispy and easy to chew (kind of different from what the other reviewer said — that it was too hard)
— Fish plank (appetizer): the clams tasted VERY fishy. Fried halibut tasted regular. The olive spread is a poor combination of ingredients. The cheese was ok.
— Fresh Crab spaghetti: Tasteless
— Squid-​ink spaghetti: I had squid-​ink pasta in a lot of places and they usually taste really chewy and juicy. This on the other hand, taste like nomad spaghetti. They can’t be cheaper with the scallop. Although I order the half portion, I never seen a restaurant cut the scallop horizontally in thin pieces. I think the whole half plate only have one scallop in total. And it was not marinated at all.
— Truffle Tagliatelle: The sauce should be more creamy
— Tiger Prawn Linguine: Probably the best dish I had. However, they can’t call it tiger prawn if it’s small than a medium shrimp
— Prosciutto & Pear Salad: did not taste the pear at all. And the prosciutto was just spread around the salad rather than being mixed in
— Funky chips: How is it funky when it’s tasteless! It’s the worst dish. DO NOT get
— Epic Brownie: It is not a brownie. Does the chef know what a brownie is?
Overall comment on the pasta. As far as I know, a traditional Italian restaurant would not make the pasta as soft as Jamie’s Italian. All the pasta I had tonight was way too soft.
I am really disappointed in this restaurant, especially I am a fan of his show. I am sure they spend a lot of effort and money on the décor. It can definitely attract a lot of people. However, they cannot get any repeat customers as the food is not good at all.

lunching in this place with friends n colleagues makes sharing n trying different plates possible. olive on ice makes a decent instagram post n the olive paste is pretty nice, wouldn’t say its world’s best as stated on the menu lol. fish in a bag isn’t as wow as i expected, yet we all like the salmon that’s cooked under the right temperature n time, which is quite rare haha. the question is, why don’t they make a clam dish? they have some really nice clams i must say! other stuff we ordered: apple coleslaw — liked it, very appetizing. posh chips — not that posh after all. muschroom n smoked mozarella risotto — bit too salty, apart from that it’s prolly my fav dish. truffle tagliatelle — no truffle found. free-​range chicken — its just a chicken. spinach n taleggio croquettes — liked it. crab n avocado bruschetta — its not really bruschetta, too hard on the tooth

We have been waiting for this restaurant for so long. It baffles me how it could be in so many different countries yet HK being such a foodie city, it didn’t get here till now!
I didn’t know what to expect when I came for the first time. I heard from my singaporean friends that the one in sg isn’t very impressive, but hey, you never know. it’s Jamie, doesn’t he know magic or something?
So we came in during their soft launch and the environment was already really cool. they had this massive painting on the back end of the wall, really cool looking uniforms, a casual-​looking diner. the space is massive, it’s probably one of the bigger restaurants in hong kong, in terms of area, especially if we’re talking causeway bay.
I let our friend do all the ordering, he recommended the bruschetta with crab and avocado, the cured meat plank, crispy squid, a pasta, lamb lollipops, a sirloin steak, and i think that was it.
The meat platter came and it was quite impressive, it took up the whole table, filled with meats and pickles and a bit of cheese. I actually think my favourite part of the dish (aside from presentation) were the pickles. My favourite out of the small dishes, were the crispy squid. I always love calamari but i think they have done this pretty well, used the right amount of seasoning and was super crispy.
The pasta and the steak on the other hand was a major disappointment. The steak was so tough — even though we asked for medium rare, that we all had a bite and gave up. The pasta, i don’t even remember what it is anymore, was completely overcooked. this surprised me, as their pastas should be all made in house, and in my opinion, should be al dente. It wasn’t. We all had a bite and gave up.
Overall, there’s lots of room for improvement. I do really really like the concept, prices are amazing. but still food is still the main purpose of dining, so hopefully the next time i go, food will be better.

At LAST! The long wait is over. Did I say the wait is over? Not even close. It took us an hour and a half to finally get a table. But one thing for sure, the highly anticipated Jamie’s Italian has finally come to Hong Kong and opened to the masses. One thing you know about Hong Kong is that, whenever there is a hype, it comes with an excruciating long queue. Currently they only take reservation for 12 people at least, so get ready to be lining up in the heat under the burning sun!
I will spare you the part where I might have cursed so many times while I was waiting and skip to the good part. First off, the décor is heavily influenced by Chinese culture with the huge mural in the middle. And the setting gives a chilling and warm vibe to its diners with a long wooden table and ceiling windows where natural light can come through. So for that, I will give it a five already.
Then we had a look at the menu, we were extremely surprised at how CHEAP everything was. A restaurant with such a big name to carry, you would have expected at least a hundred for a dish (though it is generally cheap worldwide but it is Hong Kong, it would be a fool not to over-​charge diners with such brand) Anyway, good news for all then. Starters around HKD$ 50, Salad just around HKD$ 40, and pasta around HKD$ 80, etc. With that price, I am a happy customer without trying the food.
Then we got our food, one thing I like the most was the Truffle Tagliatelle with fresh parmesan. The pasta was just AMAZING. There are still quite a lot of food that we liked but some can use a bit seasoning. Given that it just opened, I am rather pleased with it and I am hope once the hype is gone, I can go in without waiting for that long next time.