[title]
Please note, Jamie's Italian Islington has now closed. Time Out Food editors, August 2019.
The menu’s assessment – ‘It’s all authentically Italian, but unmistakably “Jamie” too’ – is bang on. The vivacity and personality of the cooking makes the culinary megastar’s most successful concept an appealing choice; the stylish casual setting and menu breadth make it a clever one. Dining in a group? Rest assured everyone will find something they want to order. Whether or not the experience quite lives up to expectations is another matter, but at least it’s cheaper (and larger) than the original Fifteen trattoria. First disappointment was the house rosato from Sicily – for once the flavour dial seemed to have been turned down to zero. We couldn’t fault the scrumptious bread basket, however, and the iced crudités were a pleasant way to ramp up the vegetable quota of the meal. From the children’s menu, a tomato and fusilli pasta bake was unappetisingly dry. But crab spaghettini with capers, fennel, parsley, chilli and anchovies was on a par with more exclusive establishments. There are some nice ideas on the dessert list (a signature trifle of strawberry jelly, fresh berries, custard and glazed meringue, for example), but ours tasted mass-produced, which perhaps by definition they are. There’s only so much Jamie to spread round, after all.