An Italian Twist

March 22, 2018

An Italian Twist

On any normal Sunday add that Italian Twist and you'll end up with a smiling tummy.

Hubby accompanied me to Jamie's Italian at Melrose arch on a busy Sunday afternoon. My last review of Jamie's was on a quieter Monday in January just before the school holidays came to a close. I decided to try out the restaurant on a busy Sunday afternoon to see if the staff could hold their heads among the chaos and keep their cool when working in an overheated kitchen.

Sundays at Jamie's

Sundays at the restaurant is busy. From the many aunties stopping by to do some selfies to the families coming to enjoy the Italian taste of life , the staff are kept on their toes from 12 o clock until the midday rush is over. The staff, however, work well under the rush of getting dishes out. They pay the right amount of attention to each and every guest and allow just the right amount of waiting time between each course. Guest come in casually dressed to enjoy the rustic range of food that the restaurant offers. The overall vibe at Jamie's on a Sunday is relaxed and chilled. Guests dilly dally at the restaurant enjoying comfortable chit chat chat whilst enjoying the finest foods. From sipping on cocktails crafted to perfection or exploring Jamie's different concoctions of food, guests have the option of lingering around in a restaurant so comfortable you feel as if you are in the comfort of your own lounge.

Starters

Squid is the recommended starter-both by waiters and guests who have previously frequented the restaurant. My personal favourite starter has got to be the Italian nachos. I needed Naby to confirm a decision I had already made up in my mind- Jamie's makes the best nachos ever. If you've read my previous post you would know that I already talked and raved about the nachos. The reason I am obsessed with their nachos is due to crunchiness that each stuffed and fried ravioli offers. The combination of cheese and veggie filling and the crunchy fried ravioli offers the best explosion of textures in your mouth. The Sicilian sauce is the perfect accompaniment to the nachos with the added cheesiness offered by the Parmesan cheese. Naby as I expected confirmed what I already decided-Jamie's Nachos are to die for. He devoured the plate of nachos right down to the last crumb.

Mains

For mains we settled for something different. We ordered the vegetarian Chili Freak pizza as it is a relatively new pizza that has been added to the menu. The pizza costs R 95 and is worth every penny. The menu reads: "With our secret chili sauce" and it is a secret best kept by the staff at Jamie's as I too could not identify all the ingredients that could have possibly went into the making of that sauce. Rumor has it that Lombardi chili, red chilies, green chilies and jalapeno is used in the secret sauce. The pizza also has jalapenos, Parmesan and fresh chilies. The pizza is a delight for people who have a spicy palate and enjoy the chili taste. What was refreshing was each slice of pizza had a minty yogurt drizzled on it and provided a cooling taste. The coolness provided by the yogurt worked well with the stronger chili pizza taste. Jamie's pizzas have a crumbly and flaky crust that is so enjoyable. You do not get a doughy taste in your mouth when eating it. The pizza was decorated with mint leaves which also worked stunningly with the pizza base. All pizzas are oven baked pizzas and being a pizza lover I enjoy oven bases the best. I'm used to incorporating mint leaves in mocktails but it was an excellent choice to add the leaves onto the pizza. Another pizza secret is that Jamie's pizza is made from flour sourced from Italy. Jamie's is celebrating pizza month all March and in the last week of March you can still enjoy the freshest chili freak pizza.

Non alcoholic cocktail

There is nothing more refreshing on a sunny Sunday than a perfectly made cocktail (albeit a non alcoholic one). From the mouth watering choices on offer we settled for the Ginger Mojito. The drink costed R 35.The cocktail is made from combining mint, lime, sugar and ginger beer. A minty drink to accompany a minty yet chili pizza was ideal. The cocktail was cooling but delicious too. I noticed that the staff who are in charge of cocktails always taste their cocktails before they decide that it is perfect to serve. Any great chef would know that tasting food is essential to ensuring the foods quality and I was certainly impressed that the staff tasted each cocktail before serving them to their guests.

Drinks
Old fashioned Coco Cola in the buddy bottle-only the best bottle for coke.
Fitch & Leedes Lemonade- originating from two startling gentlemen: Ralph Fitch and William Leeds who are born and bred in London and sought out to find the most unique tastes from India and the far East.

Dessert

Naby and I are chocolate brownie fans. Reason being in the beginning stages of our love story we would share the most delectable brownies from Milkylane at campus. So it was obvious that we were going to rekindle our love and sink our teeth into a chocolate brownie. The Jamie's chocolate brownie has a chocolate sauce, salted caramel popcorn gelato and caramelized popcorn. I am generally not a fan of dessert popcorn but I ate them alone and felt that it was a whimsical addition to the classic hot and cold chocolate brownie. The brownie and chocolate sauce was super chocolaty and most probably added a few inches to my hips. The stunning taste of a melt in your mouth warm brownie with a caramel ice cream cannot be described. We could not help but fall hopelessly in love with the dessert.