Jamie's Italian has been open in the Brisbane CBD for over 1 year now, maybe it's me walking past it everyday to get Starbucks or all the initial buzz that was around it--I finally went with hubby after stubbornly saying 'NO' (due to a poor experience in Sydney)
Since it's opening theres been a lot of mixed opinions--from bland food, to cold food to long waits to bad service and again long waits to OMG awesome food. We chose a Sunday afternoon (4:30pm ish) to have an early dinner or late lunch--whatever you call it. You'd think this time would warrant expedient services but nope Jamie's Italian Brisbane's reputation for long waits is definitely well deserved.
We waited so long for our appetiser (crispy porcini arancini) that we had time to look at the decor and come up with reasons as to why the wait was so long? Could it be those ridiculous stairs the staff have to climb to get access to the kitchen? Or the floor manager who likes to be texting rather than working?
Soon we were wondering if the meats and vegetables hanging above the bar counter were real and if we could just eat that--don't bother slicing.
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| For the record food above the counter is not for eating |
I'll say our arachini was delicious -- anything is when you've been waiting 45minutes.
We've tried the polenta chips, squid ink pasta all at the Sydney place and was not impressed by how oily, bland and skimpy the servings were. This time we decided on some meaty goodness with bolognese pasta, prime strip loin steak bundled with chips and a salad.
Thankfully everything was meaty enough, as you'd expect from a meat sauce and steak. Still, for a guy that says 'punches and loads of flavour' alot-- don't expect the food at this place to deliver these sort of punches--it's better than what we had in Sydney but still on the blander side.
Portions appear decent and everything was well cooked and hot despite the long wait. So obviously food's not sitting around waiting to be served--maybe it really does take a long time to cook things properly--like 60minutes? Maybe they were making the pasta from scratch and butchering the cow from scratch. Last time I checked, pasta especially fresh, takes less than 5minutes to boil.
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| You can't make friends (or customers) with salad. Especially when it arrives 3/4 into the meal and has no flavour |
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| It's a lot harder to take a pretty photo of bolognese especially when you want to inhale it from hunger |
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| Well cooked steak..not worth the wait |
