Jamie Oliver recently opened a restaurant in Singapore, and when we found out, we obviously had to give it a try since he’s a world-famous celebrity chef and all that. He became my favorite when I got assigned to write about his Food Revolution during my brief stint as a writer for a food website. I like what he stands for.
So we showed up at the restaurant in Vivo City at around 7pm last Saturday. We had wanted to make reservations but they only take a few of those and open the rest of the tables for walk ins. There was a short queue when we got there but when it was our turn, we were told that we had to wait an hour, then took down a name and cellphone number so they could text when the table was ready. This was a good thing because you could go shopping while waiting instead of just standing in the queue.
Sure enough we got a text later on, but the annoying thing was that when we got there, they didn’t immediately sit us down at our table because we weren’t complete yet. I don’t know if it was a miscommunication on our part, or the reception ladies just lacked customer service skills.
I loved the restaurant’s decor. The muted lighting lent a cozy ambience to the place.
I was able to take all the above photos with my Canon powershot S100. Then just as I was about to take another shot, it suddenly stopped working, stating “LENS ERROR” as the problem. No matter what I did, it wouldn’t start again! Waaaahhhh. A blogger’s nightmare!
Luckily I had brought my ipad mini along so I was still able to take pictures of the food geez. The quality isn’t that good though, and that’s when I realized where dim romantic lighting poses a disadvantage.
But anyway. Onto the food. This was what we had.
with truffle oil and parmesan
Ragù of beef, pork, herbs, Chianti & Parmesan with crunchy, herby breadcrumbs. I almost ordered this but I’m really glad that I didn’t because this was ridiculously bland. The most disappointing dish I tried that night.
Albacore tuna slow-cooked with tomatoes, garlic, herbs & cinnamon with crunchy, herby breadcrumbs. This is supposedly Jamie’s wife’s favorite dish, and now it’s mine too. It wasn’t my order, though, too bad.
Slow-braised fennel sausage ragù with red wine, Parmesan & crunchy, herby breadcrumbs. This was my order, so I’m glad that it tasted good, though I wasn’t too keen on one of the herbs in it. This was the most interesting dish we had because of the strange-looking pasta noodles. It was our first time to see such pasta, which we thought kind of looked like Octopus tentacles!
Here’s a closer look, what do you think?
JAMIE’S ITALIAN
1 HarbourFront Walk, VivoCity, #1 165-167
Singapore 098585
+65 67335500
Website
We have a Jamie's here in Mk as well! I was attracted by the cosy look / rustic feel of the restaurant but that is as far as it went for me. So clearly he's consistent with the branding. I quite liked the food. It's not a first choice for a meal out but I like it! <br /><br /><br />oh the seats you have their look far more comfortable than the bistro style, uncomfortable chairs we
I've been to a few of Jamie's restaurants in London, and they are really good for the most part! x
Looks delicious, that's a shame that it wasn't as good as you were expecting! Also that it sounds like the customer service was a bit ify, that always turns me off to any place. I like the texting when your table is ready thing though!
The food is good, it was totally our fault for having too high expectations! 😀
It was totally our fault for having such high expectations, haha. Yes, customer service does matter, and the texting thing is definitely a great perk indeed.
Yes, cozy restaurants are very attractive indeed! Ha, I'm glad we have comfortable chairs here then! 🙂