Dinner at Jamie's Italian Brighton

I recently went out to dinner at Jamie's Italian in Brighton. If you aren't familiar with this chain of restaurants they were founded by chef Jamie Oliver and are dotted around the country. Inspired by Italian food, culture and style they are known for their rustic and traditional dishes. I've been here before but last time my toddler was in his excited/tired/energetic phase so it wasn't particularly relaxing. This time I decided to go child-free and visit with a friend for dinner. 

The first thing that you notice when you arrive at Jamie's Italian is the restaurant's ambience. Its decor is bold and colourful, with stylish lighting, enjoyable music and a lovely warm temperature. We were seated in a booth which was very comfortable. I forgot to get a photo of us but the padded seats were very relaxing. From our seats we could see the chefs making the food on one side of the restaurant, which makes a nice feature. Everything on the menu sounded tempting and there were also a selection of fantastic dishes on the specials board. Their menu has a selection of vegetarian, fish and meat dishes in the form of burgers, pasta, general fish and meat dishes and salads so it was difficult choosing as everything sounded nice. For our starters we opted for the crispy squid and the crab and avocado bruschetta. They were presented beautifully as you can see in the photos and both dishes were absolutely delicious and incredibly filling.

For the main course I had the Venetian fish stew, something I wouldn't usually order but I really fancied some fish. I can honestly say it was absolutely sumptuous, definitely the best meal I've had out in a long time. It was filled with a good variation of seafood pieces including chucks of fish, squid, prawns and clams and had the most delicious taste. Each mouthful was filled with so many different flavours and it tasted like a dish that you would eat in an Italian costal town. My friend had the prawn linguine and the verdict was that it was very fresh and delicious too! The presentation of the food was beautiful, look how pretty the food looks! The portions were huge and along with the starters we had trouble finishing it all. We both had wine and water to accompany the meal.  We didn't have any room at all for desserts but they all sounded lovely. I'll try the molten chocolate praline pudding next time. 

Throughout the meal the place was fairly quiet and the waitress came to us again and again asking if everything was ok and would we need anything else. The only time we had to wait for service was at the end when we wanted to ask for the bill and it did take a while to get someone's attention. This was in contrast to our waitress being very attentive throughout the whole meal so I think perhaps she was on her break or staff were changing shifts? Other than that I really couldn't fault the meal or the service in any way. 

The fish stew is just under £14 and the starters are over £6 each. The whole meal for two people including starters, bread, main courses and two glasses of wine came to £55 which I think is reasonable value, considering its quality and taste. There are so many wonderful independent restaurants in Brighton that I usually side-track chains but I will definitely return, perhaps next time with toddler in tow as they do some great kids meals too. All in all, it was a very pleasant evening out, the food was delicious, the atmosphere calm and enjoyable and friendly staff. If you're in the area I'd definitely recommend Jamie's Italian. 

*We were guests at Jamie's Italian Brighton. All words and opinions are my own. 

Have you been to Jamie's Italian? Would love to hear your thoughts! ☺