A Lovely Meal at Jamie's Italian

It's hard being a food blogger these days. Restaurant lighting makes photography virtually impossible, and when you do use a flash, you risk ruining the mood for diners who are usually very close by indeed. You can usually manage a couple of pictures before they start to glare daggers at you. And I do understand, because if you don't actually write about it as a profession, photographing food seems like a very weird thing to do. 


The ambient lighting, for all it makes your own wrinkles disappear, also makes food which you want to wax lyrical about look absolutely rubbish. The colours look garish, and you wonder how you can possibly convey how delicious something that looks so bad really was. But I will persevere!


We've eaten at Jamie's Italian in Reading a couple times now, and it has always been very nice, although not necessarily remarkable. This time was different. The food was just incredible, and the service was so good I honestly could have been in North America. (I'm not being rude, just honest. If you travel as much as I do you will know, in many cases there is a difference in service country to country. It's just the way it is.)


It helped that the timing was perfect. After a very pleasant afternoon Christmas shopping (don't hate me because I'm organised - it's the first time!), my husband put our name in for a table just as he headed to the car park to put our bags in the car. I was waiting for some parcels to be wrapped, and by the time we had got them in the car and wondered if we'd be able to have a drink while we were waiting, the pager he had been given was going off. 


We were given a nice table upstairs, although you are always very close to fellow diners, in part to replicate the European experience, and in part because real estate this close to London is expensive. We started off with a drink and the meat antipasti - which this photograph does not do justice to.

It arrived on a long plank of wood, and featured gorgeous meats, including Parma ham and pistachio salami, root vegetable salad made with raw vegetables including celeriac and beetroot in vinaigrette, mozzarella balls with basil and chillis, olives and pecorino cheese topped with a gorgeous chilli jam. 


We lingered over this for some time, and our main courses arrived just as we were finishing. After such a meaty starter, I went vegetarian for my main course and enjoyed a wonderful Eggplant Parmigiana. 

I had to use a flash for this photograph, which made the colours look very garish indeed, but believe me it looked beautiful. I had to make every shot count, as the couple next to us were not terribly impressed with the flashes of the camera - understandably as they were spending quite a lot of time gazing into each other's eyes. It was so cute.


My husband enjoyed a beautifully seasoned grilled pork chop on a bed of roasted potatoes. It was fresh, simple and delicious. 

Oh, and I just had to order some of these.

Chips that were crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, drizzled with truffle oil and shredded Parmesan cheese. I know some people feel truffle oil is over-rated, but I'm not one of them. I did share some of these with my husband, but not very many!


It will come as no surprise to you that we were way too full for dessert, as tempting as the selection was. All the desserts that came out of the kitchen looked wonderful, and I think the one I saw coming out the most was affogato - good vanilla ice cream served with a shot of espresso alongside. You pour the espresso over the ice cream before you eat it. It's simple, but gorgeous. Perhaps next time. 


I've only ever been to this branch of Jamie's Italian in Reading, but based on my experience I would not hesitate to visit the others. And if you do find yourself in Reading, it is well worth a visit. It's competitively priced for this area and the food is consistently delicious, and often even outstanding.