Oh Jamie- You just don't do it for me...

I've just had my first experience at Jamie Oliver's Cardiff Restaurant...

Now I don't usually do reviews but since it was my first time in this well known establishment I thought that I'd share a bit of my experience with my readers. 

The first thing you should do if visiting this restaurant is be pre-pared to pay HIGH PRICES by means of saving up a lot of moolah or taking a very rich friend and hoping that they are feeling generous and will treat you (High prices meaning that the cheapest thing on the menu was a bowl of pasta for £10.95- which any student will tell you is near enough a weeks grocery shopping).  I wouldn't normally complain much about a pricey meal if it's good quality and for a special occasion- my reason for going there being my bosses leaving party was held there (and she's lovely so it was a special occasion). However, I don't feel that I did get particularly good value for my money, food wise that is- the service was excellent, the only problem with that was that the waitress kept  topping up my wine glass when I was struggling to drink what I already had -but this is something that most people would probably be more than happy with!

Maybe it's just the fact that I went for the cheapest pasta dish I could find (Poor student!) which was the Sausage Papperdelle. It's described as follows: 

"Slow-braised fennel sausage ragù with Jamie's favourite "Torrione" red wine, served with Parmesan & crunchy, herby breadcrumbs."

The messy dish that I received certainly included all of these ingredients but I found that the parmesan and bread crumbs overpowered the taste of the whole meal and made the ragu seem bland in comparison, the chunks of sausage in the pasta was also very crumbly. One thing that I did enjoy about my dish was the actual pasta. It was a weird squiggle (for lack of a better word) shape that was one long strand.

I know that it seems as if I just having a good ol' whinge at Jamie but I'm not usually a negative person- especially when it comes to food. My companions food actually looked quite nice. I witnessed starters of stuffed risotto balls that looked divine. There was also a garlic chicken dish that looked lovely- the only problem with that being that the chicken alone cost around £14 and there wasn't even a side included- so another order of chips (£4 for a teeny bowl!) had to be made.

I think that I probably will give the place another chance just because everyone else's food seemed quite nice. However, this time I will save my money and get a nice starter, a good main like a burger or steak and a side order of chips- No crappy pasta for me next time! I hope this review hasn't put you off at all/ bored you to tears!

Cheers M'dears,

Jade