Jamie's Italian - Covent Garden
Covent Garden,
11 St Martin's Lane,
London,
WC2H 9FB
0203 326 6390 / www.jamieoliver.com/italian/covent-garden / view map
Surveyed 31/10/2011
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About this restaurant
There’s no secret about Jamie Oliver’s love of Italian food and lifestyles, so it was no surprise he chose the theme for his nationwide eponymous chain. With Gennaro Contaldo as his mentor, Jamie’s concept was to re-create affordable and authentic dishes that could be enjoyed around an ‘Italian table’, where diners can relax, share and enjoy each others company. Rustic simplicity is the aim, carefully made but unfussy dishes with seasonal ingredients. Blackboard daily specials supplement the full menu, but all the dishes have a colourful signature vivacity. The pasta choice is particularly good: cockles linguine (£8.20/£13.35) or buffalo ricotta ravioli, for example. Antipasti take in crispy squid with ‘really garlicky mayo’ (£5.75) and English wild boar salami; from the mains, you can choose South Coast fritto misto (£15.95) or half a free-range, chargrilled chicken. Tuscan “eat & mess” wears a bit thin as an Anglo-Italian pun, but the mixture of fruit-rippled meringues, cream and berries sounds the biz, as does the chocolate and espresso tart and the pineapple carpaccio with mint, chilli and blood orange sorbet. Drink Milano - a pre-dinner Campari, fresh orange juice and prosecco. - and sample an intriguing pair of organic wines.
They say...
There is no general information on the Jamie’s Italian website about their fish sourcing policy although a spokesperson said “We feel that sustainability is a moving target and it is in line with our brand to serve the most sustainable dishes possible as our standard process. As a result, we are possibly underselling some of the hard work we do!”
We say...
We know Jamie’s Italian, as do all his operations, put a lot of care into sourcing sustainably, even visiting the fish farms in the Aegean Sea and doing thorough research into sustainable fish meal. We understand how hard this can be on an increasingly large and complex scale, so it’s good to see the scallops are from Brixham and the Devonshire crab from Start Bay, for example. We’re pleased they specify the fish in the mixed fish dishes originate on the South coast, and the Ligurian Fish Stew is indeed ‘Fish Fight friendly’. Farmed Anglesey sea bass is roasted whole - and £1 from each dish is donated to the Jamie Oliver Foundation.
All that is to their credit; the main thing we’d like to see is a more prominent statement about their ethical sourcing on the website and menu plus links.