The Oxford Guide - Differences between Version 8 and Version 7 of Jamie's Italian

Version 8 Version 7
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All told we spent £85 without desserts (between two), but including pre-dinner drinks, a bottle of wine and service. If you just have a pasta main you can get away with significantly less, but if you're going there you're probably treating yourself already, so you may as well go all the way.
All told we spent £85 without desserts, but including pre-dinner drinks, a bottle of wine and service. If you just have a pasta main you can get away with significantly less, but if you're going there you're probably treating yourself already, so you may as well go all the way.
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Jamie Oliver's new Oxford enterprise, this restaurant opened at the start of June.

Somewhat annoyingly they don't take reservations, so there's typically a queue (this might become more bearable once the novelty has worn off). Unless you go before 6 or after 9, you should expect to stand outside for at least half an hour, although they do occasionally come out and offer an olive and the menus.

Once you come in you are first led to the bar (this might differ at less busy times), the expectation being that you either order your wine then or have a pre-dinner drink. Prices are acceptable, £4-5.

The interior is quite pleasantly decorated, but can be noisy. There's a ground floor bit and a basement bit (next to the kitchen). The ground floor tends to shake quite a lot as people go up and down the stairs, so if given the option you might want to choose to sit downstairs.

Food selection is quite small, but well thought-out. "Planks of meat" seem to be most popular (wooden boards with Italian cured meats and hams, some olives and vegetables, £6.50 per head). Try the basket of bread (fantastic balsamic vinegar, £3.50). Pasta dishes mostly come in two sizes: as a 'primi' version (something between a proper starter and a main, intended to be followed by something bigger) at around £5-6, or as a main meal at around £8-9. Try the truffle tagliatelle or the sausage pasta (I forget what it is, but it's highly unusual).

The 'secondi' (mostly grilled main dishes) are priced around £10-15, but do not include a side dish, so you need to budget another few pounds for chips (very nice!) or something similar. We had the salmon and the half-chicken, both were very nice.

Wine selection is limited with an Italian bias, but the one we had (Sauvignon Blanc) was quite nice. Standard restaurant prices.

Waiters currently seem a bit lost -- we were almost landed with the bill of the people previously at our table, he forgot to bring our wine and our pasta dishes, seemed to encounter a card reader for the first time etc.

All told we spent £85 without desserts, but including pre-dinner drinks, a bottle of wine and service. If you just have a pasta main you can get away with significantly less, but if you're going there you're probably treating yourself already, so you may as well go all the way.


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