– Tasting Invite –

Since its official opening in July 2013, Jamie’s Italian Singapore has launched an updated menu featuring 15 new exciting dishes, while retaining some of the more popular ones with a bit of refining to suit local taste buds. When misterchewy and I were there late last year, we were quite surprised that there wasn’t a queue outside Jamie’s Italian after hearing stories of horrible two-hour long waits.

Jamie’s Italian welcomes customers to utilize their online booking system for tables of 1-7 and larger groups are encouraged to call in to reserve (including reservations for our private dining area, no minimum charge). Jamie’s Italian still keep a large number of tables for walk-in customers, so customers are advised to come round even if the system tells you that the restaurant is fully booked.

To kick-start the dinner, we had Crispy Tomato & Mozzarella Arancini ($10.90) from the Antipasti menu. Arancini means “little orange” and these rice balls originate in Campania but are at their best in Sicily. Served with arrabbiata sauce, the piping hot and crispy rice balls are filled with cheesy goodness and taste deliciously tangy and spicy at the same time. Definitely a great starter to work up an appetite.

Since the Baked Mushrooms were sold out, we went for the next best alternative, Crispy Squid ($11.50) which is line caught squid honeycombed, dusted in flour, deep fried, tossed with fresh chilli and garlic chips and served with homemade mayonnaise dusted with paprika. The batter is surprisingly light and crispy, while the squid tasted juicy within. It was so good and addictive that misterchewy and I couldn’t stop popping them into our mouths!

You will be glad to know that at Jamie’s Italian Singapore, pastas are freshly made round the clock. Our love for truffle prompted us to go for the Wild Truffle Risotto ($16/$24.50) which didn’t disappoint us at all. Special Acquerello rice from Italy is cooked simply with salted water, finished with truffle butter and Parmesan and garnished with truffle oil, shaved truffle, nutmeg, grated Parmesan and parsley cress. The result is a very satisfying and creamy risotto dish that is perfect beyond words. We shared this dish between the two of us but I think we could have easily polished this off alone too.

After finding out that Jool’s Favourite Sicilian Tuna Fusilli ($14/$21) is Jamie’s wife’s favorite dish when she was pregnant, I decided to try it for myself. Key ingredients such as albacore tuna, together with chilli, garlic and anchovy, are used to produce a rich tomato ragu for this classic Sicilian recipe. Both misterchewy and I adored this dish, for the fusilli had a very nice bite to it and the piquant tomato ragu really hit the spot. Accompanied with a pangrattato crunch made of breadcrumbs, garlic and fresh herbs all blended together, this really brought the dish up a notch.

I have read quite a number of favorable reviews about the Baked Sustainable Halibut ($29.90) so there was no getting away without trying this one. We were also very lucky to snag the last piece! Jamie’s Italian’s halibut is sustainably fished from Norway. We like how it was so nicely pan-fried to achieve that buttery and flaky texture, which was highly similar to that of cod fish. A very clean-tasting dish on the overall.

Jamie’s Italian’s pork chops come from Wooroloo, Australia, and are brined for 24 hours before they are being grilled al mattone (under a brick). We couldn’t help but feel impressed that such a big slab of Grilled Aussie Pork Chop ($38.50) could remain so evenly tender and succulent throughout. This dish is served with bagna cauda (a sauce made with bread, milk, garlic, anchovy, capers, lemon, oil and parsley), crispy crackling and a salad of kohlrabi, apple, celery leaf, mint and parsley dressed with lemon and olive oil.

Moving on to desserts, we first opted for the Creamy Panna Cotta ($9). Made of cooked cream, the panna cotta is rich and dense. Felt that it was good enough on its own with a drizzle of honey because the seasonal fresh fruit compote was too tart for us to handle.

Chocolate lovers do not leave without having the Epic Brownie ($11.50). Just looking at it can actually get you high. The luxurious brownie made with 70% cocoa solid chocolate was exceptionally fudgy and chewy. Served warm with amaretto ice cream, caramel popcorn and warm chocolate sauce, it was one helluva epic dessert indeed!

It was our first time visiting Jamie’s Italian Singapore and both of us agreed that most of the dishes we tried that night were quite remarkable. That in itself is worthy of a revisit with more friends in the near future. Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy 🙂

Jamie’s Italian Singapore
1 Harbourfront Walk
#01 165-167
VivoCity
Singapore 098585
Tel : 6733 5500

Opening Hours:
Sun to Thu
12pm – 10pm
Fri & Sat
12pm – 11pm