Jamie's Italian Budapest — Restaurant in Budapest

Had dinner here last night with my partner. Atmosphere was busy but cheerful, lots of chatter and some decent music in the background. Music was a little loud at first, but someone must have said something as it was scaled back after about ten minutes.

Cocktails were interesting in variety and certainly didn't hold back on the alcohol amount. I enjoyed an Amalfi Collins and my partner the Passion Smash one. Both pleased with our drinks. I then had the Primitivo, which was the house red - very tasty for a house wine, full of berry goodness and a great aftertaste on the palate.

The food was extremely good - with one exception, which cost a star off the final rating. The calamari antipasti was delicious: perfectly cooked with a bite of chilli and crispy batter. However, the prawns were probably thirty-seconds to a minute or so underdone, so were a slimy disappointment. Getting seafood right in a landlocked country is never easy, but 1 out of 2 isn't bad.

We both had pizza for main and agreed it was the best pizza we'd had in Budapest. Very crispy thin base with tasty, good quality toppings. The olive oil we asked for to accompany was also quality, peppery with a good bite - a restaurant in this price range has no excuse not to provide quality accompaniments, so this was very welcome.

It's worth noting that our waiter service was absolutely superb. In a country not exactly full of excellent service, Krisztian was friendly, helpful and extremely attentive. He was always available but never pushy. Top marks for that man!

Overall, it's well worth a visit for the quality and variety of the food - Hungarian 'foreign' restaurants have improved hugely in the 4 or 5 years I've lived here and Jamie's is another step in the right direction. But I suppose it's got to be good if it's carrying the personal approval of the Mockney Cooking...

Would not recommend visiting 👎 We were interested in trying this restaurant solely because of Jamie Oliver — we expected high-quality and flavorful food, especially given the rather high prices. Unfortunately, the food was very average in taste. The linguine was extremely al dente, not even up to a proper Italian standard. But what really disappointed us was the atmosphere and the service. We were served by three different waiters, and it felt like none of them cared about us at all. Like many places in Hungary, this restaurant automatically includes a 15% service charge in the bill. However, when the waitress brought us the check, she silently handed the card terminal to my boyfriend and told him to choose a tip amount. He assumed he was being given a choice of how much to tip, so he selected 6%. It turned out this was charged in addition to the already included 15% — calculated as a separate tip on top of the total bill! We were honestly shocked. The service didn’t even deserve 2%. No one offered us water, no one interacted with us, the waitress barely spoke English, and we weren’t even said goodbye to at the end. And because we don’t speak Hungarian, we got caught in this trap of double tipping. This is just absurd. The food and service absolutely do not justify the prices or the reputation. So, I strongly advise against visiting this place at all. And does Jamie Oliver even know about the kind of reviews his name is getting at this restaurant? It's embarrassing.

What also disappointed us was the atmosphere: outside, there were cheap wooden chairs that looked like something from a low-end fast food place, and inside, the armchairs were old and worn out. It all felt very tired and not cared for — far from the cozy or stylish vibe you'd expect from a place associated with...

It was good but there’s definitely improvement needed.

We had the pleasure to sit at the back of the restaurant with two big tourist groups. It was a nightmare. Both groups made such noice, we had to yell at the person next to us so we could understand each other. There was also five little kids playing games on phones with the volume up. This isn’t Mc Donald’s, it’s supposed to be a nice restaurant. Unsure why non of the waiters said anything, especially since they looked very annoyed with their behavior. Asking guest to be a bit more respectful towards other dinners shouldn’t be a huge deal. Rest of the restaurant was quiet.

The card is fairly small but most of the dishes sounded very intriguing. We ended up with the Beetroot risotto, tagliatelle boscaliola, and flank steak. The pasta dish was a fairly small portion, unfortunately, and must have been sitting at the counter for a while before serving - the cheese on top was melted but already hard. All three dishes needed a good amount of salt. The carrot slaw from the flank steak was absolutely tasteless. But all in all, it still was good food. We also had dessert, the brownie and the ambassador, both absolutely mouthwatering delicious.

As drinks we had the berry blast and the ginger mango drink. Both are very good.

The interior is beautiful.

Even though we sat at the back of the restaurant, someone must have left the door open because we were freezing.

The staff is annoyingly slow. They serve your food and then disappear for 40 minutes without being able to even wave them down, without getting up from the table and walking to the bar. After asking to pay, we waited 15 minutes. And no, the restaurant wasn’t packed, it was full,...