Thoroughly disappointed. Have ate here twice before and Never again.ordered meatballs that were so dry and tasteless I sent them back! Manageress was rude and highly unprofessional ...

Booked a table 2 months ago as had tickets for the theatre opposite. When arrived were greeted effusively and shown to a table squashed between two large parties next to someone who was using our proposed table as an armrest. Asked to be seated elsewhere and we were quickly and charmingly accomodated. All waiters appear to have been trained to converse in "Mockney" a la Jamie himself and are very enthusiastic...... Sadly this doesn't extend to the defrosting and microwaving staff (i hesitate to use the word "chef's"). Salad Caprese arrived on a tin plate reminenscent of Reading Gaol and with a meagre amount of mozzerella (which was lovely but sad in a way as left you actually wanting to try it properly) hiding beneath a shovel load of unripe tomatoes which any prisoner worth his salt would have sent hurling at the wall. Partners wild boar salami wafer thin and the six meagre slices presented on a board looked lost and lonely - difficult to taste as so thinly sliced they melted like rice paper on the tongue, order of bread basket greatly appreciated as a stomach filler. My Rabbit Ragu had a boil in the bag consistency and I ate one third before giving up the will to live. My Partner's Fritto Misto arrived and although thoroughly overpriced (£15) looked like it had saved the day for him - beautifully presented. Sadly three hours later, the Fritto Misto took an encore, partner ill all night. £53 would have been better spent anywhere else in Kingston. Sadly when Jamies's first opened it tried very hard - now the quality is awful.

I have never written a review for a restaurant before but I felt compelled to do so after visiting this place because I walked away with very strong negative feelings. The restaurant itself was quite cosy and decorated in a rustic Italian style but for me was a little too high density seating and felt a bit claustrophobic. It was also incredibly busy (as I expected) with a lot of kids running amok, and the noise in there was almost deafening. There was an adequate number of harassed staff on duty.On to the food. I ordered a crispy squid for starters as did two others on my table and a squid ink based seafood pasta (I forget the actual name) for my main. The waiter returned after a short amount of time to say they only had enough ingredients for two of the starters so I chose something else as I was having a seafood main as well. I chose a truffle salami starter instead. It was without doubt the worst starter I have ever had. A measly portion of standard thinly sliced salami on a wooden board - nothing else. I couldn't see or taste any truffle whatsoever. Having said that some of the other starters ordered around the table looked and tasted good.Just as the mains were being served the waiter came over to me and informed me they didn't have the ingredients to make my main either, which was very disappointing. I ordered the fillet steak with a side portion of chips which I thought might be the only thing to cheer me up. Wrong - it was a very average piece of meat, probably akin to the kind of steak you find in a regular £6 - £8 pub meal. Coming in at around £20 with the chips I thought it a bit much. No apologetic words or gestures for the second dish I thought I successfully ordered but subsequently found out I couldn't have, and having it served as most others were finishing up. I didn't bother with dessert. To sum up: too noisy, overpriced food and sub par service. On the plus side the seats were very comfortable.

We were really excited at about coming here and the evening started well at the bar with tasty mushroom fritti and delicious glass of pinot grigio. However, the rest of the evening was rather disappointing. The vegetable antipasti was rather ruined by excessive vinegar smothering any taste from the peppers and aubergines. My truffle risotto was distinctly undercooked and my wife's ricotta pasta was so drowning in lemon juice, other flavours were impenetrable. The puddings were well presented but taste-wise probably the most disappointing I can remember eating at a restaurant. My wife's tart was dry and cloying and my tiramisu did not really deserve the title, devoid of any coffee, alcohol or chocolate to my taste-it was a very creamy, and slightly orangey, log.

We visited this restaurant for lunch and as it was under the umbrella of Jameies restaurants we were expecting it to be good. Unfortunately it took 10 mins for any waiter to materialise and hand us a menu. The food when it came was not that good either. Chicken was burnt and the linguine only had a handful of clams. It was not what you would expect from such an eatery and was a little on the bland side.

We grabbed a table for four, for late lunch one sunday. We experienced a long wait and were basically left on a different table whilst they prepared ours'. They have some policy over not being able to clean the table whilst you're sitting at it. I suppose all those breadcrumbs can be a health and safety hazard after all. They forgot about us in the end.

I had the burger and 'posh chips' - cooked in truffle oil. That was too overpowering to the extent that I wanted to mask the taste in ketchup and mayonnaise. The burger - too much going on inside of it. The onion rings didn't taste very nice, the bun had the texture of cake sponge, it was full of some buttery liquid which made it more difficult to eat and it had salami in it which just made it too salty. I had the brownie for dessert - it was more like a small sponge. I felt the mix of flavours in all my dishes just didn't work.

I love Italian food but I hope I don't come across this sort of Italian again. I won't be going back and neither to his other restaurants for fear of having the same experience.

Visit May 2011 - Family 2 adults kids 11,13adult Burger is tasty but comes just on its own with some salad in the bun and if you're hungry may not satisfy. At £11.25 I would have thought they could give me a plate and some chips and salad, but no, funky chips are £3.25 extra and a very small portion of chips as well. £14.50 burger is expensive compared to comparable quality restaurants. Kids burger is better value at £5.10 and comes with a very small side salad but kids pasta portion was so small that we immediately had to order some extra chips. They don'e even throw in some ice cream for kids - +£2.50 for 2 scoops! Starter portion of risoto at £6.75 was also very small. Tiramisu was good value - quite tasty and also enough for 2. Service was poor so overall not a very good experience. Jamie needs to get his act together!

We went to Jamie's in Kingston on a Tuesday for lunch, my sister's birthday. We ordered the 'planks', two meat and one vegetarian. We then had puddings. And one espresso.

The portions were not just small but miserly, I couldn't believe how little we got for the money. The vegetarian plank had a small mozzarella ball, a tiny bowl of roasted vegetables and a cracker with a piece of cheese the size of a postage stamp on top of it. The meat plank was no better, six very thin slices of cold meat (for two people!)

Add to that the lemonade - £2.50 for 118ml (that's less than half the size of a normal can) - and the espresso that was about a large thimble-full and we left feeling very over charged.

The staff are friendly but so would you be if you had to prepare as little food as they do.

Won't be going back. Carluccio's is miles better and incomparably better value.

Really not worth the £33 we paid for two main courses and three drinks. They make you wait at the bar before the meal which results in you spending more on drinks than you would have ordinarily.
My main complaint was the shockingly small size of the portions. I had the large buffalo ravioli for about £10. When the meal turned up I was miffed to find the ten average size pasta parcels of ravioli were swamped by the massive bowl they were placed in. I complained straight away before starting the meal. The staff were understanding and offered to 'top up' my dinner with the smaller version of the dish - another serving of four pasta parcels of ravioli. I agreed.
I finished the two dishes in just a few minutes which I must say were tasty but was still hungry.
I think Jamie Oliver is taking his crusade against obesity a bit far - the dish I had would not fill a small child up.
This is the last time I will give Jamie any of my money - this place is a rip off....

I cannot explain how truly awful this place is. I was dragged here by my girlfriend as she was desperate to try the place, but boy did she eat her words when we got there. We went mid week for lunch, so the place was pretty empty, but were still made to wait for 15 minutes at the bar? Why? practically all the tables were free! We ordered the food, and lo and behold, when it arrived the order was wrong. It took so long to arrive we cancelled the starters as we had somewhere to be early afternoon. So instead we now waited for mains. My girlfriend opted for the fish in the bag and I had the lollipop chops. Mine wouldn't have filled a 5 year old, and my girlfriend's dish was something you could easily knock up in 10 minutes at home, on top of that, the side of chips arrived cold and tasteless. If you are thinking of trying this place, I implore you not to, i'm sticking to my local Italian from now on!

It all began with a searching for a roast dinner at 3pm on an October Sunday. Until the excitement of seeing Jamie's Italian with no queue outside lured my partner and I in. With a joyous spring in our steps and empty stomachs, salivating and ready for a wholesome hearty meal, we were quickly seated.

Attentive service and happy staff led us into a false sense of confidence. It would turn out that the confidence they oozed was the confidence to rip off their customers, not a confidence in Jamie's Italian experience.

With the Italian Nachos out of the way, which in all honesty were fine, well seasoned, crispy puffs of air but measly and unsatisfying, we moved on to the mains. Uh oh!

I ordered the 'Turbo Fusilli Arabbiata' that turned out to be red coloured dish water with an excessive dose of chilli, having asked for a 'less fiery' milder version. Perhaps the most pathetic thing was that the pasta was completely over cooked and soggy. For an 'Italian' restaurant that claims that its' pasta is made in the restaurant before all the customers and made freshly on the day, this was just unnacceptable, especially when it is priced at £9.95 a pop! I have never paid £10.00 for a pasta dish in my life and after this experience, I do not intend to again, especially not at Jamie's.

My partner had the 'Parpadelle Meatballs' which made no reference to the inclusion of nutmeg on the menu. In reality, it's more a christmas pudding than a savoury dish. Lacking the promised 'tomato and basil' sauce, the balls came coated in a thick dusty layer of nutmeg and completely overpowered any other flavour that may have existed on the plate.

Never once during the meal were we asked if everything was OK, offering us the chance to give feedback on our meals, despite the fact that we made it clear how unhappy we were, constantly changing dishes with one another in an attempt to decide which one was more edible. It turned out neither was but we paid the full whack anyway! Offensive

After being warned by my parents how they had received uncooked main courses I felt the need to come here and try it for myself. This afternoon I dined here with 2 other friends and we were all quite disappointed.

The stater (antipasti platter) was mediocre, my main course (scallop and squid ink angel hair pasta) was nice but could have done with more sauce and seafood on it (shavings of scallops are a bit of a cheat when you're expecting the whole thing!) and the dessert (chocolate brownie) was tasty but this is the type of thing that tastes good anywhere!

I think that the most disappointing part of the meal was the fact that our waitress was so useless at her job! It took so long for the waitress to take our orders and serve our table! The machine she used to take the order was the only thing she looked at, no effort made with us and when we asked what the specials were one description included; 'it's pasta with tomatoes and peas, you know the typical vegetable thing' hardly a great way to sell it! it took them well over 15 minutes to clear our table after each course and to pay the bill we waited nearly 20 minutes for them to even notice our cards ready and waiting on the table!

The 2nd waitress, once the 1st one had finished her shift, was even ruder and she had the most awful scowl on her!

To top off the experience there was a bunch of exceptionally loud 'mothers' with their screaming and gaggling small children. At one point a woman jumped out her seat and screamed loudly! Crazy demented housewives!

And last but not least... it was blooming cold inside!

Very disappointed Jamie, I expected the whole experience to be much more enjoyable!

Visited with my girlfriend for a late lunch as we've always wanted to try here and saw perfect opportunity as both had days off midweek. With this in mind restaurant was empty bar one corner with groupings of parents and their kids. One child was screaming in his stool, which must have caught the waitress' attention as she sat us right next to him. Slightly surprised as the whole restaurant was empty and we could've been sat anywhere. This made for an embarrassing request to be moved. Not great start.

After viewing menu, we became a lot more positive and I had the meatballs and she had the Amazing Chicken Salad. Came out and it looked amazing, but halfway through and my girlfriend was bored of chewing on gristle and salad. Soon after she stopped completely as one piece was clearly under done as it had blood on it! Never seen ultra rare chicken before, let alone rare fullstop (I wonder why...). Told waitress who smiled in embarrassment, shrugged her shoulders and brought us our bill. No apology, no knocking off bill and no explanation. Disgusted and definitely not returning. Shame, because the meatballs were actually okay!

We had a 30th birthday party of 29 people on Friday. We had the set meal for all. The food and service were great. Some people left early and left their money with the guests remaining. When the bill came it was approx. £900.00, the problem was that £98 service had been added that we were unaware of and that left the guests left there unable to pay the £98 charge. We explained that we were unable to pay the service charge as guests that had left had only paid for their meal. Things really changed then - the staff were very nasty to us and completely blanked us and made it very clear that they were angry. We can really understand that we should have checked if there was a service charge added, but feel that us guests that were left to pay the bill should have not been treated like common criminals - it was very embarrassing. We spent £900.00 and the whole evening was spoilt.

Absolutely dreadful! Appalling service, which included the waitress forgetting one starter. Grossly over-produced food design - the ghastly, tasteless frito misto actually came wrapped in a cardboard menu. What they call a salad was a few mangy leaves slung on a plate. And we were constantly referred to as 'guys' by the snippy 20 year-old staff. Just an awful experience in every way. I wonder if Jamie Oliver has actually ever visited Jamies Italian Kingston to see what is being perpetuated in his name.

Attempted to visit the Kingston branch before, but was put off by the swarms of yummy mummies and their sprogs queing outside, so promptly walked on by. Tried again yesterday and it was far less busy. We could see plenty of empty tables around but were still told to wait at the bar for 5-10minutes. Eventually, after being seated and orders being placed, I got to the sample the food, which was oh so disappointing. Crispy squid arrived chewy, polenta chips were nothing more than flavourless blocks of stodge and my bresola of beef and beet salad has more fennell in it than anything else, consequently that was all I could taste. My other half had the feather steak which was greasy and lacklustre and the side of chips were dry and tasteless. Dessert of ice cream arrived late, so they knocked it off the bill, but it looked like they were desperate to cut costs as three tiny scoops were crammed into a tiny silver sundae glass. Whilst the service for the most part was excellent, the food left a lot to be desired. I got the feeling that Jamie was trying to rival Carluccio's with both the style and pricing of his menu, all I can say is he has a long long way to go before he even gets any way close.

I shan't be frequenting this restaurant again and quite frankly have had tastier and cheaper italian food in pizza express, zizzi, ask and strada. Lovely jubly, this is not.

Went to this restaurant for my birthday on Sat. Since they don't take bookings for group under 6, we turned up at the door.

The restaurant didn't look busy nor was the bar but was told there was a 45 mins wait. So we asked could we wait at the bar and been told we couldn't, despite the fact that there were only handful of people at the bar area. We were told that we had to wait outside the door on the pavement. It was quite windy so we didn't like the idea of waiting outside, so we asked whether we could put our names down and come back 45 mins later, was also turned down.

The door staff actually sounded like she was God and we were all there begging to give money to them! Needless to say, we left.

My boyfriend's parents experienced the same thing another time. The restaurant wasn't busy but larger groups had been told to stand outside to wait for a table.

Have eaten there once before and the food was OK. Nice but not brilliant. After this experience, I won't be back ever again!

This place is shockingly bad. I have given 1 star as it is not possible to award the acclaimed 'zero star'.
The service actually was not the worst part of the experience with the very overstretched staff doing what they could. The most disappointing aspect was the food. We both ordered Jaimie's interpretation of the classic dish spaghetti carbonara. The result was some soggy pasta sitting in a swamp of a watery and vaguely eggy substance sparsely decorated with a few nuggets of bone and gristle surrounded by pancetta and a few slices of raw courgette.
I really did not think it possible to find such poor quality ingredients let alone put them together in such a way that actually makes them worse. The dish was only redeemed by the fact that there were only very few pieces of these select ingredients.
We got there early so avoided the 45 minute queue which some people seem to have to endure. Crazy.
To top it all the place takes every opportunity to tempt you to contribute to the Jamie Oliver benevolence fund by purchasing all assortments of kitchen paraphernalia so that these culinary disappointments can be experienced every day at the comfort of your own home.
Avoid at all costs.

I really hate to be negative because I've always loved Jamie and have been desperate to visit one of his restaurants...but I have to say I was shocked by the awful experience I had at his Kingston restaurant recently..and even more shocked to hear pretty much everyone else on this site saying the same.

We didn't mind queuing outside for 45 minutes and we even didn't mind waiting a further 35 minutes at the bar once we got in. However we were a little disappointed when we were sat at the table nearest to the front door (right next to the heaving bar with people standing practically at our table). It was cold so I asked kindly for the door to be closed. After that it kept banging shut very loudly as people came and left.

We were still excited about the food and stayed positive. After another half an hour waiting for our starters we asked if it would be long. The waiter said he was sorry he had dropped our food so needed to start the order again. When it arrived we weren't impressed with the starters at all and were just clinging onto the final hope that the mains would be okay...my veal in bread crumbs actually made me feel a little nauseous. Not only was it tasteless but it was a sickening texture. I can't believe that food from Jamie Oliver's restaurant not only failed to impress but made me feel ill! How is this possible? We didn't want to stay any longer (and desert is usually the highlight for me!)..so we asked swiftly for the bill and got out as quickly as we could. Not the experience I was expecting at all and wished we had gone to 'gbk' over the road. Sorry Jamie

Appallingly bad service. Was basically forgotten about! I don't blame the staff though, as they are overwhelmed by the constant queues.

After the long waits, the food failed to impress. Sorry Jamie, but even Pizza Express is better!!

Went on the off chance as in Kingston shopping with my husband and got a table for lunch, no wait.
very friendly and efficient waitress, water to the table, drinks ordered and food order taken all in good time.
had meat anti pasta board and bread to share. all tasted fresh and tasty, and just about enough.
main was one of the specials, Stuffed belly pork, described as delicious by the waitress and delicious it was. on a bed of lentils. thought we heard it offered with vegetables, but realised it wasn't when none arrived. could have done with some though, even a small medley of veg on the side would have made the dish complete for the money paid.
other main was pasta Sicilian, tomato sauce with aubergine, black olives, anchovies. Really looked forward to this but it tasted very very bland. Considering that there were meant to anchovies and olives in it which both have pretty strong flavours, I couldn't see either, let alone taste them. as with other comments, portion was a little small for a main considering the price of nearly a tenner. No Parmesan offered.
Had a bottle of basic wine, 1 coffee and no dessert. £49 for two was, in my opinion, a lot for what we got.
Service was fine and may try it once more as have great faith in Jamie, but it will have to improve.

Four of us have just been to Jamie's Italian kitchen in Kingston. It was our second time and sadly we were a little disappointed. The antipasti meat planks were delicious with everything tasting very fresh and of high quality. For main course my daughter had a burger which she said was very ordinary. my husband and I had a lamb chop lollipops which sounded great fun. They were ok but a little lacking in flavour. We also had sides of Funky chips, beetroot and orange, green beans in tomato sauce - these were all good. For sweet my hubby and daughter had ice cream which tasted ok but was crammed into tiny sundae dishes with sultanas as fresh seasonal fruits! I had bakewell tart which was good but needed more cream. Service was very very slow and we had to ask for things like a carafe of water, and more olive oil several times before we got them. Our waitress hardly smiled and we didn't feel at all 'looked after'.

To summarise - if you get a decent waiter, have antipasti with lots of bread and water you will be be very happy. The mains are a little disappointing.

Went on a Thursday night with two daughters one from uni. 50 minute wait but informed it would be. Good selection drinks at bar with friendly knowledgeable barman and table 20 minutes later. Slow on taking order with adjacent much later arriving couple dealt with first! Younger daughter's chicken crispy but raw inside had to be taken away... with apologies and 20 minutes later when we had all well and truly finished and with no new fresh hot chips second chicken main arrived unfortunately tough and crispy and not particularly edible. Although we were not charged for her chicken I was still somewhat disappointed in the handling of this, a greater effort could have been made to rescue this situation, especially as my daughters are this restaurant chain's future custom. Other meals just satisfactory tho' choice not great and portions rather 'girly' sized tho my 20 yr old who looks like a matchstick in profile could have done with about half as much again!

Took my mum to Jamie's Kingston for her birthday. I had steak and she had chicken. The steak was nice but I would have expected better quality for £12 and all it came with was a handfull of rocket leaves.

Chips were £2.50 and came in a tiny pot - about 10 chips in total. My mums chicken looked OK at first, until she turned it over and saw that it was completely black, it was supposed to be grilled not chargrilled!

It looked like they had tried to hide it by covering it in sauce and turning it over!She sent it back and they bought out another one - all seemed Ok again until she cut into it and realised it was raw!

She refused to eat anything else in there although they offered us a free dessert and coffee. I must say though the waitress who served us was excellent, she seemed shocked by the incompetence of the chef and was very polite and apologetic, we also spoke to the manager who was very polite.

He seemed like he was used to dealing with complaints. It seems we were lucky with the staff from reading the other reviews!We declined the offer of a free dessert as were worried about the standards of cooking there - I mean chicken is pretty basic!

Our meal and drinks were on the house in the end (we did leave a tip for the waitress), but we really had an awful meal there. I would not reccomend this restaraunt to ANYONE!

I've been there 3 times and ordered the same main course - its never been the same - consistency doesn't exist on their dishes.In one occasion my husband's food was off (his chicken) and had to be sent back (before the waiter tried to tell us that there was nothing wrong with it 3 times). No apologies.

In another occasion my coke was flat and the bar attendant said that was as it should be when you put ice on it. They didn't change it!!

So food has been a hit an miss over time but the worst about this restaurant is the service - they are arrogant, snobby.

they don't possess the words "sorry" or "I apologise" on their dictionaries, they make you feel "allowed to enjoy being there" kind of vibe - like if you had crashed into a VIP area and you don't belong there. Awful.

I have to say 3 times were enough to make my mind up - Jamie, I am sorry but I will never visit your Kingston restaurant again.

If I could give no stars I would. Don't believe the 35 min wait for a table.

It took that long for us to be let into the bar and we finally sat at a table over an hour after we joined the queue.

The attitude of the staff was arrogant and unapologetic - guess that's how they've been trained. Ordered drinks but had to wait 15 mins before they arrived.

Tried to order food only to be told no burgers available as they hadn't been delivered that morning. Couldn't they have told us that when they sat down!

Mushroom starter was so overcooked I had trouble scraping it off the dish. Pork 'thing' for main was indescribably awful and my daughter should have sent it straight back.

Asked for cheese instead of desert and they finally produced exactly the same cheese as we had been given in the starter platter with the addition of some lumps of dry Parmesan and they tried to get us to pay for bread to go with it!

Altogether the worst eating out experience we have had for years.

We finally got to dining at Jamie's Italian in Kingston yesterday, and oh how I wish we hadn't bothered.

The only star I can give is for the quality of the staff (with the exception of the kitchen).

The 'crispy squid' starter was possibly the worst squid I've ever had. Our main was the 10 ounce ribeye steak, and a side order of 'posh chips'.

The steak was way under cooked for what we ordered, and was tougher than I've had in some seedy gastro pubs.

As for the 'posh chips', not only did they look awful, they tasted awful too, despite the best efforts of covering them in Parmesan.

The place may be great if your a pasta foodie, but if you're looking for red meat, forget it!

Went to Jamie's to celebrate our anniversary on Friday 18th September - and I have to say it was one of most enjoyable places I've ever eaten out.

The queue to get in is definately worth it - we waited about half an hour, and we were kept updated by the girl on the door telling us when we could expect a table, which was helpful!

The service was faultless - everyone was friendly and outgoing - there wasn't a member of staff without a smile on their face! The girl who served us knew everything about the food, and was helpful and honest when it came to recommendations.

We ordered fennel & chilli almonds as a nibble to start, at only £1.95 they were a snip- and delicious! We then had the meat anti pasta plank which had all sorts of things on it, and was great to pick at and try a bit of everything!

For mains I had the "Lamb Chop Lollipops" - not really much like lollipops I'll admit, but they were perfectly cooked and just the right portion size. We had a selection of side dishes to accompany the main meal and these included balsamic chick peas, green beans with tomatoes and sauteed new potatoes with rosemary.

It was all so tasty we managed to finish off the lot - my boyfriend had to convince me not to lick clean the chick pea dish, the balsamic sauce was stunning!

For pudding I had the Italian bakewell tart, which was lovely, although I barely had room for it! The evening ended perfectly with cocktails at the bar - I'd recommend the electric punch.

We had a good banter with the bar staff - very chatty and upbeat guys. We even had a little time to admire the decor - we'd barely spotted it during the meal as we were so engrossed! Price-wise it wasnt somewhere I could afford to go too often, but it was well worth it for the experience and the top quality food. I'd definately go there again - I cant wait for a good excuse!

Eaten there today, ordered a Risotto without looking at the menu only to be told that they don't do risotto on the basis it's to stereotypical Italian.

I would refer you to the name of the restaurant "Jamie's Italian" This is a restaurant that will do you half a dozen different pastas presumably on the basis that pasta is not stereotypical Italian?

I suspect the reason is that a good risotto requires skill and timing rather than the glib, condescending, arrogant, conceited, patronising response given by the waiter.

This truly is a dreadful "Jamie knows best little restaurant" a big fish in a small pond (Kingston).

Do yourself a favour and don't feed the ego.

We have dined at this restaurant several times since it opened. Unfortunately our family and also many of our friends believe quality have declined tremendously.

After our experience tonight neither of us will EVER visit this restaurant again. One main course (chicken) was off and the smell ruined the evening for everybody at the table.

After complaining, the 22 year old inexperienced manager still tried to convince all of us that there was nothing wrong.

Quality of meals is not good and very inconsistent. This was one of the worst dining experiences we have had in a very long time.

The bill and also a 20 percent tip was paid without making a fuss (the waiters are not the chef/manager/Jamie Oliver after all) but never again.

Was looking forward to this, supposedly a world renown chef's restaurant that i was expecting obviously far too much from.

I think you can tell by my tone this didn't go well!

Firstly, at this restaurant you can not book a table, therefore requiring patrons to stand outside, the queue was not all bad but to be honest this system doesn't work as it just annoys everyone who turns up.

Anyway a minor point. Sitting at the table, the service took far too long, it took 30 minutes just to order a drink and even then the wine ordered medium priced on the menu was OK, but at 17 quid a bottle, i could have done better down at tescos with a fiver!

On the subject of food, as going to a restaurant does typically require you to eat something.

Starters was .... er.... how best to describe this, bland and a major disappointment, the highlights included a brick imitating the bruschetta and a mushroom dish (baked chestnut mushrooms with smoked scamorza cheese), that was just a bowl of boiled mushrooms.

The cheese just appeared to be a black, yellow and crusty residue on the side of the plate imitating deformed plastic.

Mains..... Oh the real high-light..... my "Jamies Flash Steak" appeared to have been taken from the road outside.

it is apparently beaten to make it tender, this was pulverised, looking as though it had been run over by a lorry, chewed up by a rabid dog and then plonked on my plate.

The salsa was a joke comprising of 4 tomatoes.
The green salad, was even funnier, with basically some tesco's lettuce thrown in with some nasty gloop that i think was supposed to be Caesar, god knowswhere that came from.

I could go on here but to be honest the memories are making me start to feel sick again as I have been off work for the last 5 days with food poisoning.

Thanks for the 40 quid a head pile of crap, I shall not be frequenting again.

Fantastic! What a great time we had there yesterday to celebrate my son's birthday who is a huge Jamie fan .

I had read the reviews on here on Friday and what some of the people we saying I just cannot understand.Firstly I must say what a brilliant child friendly restaurant!

Well done Jamie for thinking about the little ones. We had my 2 1/2 year old grandson with us and everything from the time we went in to the time we left he was made to feel as welcome as the rest of us.

As soon as we we sat down paper and crayons were put in front of him and the viewfinder for the kid's menu was a dream as it kept him amused for ages while we chose from the menu. Brilliant idea!

The atmosphere was really great all the staff so very friendly particularly our waitress who was really lovely and very attentive to our needs.

She knew everthing about the menu and told us without us even having to ask about the different aspects of the menu.

When the food arrived we were not at all disappointed. I have to recommend the meat plank which was put in the middle of the table where everyone could help themselves. The flavours were out of this world.

A good way to start your meal for everyone to dip in even my little grandson loved it.The main course and pasta dishes were so very flavoursome, lovely fresh flavours and very hot which makes a real change especially as it was Sunday lunch time and very busy.

Some restaurants we have been to you find they have been waiting on the pass for ages. But not here!

Desserts and coffee were exactly the same all tasty and fresh!

When the bill arrived I thought it was very good not at all over priced and in real keeping with the good excellent produced food we received.

A brilliant time was had by all and we will most definitely be returning here in the very near future.Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!

Excellent. I cannot understand the moaning.This is great produce, excellent cuisine.

Proper Italian food. The first time that I went Genaro was there, what a guy!!

I love that you can see the food being prepared in the kitchens too. for the record, portion sizes are fine.

Totally adequate. It is not the place to go for a total pig out, that would be an "all you can eat" place, but, this is quality, excellence and fabulous service all in one.

I have been 4 times and always been impressed. The wine is great too, and the staff fabulous. I really cannot understand the moans.

I am British but have been to Italy on over a dozen occasions so can vouch for the authenticity of the food. Go there, is my advice....

Very disappointing. Very expensive for what was served-up. Service Good. My wife and I went to the Restaurant on Friday, early evening, 17-4-2009.

The food was generally uninspiring and we had issues especially with the Sirloin Steak, although cooked medium to rare, was tough gristly and virtually tasteless.

It came with a few salad leaves which were drowned in lemon juice and you had to order chips separately. The prawn linguine was bland and had bits of Pawns, not a whole one to be seen.

For Dessert, Genaro's tart was inedible and the pastry base was only partially cooked, my ice cream consisted of three of the smallest blobs of various flavours I have ever been presented with.

Our expectations were sadly extinguished. I have never written a restaurant review before but feel obligated to do this to alleviate other potential victims from suffering the same experience as us.

I always have liked Jamie from his early days as "The Naked Chef" but not all people are representative of their on-screen persona.

We went on Easter Monday for dinner. We only had to wait 20 minutes, but it was exactly a busy time to go.

We ordered the meat plank for starter which had a selection of meats and cheese... very nice.

I then ordered the Spaghetti Bolognese as a main course (£9.95), there was an option to have it as a starter for £6.95 but I was hungry.

Well... the portion was tiny. I finished after about two minutes and a few puzzled questions to a couple of the waitresses asking if they had mistakenly given me the starter.

I wasn't offered any explanation other than "well it fills me up". This was very dissapointing and not what I would expect from Jamie Oliver.

I shall not be going back or recommending to anyone.Not value for money and certainly no value put on customer satisfaction.

The staff knew we were not satisfied but did or said nothing.I see from other reviews that there is definitely a problem with small portion size... C'mon Jamie sort it out.

Visited Jamies Italian on 5th April, I have to say I was not particularly impressed. Food was average, many of the dishes on the menu weren't available, other dishes turned up with ingredients missing or substituted without prior warning.

Portions were small.Price was OK but I feel there are other Italian restaurants in Kingston which are far better value and which serve better, tastier food.

Service was good, the staff were helpful and friendly and were able to answer questions we had regarding the menu (what was left of it anyway)Not a restaurant I would recommend.

Have had better meals in McDonalds! and thats saying something as i cant stand that place!

Had a table booked 3 weeks ago for 14 people as it was my birthday.

When we were all seated, we were told that they had no chicken, no burgers and no prawns!

What a shambles! I was quite looking forward to trying the chicken and all the guys wanted a burger! Typical!

so couple of us has steak, pathetic portion and covered in gristle! Everything was so bland!

I had a chocolate fondant, as, once again, they didnt have the chocolate brownie! The fondant was bland and dry!

they then added service charge on to the total bill, which we didnt pay, to which they asked, why isnt all the money there?! Cheek!

Felt like saying, Why isnt all the food there! over rated poor food! I expected alot better from Jamie Oliver!

Having eaten here twice before and having good meals we decided to take some visiting family members to Jamies.

Unfortunately the honeymoon period is definitely over.

On previous visits we received attentive service and good portions, but now it seems the staff have been cut back as have the size of the servings.

This time the service was non existent. We saw our waitress twice. When we ordered and when she brought over the bill.

We had two children with us both of which ordered spaghetti bolognese. When my pasta main arrived the serving was smaller than the childs portion.

It was also bland and tasteless. I had finished my main course by the time that the wine we'd ordered with the meal finally turned up.

The whole ambiance has changed from fun and friendly to hectic and rushed.I have spoken to other people since who have had exactly the same experience of bad service and lean portions. service or quality. A real pity as this was a good restaurant when it first opened.

It seems that this restaurant has now become a money making machine with no concern for

Went on Saturday to Kingston and decided to check out Jamies Italian. We went in about 5.45pm and got seated straightaway. When we came out two hours later the queue was snaking around the corner.

I reckon 5.30 to 6 ish would be the best time.Opting for the traditional Italian five courses - breads, anti, pasta, main and dessert - proved to be a totally stunning experience.

Food was delicious, service was friendly and the atmosphere great. I cannot fault this dining experience and can't wait to go again.

I have to say, I have recently visited Jamie's Italian in Kingston for the 5th time since it has opened and once again, both myself and my boyfriend (finally convinced him he would forget the cold weather whilst queing once we were in!) had a brilliant experience.

The food and service has been consistent throughout my visits, hence the fact that I continue to return. My most recent visit on Valentine's evening was again great with a few added extras- chocolate covered strawberries whilst we waited in the que and rose petals adorning the tables.

I had the most amazing cocktail with a beautiful flower in the glass which was even edible! I do not believe anywhere else in Kingston combines the relaxed dining atmosphere, pre dinner drinks (any cocktail you fancy they will make just for you), portion sizes and reasonable prices in one experience.

You certainly wouldn't find home made pasta or fresh daily fish in Stada and Carluccio's. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.I always feel from the moment I arrive, the door staff are so welcoming and friendly and make you feel at ease; even with the wait ahead and console the hunger you may feel with nibbles and hot drinks outside.

The bar staff are great and accomodating whilst the wait staff are so cheerful and knowledgeable it brightens my evening knowing there are still some happy, non complaining souls in the world.

If the reason you cant book puts you off- dont let it. Once you are in, you're there for the night if you like. No bookings=no turnover time!All in all a great experience. Being a little cramped is just a better excuse to meet a new friend at the next table.

I urge you all to give Strada and Carluccio's a miss. Just wrap up warm!