The weekend before last, to celebrate Thomas turning a quarter of a century, we were kindly invited along to test out the rather impressive looking Jamie’s Italian Bristol, situated at the top of Park St. I’d been along to the equally beautiful one in Cheltenham, but had never popped in here before, so was looking forward to seeing what this branch had to offer.

After a few quick drinks in the Christmas Steps, myself, Thomas and his parents trekked up the hill to test out their menu on a surprisingly busy Sunday evening. The restaurant is much bigger than I had anticipated, stretching over four floors, with a lovely bar area if you fancy a drink and a quick nibble. We were shown to our table by a very friendly waiter, hastily ordered a bottle of wine and perused the menu.

To start, we chose a massive butternut bruschetta and some of the ‘Italian nachos’ to share between us. The bruschetta was fantastic, but completely overshadowed by this other brand new creation – pulled pork inside a crispy ravioli shell, with a smoky chipotle tomato dipping sauce. Everyone agreed that it was absolutely amazing.

Our main courses didn’t disappoint, either. I chose a vegetarian main course, because I’m a firm believer in testing the quality of the restaurant on the effort they put in to their veggie options. I was pleased to see that they also offer vegan dishes, although you have to have a bit of a chat to the waiter about these. I had a porcini fettuccine (which sounds delightful when you say it out loud), which came with a spoonful of lemony crumbs to sprinkle on top. It was delicious – all my favourite things on a plate!

Tom surprised me and went for a salad, but to his credit, it was full of beef. Beautiful, delicate strips of bresaola and a substantial salad of leaves, artichoke, Colwick cheese, crushed almonds and ricotta – amazing! Tom’s dad went for one of the specials on that evening – a whole sea bass served with mussels and crispy potatoes. I’m a bit funny about fish, but apparently it was delicious. Tom’s mum went for one of her faves, calve’s liver and bacon with mash, which she really enjoyed. All in all, we were very pleased with our mains, and even more so with the lovely waiter chap who kept checking that everything was OK (and more importantly, topping up our diminishing drinks).

Not satisfied with our bellies being stuffed with delicious grub, we ordered a couple of puddings to share between us. We went for a sour cherry and almond tart (another two of my favourite things) and the lemon meringue cheesecake, topped with a beautiful layer of fluffy marshmallow-y meringue. They were both absolutely incredible, and we polished them off no problem!

We were really impressed with Jamie’s Italian in Bristol, the service was absolutely faultless, the restaurant was beautifully decorated (the toilets were the fanciest things I have ever seen!) and we chose some really amazing dishes, which all added up to a fantastic evening out. If you haven’t yet been up to the restaurant on Park St then I urge you to do so – you won’t be disappointed!

[I was invited to review this restaurant, but all opinions are my own]