One of the more popular restaurants to reach our shores is the famous "Jamie's Italian". Located in the heart of the city, on King William Street, it's become a very trendy hot spot which requires a booking a month in advance for dinner parties or fancier dates. But because I have super savvy friend who wanted to treat me for my birthday, we simply walked in at 5pm without a booking! Talk about feeling like a VIP! Haha
 |
| I'm so fancy, you already know! |
We started off browsing through the very elaborate and fancy menu, all the while I was amazed with the very New York Jewish Deli vibe that was going on. There are very rustic tables and chairs for dining, as well as 'meat bar' where guests can sit and taste a variety of different cured meats that hang from the rails above them. The kitchen is in clear view towards the back with all the chefs looking calm and collected as they create dishes from scratch. The architecture of the building itself was amazingly ornate and still in perfectly restored condition.
Eating out is sometimes an issue for me as I have a few food allergies, but a lot of the time I just put up with it to be able to enjoy myself while I'm out haha.
We started off with an Italian bread selection which came with a variety of different breads baked fresh daily and served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. I love me some fresh bread, and despite my digestive system's aversion to gluten, I had no issues eating any of the selections and enjoyed it thoroughly! Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of this as I was starving and it looked far too good to pause for snaps haha. But the great thing about this starter is that for every one sold, the restaurant donates $1 to Jamie's Ministry of Food campaign! And of course, we had to get some cocktails! Your home girl looooves herself some Mojito's!
 |
| Not my photo, but damn son! Could it get any better? |
After a very hard decision, I settled on a pasta dish for my main! I'm usually not a fan of restaurant pasta dishes as they are usually covered in a very thick tomato based sauce and the pasta itself is very heavy and leaves me feeling bloated and quite sick (again, gluten allergies are a pain!). But this Lamb and Ricotta Tortellini was so light and fluffy that by the time I finished, I felt like I could have eaten more! I think the pasta itself being freshly made on site definitely helps and makes it easier to digest without all the added additives that you get from the processed store bought pasta. The tortellini parcels were stuffed with lamb, ricotta, mint, lemon, and bread crumbs. The sauce was so delicate and light that I almost wish I had a tiny bit more (which is rare for me considering I avoid most tomato based pastas as a majority of them are drowning in the thick gluginess!). It was so beautifully presented and I would definitely order it again! There were so many different textures and flavours melding together that my palette was excited with every bite.
My friend ordered the Baked King Salmon, and while I'm not usually big on salmon steaks, it looked very tasty. Her only complaint was that it wasn't quite filling enough, so maybe if it came with another side or was on a bed of mashed vegetables it would have been 5 stars instead of 4 haha.
 |
| Little baby pockets of goodness. Yes please! |
Once we had filled our bellies with our very gourmet dinners, we lamented on whether we should get a dessert to share.. I mean... when in Rome, right? (Well... Jamie's Italian haha.)
We were tossing up between the Lemon Meringue Pie and the Epic Chocolate Brownie, and we had a very "why not get both?" moment... so we did!
 |
| I'm sorry, but can you say "heaven"?! |
Being an avid lover of anything that contains the words "brownie" and "dessert" I had very high standards for this first dessert... and they were blown way out of the water! I felt like I had jumped into a pool of chocolatey heaven and I never wanted to leave. It was so rich and yet wasn't too overpowering. The outside had the perfect crunch and the inside was so gooey and moist that every bite was mouth watering. It was covered in a chocolate fudge-like sauce, amaretto ice-cream and caramelised popcorn which just added to the whole experience happening in my mouth!
 |
| What diet...? |
Now, I love lemon meringue pie as much as the next person, and this dish did not disappoint. The lemon pie itself had that lemony zest to it you'd expect, but it was super light and creamy so it wasn't like you were being hit in the face with a citrus-y burst and overload of sugar (which is common for most of the LMP's I've sampled in my lifetime haha... look me, sounding like some sort of food connoisseur!). The meringue was more of a cream, yet was still light and fluffy and sooo decadent, and was topped off with sprinkles of pistachio brittle. I thought this was such a great take on the classic LMP, but I do have to agree with my friend and thought that there was a whole lot of meringue for not a lot of lemon pie! But then again, we did technically have two desserts, so maybe if this was the only one you chose it wouldn't feel too much for you and would be perfectly balanced.
And now for something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
The moment we walked in, my friend told me I HAD to see the bathrooms before we left and explained that it's very different to anything I would have seen before. My father is a plumber (as was his father before him) and so bathrooms are a pretty big part of my life haha so I'm always a huge fan of unique bathrooms and judge a place accordingly, especially in restaurants or venues (if you've ever visited Boho Bar, you'll know it's the perfect selfie destination and beautifully decked out in a unique way... that's my jam right there! haha). So after we finished our meal and paid (I'd just like to mention that our waitress was super helpful, friendly and nice and probably gave us the best service I think I've experienced in a long time!), we ventured down the winding staircase into...
 |
| Take a walk inside my time machine. Jess makes a sneaky appearance. |
That's right, the old bank vaults! They had turned this historic site into a restaurant and kept the original vaults as bathroom cubicles. The cream bars separated each area in a very unique way and the "powder room" still contained an original vault for decoration.
 |
| To jail with you, Missy! Arrested for being over-indulgent and yet not gaining a pound. |
All the mirrors and faucets were very vintage looking and it felt like we were being transported to a different era.
 |
| But first... let me take a selfie! |
Of course this made for a perfect selfie photo-op. Because, I mean... why not?
I had such an amazing birthday overall, surrounded by my family and friends and was so overly spoilt this year! I honestly didn't expect to receive anything or to be so surrounded by love and support for turning 23 and feeling like an old woman! haha
I posted my birthday "haul" on my instagram, but I may do a brief post on here as well, despite being a month late... but that's how we do here on Beauty and the Chic :P
I'd also like to thank my friend immensely for sharing such a great experience with me and for forever being there for me and pushing me to try new things hahah
I think what's the funniest part, though, is that just a few days earlier Kim and Kanye were wining and dining in the same room, and there I was feeling like a fab 23 year old with my bestie by my side enjoying some great food for just over $50 and yet being more well-liked by the waitress than the rich and famous ;P goes to show that fame isn't everything... always treat your servers like your best friends and you'll get amazing service :)
And remember, ladies and gentlemen... Tip your waitresses ;)
------------------------------------------
That's all for me for this post! I hope you enjoyed something a bit different for today's post! As I've said before, this is also a lifestyle blog so from time-to-time I might talk about different gems I discover throughout Adelaide. I recently reached 400 followers on instagram (which may not seem like a lot to some people, but I was literally so ecstatic that I threw a private party of one in my bedroom haha) and it was the push I needed to get back into blogging for cereal this time. I think once I reach 500 followers I may do a mini giveaway to coincide with my YouTube channel to give me yet another motivational push to actually edit and upload the videos I've filmed. So if you haven't already, head on over to instagram or YouTube and follow me if you'd like to see more :) I'm @hannahkate04 everywhere, so easy enough to find :P
Hope to see you all in the next post, and thank you for 400 insta-followers!!!
Peace and love,
Hannah Kate <3 xoxo
------------------------------------------
