Jamie's Italian, Canberra

Still doing a roaring trade, the general public's appetite for anything Jamie Oliver seems to be insatiable. A busy, bustling place with lots going on, very much like the man himself.

It's been a while since the original The Naked Chef appeared and the boyish Jamie Oliver certainly looks more lived-in now on the very many photos you see of him on every product that is remotely to do with food. Including, but not limited to, a hand knitted tea cozy, a foldable barbecue cleaning brush and seed potatoes. I sort of wonder when harvested, will his image be on the potato? That would be both cool and impressive – I'd buy that.

So there is no doubting his commercial reach and viability – it's huge, just below God and Beyonce. How is his restaurant chain, Jamie's Italian going these days?  My other question is, are people queuing for the quality of the product here or just because they are one step closer to the man himself?

There are a lot of props here, the hams, the cheese and the tins of D.O.P. tomatoes that prop up the planks of antipasti. Do they use these San Marzano tomatoes in the cooking?

This plank which contains four meats, cheese, some olives and pickles is pretty damn good I have to say, at just 14 bucks a person, it is well selected and presented. San Daniele prosciutto, Wagyu bresaola, salami and mortadella, a lovely wedge of salty pecorino and some little balls of buffalo curd, the pickled chillies are a highlight as are the gaeta olives.

It's a lovely arrangement as are the "world's best olives" ($6.50). These plump, chilled green olives are pretty good, they could be the best in the world, big call. Served with a nicely put together tapenade and crispy music paper bread makes for a dish that is both terrific value and ... "Service!", the chef yells. Oh, OK the room is getting busier. Where was I? Yes, a great dish for the price. Also the little pot-sticker-like three cheese gnocchi on a chunky tomato sauce ($10) is very pleasant and tasty.

This is all washed down with a glass of Poggiotondo vermentino ($12). For a limited wine list, I quite like the range of value-for-money regional styles. This vermentino has texture and flavour, nutty with a nice balance of acid, very food-oriented as you'd expect. It handles all these salty, oily foods we've just powered on through.

The sous/head chef is getting more vocal in his staffing demands – I'm wondering if a bell might help him rather than interrupting our conversation. I sort of expect the plentiful wait staff to be not far away anyway – it's not like they've popped out for a treatment during service. But the good news is that you know when you meals are coming, and here they are.

A steak, a bone-in prime strip loin ($32), is excellent, served simply with a chopped salad, but cooked perfectly to their recommended medium rare (it being on the bone and needing to be cooked past rare). It's beefy with loads of flavour. A classic simple Italian bistecca.

Tuscan boar sausage ($25) is clearly something I would order. Served on lentils - sure, sounds even better. I wonder if the Tuscan boar is anything like our local wild boars, which are scary on every level, even when passed through a mincer. This spiral of thin sausage is more boerewors than the thick sausage expected. The chef has cut into it in places too. Not sure what they were looking for, as it's clearly cooked – overly so, I'm thinking. It seems quite dry and really doesn't carry a "boar" gamey flavour. The lentils for me are watery, under-seasoned,. I really would expect richness here in some form.

Wild game ragu pipe ($14.50 entree size) - granted the menu doesn't specify which wild game this is, so I'd be just guessing, but I can't quite picture anything fleet of foot or wing here. It's vaguely meaty. Again, the sauce is light - it hasn't that rich, cooked-down flavour and texture I'm expecting from a game dish. The pipe pasta is doing a good job sucking up this sauce, but I question the intensity. Agreeable sure, nice even, but not doing it for me.

La Mozza morellino ($11.50 glass) is very pleasant, with a slight gamey angle, and shows how much flavour Italians can pack into a very affordable wine.

The service goes a bit distant, they appear to be full as expected. We have to flag down a running waiter for desserts in the end. She doesn't seem too happy for the distraction so, without keeping her, we order the first thing on the dessert menu, tiramisu, ($11) - the classic, if not overdone, Italian coffee and sponge dessert.

The meal did start out so well, but this tiramisu is so far from what I'd rave about. Where's the richness of espresso coffee, where's the creaminess of the mascarpone custard? The half spoon of dry cream cheese on top of the layered cake-like arrangement is disappointing.

As far as a chain restaurant goes, this is fine and certainly good value - cheerful, some solid dishes, but really not hitting the highs enough tonight for a memorable experience, if that's the plan.