I found myself in Birmingham – the land of pleasant taxi drivers, balti houses and a growing culinary scene – not so long ago. I was up there for an Arcade Fire gig (there were only seated tickets left at the 02 and I’d rather snog Brian Blessed than sit down to Arcade Fire) but of course we wanted to make the most of some Brummy hospitality before the big show. My first thoughts went to Glynn Purnell‘s new place The Asquith – his French neighbourhood restaurant in Edgbaston which has already wowed the local critics, but we were arriving at an odd time and needed to be at the venue by just-gone seven, so anything on the fine dining spectrum wasn’t really an option.

Instead we opted for the new Jamie’s Italian at the Bullring in the city centre. I’d still never eaten in any of Jamie Oliver‘s restaurants and was interested to see for myself how the most recent outpost of his Italian casual dining chain (which was a convenient five minute cab ride from our Ramada Encore hotel) would fare. This is a man whose 30 Minute Meals cookbook recently became the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time, and there’s no doubting the power, influence and affluence of the guy, but what of his restaurants?

His latest addition certainly doesn’t scrimp on the visuals. Part of the city’s massive shopping hub complex, it’s got a vast, impressive industrial chic interior – all gleaming metal pipes, wooden floors and exposed light bulbs – and the whole space dominated by a huge, striking chandelier. There’s faded tan leather banquettes, a long open kitchen at the back with the chefs in full view, and a mezzanine level with rather posh Thomas Crapper facilities.

As soon as we arrived we greeted by the front of house team, who seemed to have already bedded-in pretty well, and shown to our table by our waiter, “Patrick”. I’m still not sure how I feel about having the first name of your waiter drilled into you (am I supposed to introduce myself too?), but for the record, Patrick was fabulous. After bringing us the obligatory glass of Prosecco, we ordered a seasonal ‘plank’ of Italian charcuterie to start with (anything that merges construction lexicon and pig products is fine by me.)

Shortly afterwards he followed with said plank – strewn with hams, salami, cheese, olives and all sorts of rustic goodies. Stand-outs were the fennel salami, pistachio mortadella and soft, melty San Daniele prosciutto. Seasonal pickled veg added a piquant twist and huge, juicy olives were devoured in seconds. At £6.95 each, it was an absolute steal and the best part of the meal.

For our main courses we’d both gone for pasta, with the philosophy that any restaurant group building its whole brand around Italian cooking had to be serving some properly unbeatable pasta dishes. I’m sorry to say that we were wrong. Before I get into this, I just want to make it clear that I’m not a part of the Jamie-bashing massive. I’ve liked the chef since he first appeared on our screens as a hyper-active, scooter-riding, market trader bothering young thing back in the late 90s, and I think that he actually deserves commending, rather than criticising for the culinary do-gooding he’s done in recent years.

But our pasta dishes didn’t sing as I’d hoped they would. I ordered rabbit ragu parpadelle (£11.35), the ragu of which came sans tomato – letting the lovely flavour of the slow-braised wild rabbit shine through. On the flipside though, it was rather dry, and could have done with a bit more mascarpone/olive oil to lubricate it. But it was the parpadelle that was the real problem. I was expecting smooth sheets of buttery pasta, but instead got a strangely frilly variant (below), which, when mixed with the too-dry ragu, made for a claggy mouth-feel.

My chum had gone for the cockle linguine (below) – which is made simply with chilli and garlic. The problem with dishes like that is that they have to be really, really excellent to avoid just being a bowl of boiled pasta with a smattering of cockles. Sadly this was the latter. It wasn’t unpleasant – according to my friend – rather it lacked flavour and sparkle and again, seemed rather sticky and heavy.  The cockles were fresh, juicy, and nicely-cooked, she said, but the rest of the dish didn’t demand to be savoured. Which it should,  for £13.35.

It’s not that either of our main courses were particularly nasty. It’s more that they were underwhelming and lacked the deliciousness you’d expect from a pasta dish in a great Italian restaurant. That said, considering that this is Italian food aimed at the masses, the menu isn’t run-of-the-mill. Scallop and squid ink angel hair (£13.90) sounded lovely, as did Buffalo ricotta ravioli (£10.55), and most of it, while not hugely cheap, seems fairly priced. The carafe of buttery, unoaked organic Chardonnay that we enjoyed was a joy, as was the service throughout the meal.

Jamie’s Italian is a good thing for Birmingham. It’s a stylish, spacious restaurant with efficient, friendly service and decent Italian food – the perfect place to drop in for a quick, tasty lunch with a bunch of mates if you’re in town, or indeed on your way to a gig. But celebrity-chef endorsed or not, it’s a fast-paced, big operation, and if it’s magical, authentic Italian food you’re after, I’d suss out something smaller and Italian-run.