Jamie Oliver's Fifteen

I grew up watching Jamie Oliver on television. I enjoyed watching him because he had a passion for food, a passion that was catching, it spilled out of the television screen and inspired me to want to learn to cook. 

This week has been a busy one, so I was excited on Tuesday to go along to Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant for dinner. Nothing relaxes me more than food. 

Fifteen was set up in 2002 as a social enterprise that uses the wonder and magic of food to help unemployed people find their start in life, with the ultimate hope of a better future. They are part of Fifteen's apprenticeship programme. 

Every year, Fifteen recruits 18 young people 18 - 25 years of age and trains then to become professional chefs. 

My evening begins with a Southside gin aperitif, Beefeater gin, mint, sugar and fresh lime juice and angostura bitters. 

It has just the right balance of sharpness from the lime, bitterness and sweetness from the mint. 

Fifteen is  entirely different to Jamie's Italian restaurant, which I have previously visited. Fifteen has a sharper interior. 

The overall feeling from staff is a relaxed and welcoming dinning experience.  

The menu is changed daily and is a modern take on British food. We begin our meal with fresh warm baked bread. 

We opt for three sharing plates for our starter. First up beef and barley buns and horseradish cream (£5). 

Pictures cannot do these beauties justice, the filling was so delicious, rich beef and the horseradish cream was the perfect accompaniment. They remind me of luxury Cornish pasties. 

Our second starter dish... 

Cured Mackerel with crème fraiche (£9). My dining partner loved this dish. 

Third dish to share was cured pork loin, truffles, walnut and pickled walnut (£11). Well this was what the menu said but whilst there was definitely cured pork loin, there was no real taste of truffle or walnuts in this dish. 

Truffle has a wonderful and unmistakably taste. As you know it is an ingredient that I love cooking with. 

Whilst the pork was nice the remaining part of the dish was underwhelming and lacked flavour. 

Next it was onto picking the mains and to be honest the daily menu had lots of food that I would have happily eaten. 

As a chicken lover the option however for the pair of us was an easy choice. Rotisserie of herb fed chicken, crispy potato cake and aioli (£40 for 2 people).  

The chicken was cooked to perfection, skin crispy but the inner bird moist. The addition of the aioli finished the dish with a wonderful creaminess.  

Overall a wonderful meal, that was tasty and was reasonably priced for central London. 

This is one restaurant that I will definitely be coming back too for a quick drink or relaxing meal. 

www.fifteen.net