Carluccio’s

This is the only Carluccio’s that was decent to come to. Having eaten at several others both in & out of London, I’d slowly realised that the quality of food at Carluccio’s is well below average. I’d say it’s the equivalent of Burger King for Italian food.
However, I’ve been coming to the Islington branch for several years now, and believed it to be the only Carluccio’s worth coming to. Alas, not anymore. Tonight I ordered from the set menu and had the calamari and the chef’s special Chicken & Spinach risotto. The calamari were rubbery and the risotto was far from special, it was well undercooked and so I requested to have it changed. The second time around, whilst now it was better cooked, it was ridiculously salty and lacked any depth of flavour. I sent it back and didn’t order anything else.
Our waitress was at least very apologetic. I really doubt I’ll be coming back anytime soon, and if I do return, the only dish which I think is really worth having is the Giardinera. Everything else I’ve eaten here is simply an insult to Italian food.

What a suprise. I really enjoyed this meal. The prociutto was lean and tasty. The main course was chicken milanese. Spaghetti was not overcooked.
Gelati was smooth and silky but the pana cotta wasn’t up to the usual standard.
Overall a wonderful experience. Please go to this branch and find out for your self.

I don’t know why, but I have never been to Carluccio’s. To be honest, I didn’t visit any chain Italian restaurants until October 2013.
Chicken Liver Pâté was absolutely flawless. It had the wonderful texture and was full of flavour. Milanese di Pollo was also fantastic. It was fried to perfection and wasn’t greasy. Linguine al Fruitti di Mare was very pleasant, full of flavour and was very tasty.
Panna Cotta had strange flavour. It was supposed to have rum but I gather vanilla bean added a chemical note.
Arabica Coffee Gelato had very intense flavour, and Raspberry & Ricotta Gelato was pleasant.
The service was friendly and attentive, and their set menu (3 courses for £14.45) was an excellent value. We were glad they had skilled chef at this branch. They also had extensive deli section.

Popped in on a Saturday late afternoon to escape the rain and to catch up with a friend. We had checked out a couple of other places down Upper Street but everywhere was busy and we didn’t want to have to shout over the noise of other people’s chatter.
Carluccio’s was quiet, not packed but busy enough, and roomy. Food was okay — I had the risotto balls, a pink grapefruit juice and affogato. Service for the most part was good — waitstaff were nice, but everything seemed to take awhile, and I’m not sure if it was because they didn’t want to interrupt our conversation, or they were just slow.
Overall, nice enough place, not too pricey and not too busy.

I’ve always liked Carluccio’s! This time I had pretty much a seafood platter, it was very tasty and came with garlic Mayo but was so much fish it was a bit overwhelming. My dessert. Was. The. Nicest. Thing. I’ve. Had. In. Ages. It was raspberry meringue with passion fruit cream and I can’t even tell you in writing how amazing it was. You’ll just have to try it yourself.

Nice location, good service, quality food, nice atmosphere, but very expensive for the food sold, not value for money in my opinion, portion sizes was also small, if you fancy a classy place to eat food for show rather than value for money then it would be a 3 star, but if you want value for money i am afraid its a 1 star.

First, be forewarned, this is the most popular place for families on a Sunday. More than 50% of the tables had kids. Not my way of enjoying a Sunday morning.
The service was shite – they just get handle Sunday brunch and aloof service doesn’t help. I was waving like I was hailing a cab in midtown NY on a rainy day.
A fried egg with some pancetta and a boring piece of white bread. That was breakfast. For 7 quid. Bummer.

I stopped into the Islington branch unexpectedly today because the partner wanted something «light». Well a glass of wine, bruchetta, spinach and ricotta raviolis, and chocolate bread pudding later, we left.
The bruchetta was very nice and felt fresh. The ravioli was decent but by no means the best I’ve ever had. I shared the bread pudding which was alright. Bread pudding is nice on its own– leave the chocolate out of it!
The service was competent, and the waiter good looking (not that this is of any importance).
Would I return, probably not because there are so many other options in the area which are better, but there are FAR worse places to eat.

All I wanted was a hot choc to go. I think I waited 10minutes to be served and it only took them 30 seconds to make the bloody things.
Service ruined it all for me :-(
Hot choc was good though :-)

Atmosphere was okay, food not that great.
Food:
— Smoked duck salad was mediocre — I expected pieces of duck, not thin slices that looked like prosciutto. And it wasn’t really a salad of mixed greens, it was more a marinated-​green beans with olives and sliced duck.
— Bread tin I ordered tasted stale.
Service was somewhat slow. More heavy-​fare here, staff seemed overwhelmed.

Sit yer’self down lil Unilocalersnappers, Mama’s ’bout to tell you a story about a silly American whom, for the purpose of anonymity, we’ll call, umm, Maura.
Maura raved on and on about this «quaint little Italian spot on Upper Street,» how she couldn’t resist the amazing display of meats and cheeses, the homemade pastas, the marinating mushrooms and olives, the array of imported olive oils… and how this must be one of London’s hidden gems. (These thoughts involved multiple pats on the back and air high fives to herself.)
Ooooo child, was Lau, I mean, Maura ever wrong. Unfortunately, her process of discovery involved seeing her «quaint little Italian spot» nestled nicely between Carphone Warehouse and The Body Shop at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. And not even inside security… we’re talking smack dab in the middle of the public check in area. She then made the fateful decision to scope for potential websites (little gems like this probably won’t even have a website, she naively thought…)
Not only does Carluccio’s have a very well designed, user friendly and rather smart website, but it has 10 locations in central London, and additional locations in the following «hidden» spots:
Berkshire
Bristol
Cambridgeshire
East Sussex
Greater London
Hertfordshire
Kent
Leicester
Oxfordshire
Surrey
Warwickshire
United Arab Emirates
Ireland
Yes. United Arab Emirates.
All this said, you can’t take away the fact that a major International mega caffé such as this is able to maintain the feel of a small Italian shop and deli. And I’ll, I mean, she’ll continue popping by for free wine tastings, tasty homemade pastas, succulent fish, and imported olive oils to her heart’s content.
Cause perception is reality, right?

On Monday I had the joy of setting up a trade show at the nearby BDC and as a treat for all our hard work our boss took us to this lovely little place. Back story over it’s time now for my standard restaurant review lay out.
Setting — Nice setting, tables were a good size and the overall feel of the place was relaxed and warm
Service — Friendly chatty service who were very accommodating and there to help.
Food — I had a starter of mushroom & bacon soup which was divine and very worth its price. My main meal a Lasagne which was nearly perfect, a bit more meat would have made this a great lasagne, but that’s a little quibble which did not harm the overall meal. The mixed salad was ok, a bit heavy on the peppers and not enough red onion. Desert was a delicious chocolate bread and butter pudding with real vanilla ice cream, wish I had been able to get more of it to take home, I defiantly recommend this item.
Overall — I would go here again if in the area and say it’s worth checking out for a casual meal though not a big meal out.

TWO WORDS: CHOCOLATE BREAD.
A friend and I just randomly ended up here while strolling around upper st. (Side Note: Upper St is the BEST place to stroll on a sunny Saturday morning… coffee in hand — or stop by one of the cute trendy restaurants for breakfast, and then stroll around and window shop in the boutiques. Ahhh I LOVE IT!)
We didn’t realize this was a chain until after we ate here. I can’t remember what it’s called but I ordered the fried spinach with pasta and the cream sauce. The spinach was absolutely DELICIOUS (I think it would even fly with people who don’t necessarily LOVE spinach like I do), however the sauce was a little dry — tasty — but dry.
We decided to get dessert — chocolate bread! We had no idea how this was going to turn out but we decided to try it anyway… and it was
.ZING! Really soft and doughy. more like a pancake with swirls of chocolate. And it came with ice cream. DELICIOUS!
I also really liked the set up and décor of this place. which is what I think drew me to this restaurant in the first place. I’m a sucker for olive oil and pasta… and they have a display of this in the front window. which makes it look like a trendy slash organic type of place. It’s very modern but comfy — kind of like you’re in your friends well decorated country home. =) Bonus points just because it’s on Upper St. Hurrah

Antonio Carluccio’s cookery book sits proudly on my shelf at home, complete with folded down pages and tomato stains and it is one of my favourites. Maybe this explains why I am so underwhelmed with the Carluccio’s chain, it just doesn’t seem to have any of the same character that the man or his recipes do.
The deli at the front of the Islington branch is quite pleasant and offers a substantial selection of fresh and store cupboard favourites. Wooden beams cross the ceiling and dishes of olive oil and bread tempt you to try them. Venture to the restaurant at the back of the room and this finesse is lost. The room at the very back of the restaurant where I sat was painted from floor to ceiling in red. Even the furniture was red. Picture Santa’s grotto meets the inside of a cherry tomato and you start to get the picture.
Though I found the seating unusual and slightly cramped, this had nothing to do with my overall disappointment. Ordering the special, Pancetta, Chilli and Broccoli linguine, I had expected the pasta to arrive and be bursting with flavour. As i stared down at the single, lonely florette of broccoli sitting on top of a sticky white bed of pasta, I couldn’t help the feelings of false advertising.
Though I’ve heard great things about the other Carluccio branches, I doubt I’ll venture near this business again. Poor Antonio, I’m sure this is not what he intended

This particular branch of Carluccio’s was very welcoming to us, after we’d experienced a snooty and unaccommodating attitude at Ottolenghi’s up the road.
So we were happy to come in and find seats and be served some delicious cakes. I had Earl Grey tea and others had coffees (and there was the tempting option of wine).
It looks like it would be a nice place for lunch or an evening meal. And the staff were very friendly and attentive much better than another Carluccio’s branch, which was in stark contrast.
I’d definitely come here again for more tea and cakes, and maybe even a glass of wine!

Overrated and too expensive, this restaurant has decided to rest on their reputation and gone downhill. The food is still okay, but some of the staff have an attitude and getting attention is quite hard.
The wines are alright, but a bit overpriced.
Seafood is not as fresh as it could be, and my last seafood meal tasted a bit OFF.

I come to Carluccios to get some cold dishes to take away.
There is a good selection of cold antipasti type things. I often buy the stuffed peppers, which are really nice. I heat them up for a minute or two and then devour them at home.
Most things have the Carluccio brand on them and the Carluccio brand means it’s good.
I bought some round crackers here once in a bag. They were sort of like croutons and sort of like breadsticks. At any rate, they had a nice flavour and consistency.
I’ve been to other Carluccios (like the one in Chiswick) but this one has a a good take-​away section.

This is my local Carluccios, and is a good place to go to for a quite coffee or a bite mid week when it’s not too crowded.
I go mainly for the penne giardiniera, which is by far the best pasta dish on the menu. It essentially consists of large penne with deep– fried spinach balls, drizzled with grated courgettes and garlic and chilli. Their mushroom and panchetta soup is also a treat as it’s warm and filling.
I then like to end my meal with a bowl of vanilla and chocolate gelati.
After eating, I then enjoy going for a little saunter around the shop at the front to see what lovely food produce I can buy to take home.

I used to love Carluccios, but I had lunch there a few weeks ago and I felt disappointed. Maybe it was just me (or them) having an off day, but the wine was not as good as it used to be, and the service (even though appearing as attentive as it used to be) was actually not that great. It all just seemed average all of a sudden. Expensive for what you got, and lacked the sparkle it used to have even the last time I was there (last summer). I had the Calamari — which was a really small portion for the money I paid for it, dull, and the tiniest lemon wedge I have ever seen. the the Chicken Escalope with some rather sad looking salad and WAY too much salt all over it, so it was almost too salty to eat. Perhaps I should have complained, but I was happier to simply eat up and high tail out of the there. Shame. But as I said, perhaps just a glitch? But I won’t be back to find out.