Carluccio's

Great food, lovely atmosphere and the staff were really fantastic. I did have to remind them once for a drink but as the french waitress was delightful with looking after our young sons wishes, we're happy to forget that one little slip. We took out some cookies after too, for the next day as and they too were amazing. A great kid friendly place to eat and drink with friends and family.

Great food, nice atmosphere service a little on slow side average prices

Decent eggs benedict right next to the Qype office. I can recommend the fresh orange juice too, although I wish the tea came in bigger cups. A pleasant al-fresco breakfasting experience, this.

I had a meal with friends there recently and was disappointed from start to finish!

Although the staff was friendly enough and the restaurant in itself has that delicatessen italian feel (including an authentic vespa in the middle of the restaurant!), the food was really off-putting. That's a problem, right?

We had a steak which looked like it was cooked and re-re-re-cooked before being served to us (did I say I liked it rare?). Too cooked and really tasteless. My other friend ordered "Chicken Milanese" and same story; chicken was dry and not exciting at all.

The only thing that was actually good was the wine and the olives. Maybe on a Sunday evening, laziness takes over the cook but for me, that's it - I will definitely not go there anymore. Beware!!

I slid in here recently to sample some of the offerings of Carluccio's Vini di Famiglia wine festival. Gorgeous (the wine). Pleasant (the setting - especially the outdoor seating on a warm summer's eve). Of course, I had a few bites to eat as well. I really like the fegato e patate (pan fried calf’s liver with red onion jam and sautéed rosemary potatoes) and wouldn't turn my nose up at another plate of pasta con funghi.

Carluccio's Market Place location is a classy place, well worth considering for any central London meet with friends. Of course, lots of folks seem to love this place. It gets crowded quickly!

I haven’t had a sit down meal here, but it’s proximity to the office means I can recommend their coffee (as I get one brought to me at least once a week- what a spoiled princess).
I have nibbled on their take out biscuits- cheese and nut- incredibly strong but lovely… and I may or may not have indulged in a couple of chocolate frogs…
However the place doesn’t entice me to spend my precious lunch hour in. I guess it comes down to the people there and the way the staff seem so intent to make it to a table they might consider a sneaky side elbow to get there.

Carluccios is a funny one. First the positives: their cofee is pretty good, with a couple of different beans to choose from (mild or strong) it’s consistently well made and has a good kick to it as well; also it’s a great place to pick up wquality ingredirnets for cookign Italian dishes at home. The deli section always has quality cheeses, pastas, antipasti etc, but it’s quite pricey, and this is where we come on to the negative…

Carluccios in undeniably too expensive. I know it’s a chef’s name above the front door, and they’ve obviously thought about the interior decor very carefully, but pretty much everything on the menu is one or two quid more than it should be and that puts me off eating there frequently.

Good for coffee and breakfast on occassion (or a lunch meeting if someone else is paying!) but definitely not an everyday choice.

Been wanting to come to this chain for a while, so was pleased to get bogof vouchers for a main course. Came for an early dinner with girlfriends and was cheaper than I thought it would be (although, once you’ve added wine, desserts, bread etc…) It was especially noisy, although apparently it’s a well-known fact that Carluccios (doesn’t matter which one) is one of the noisiest place in the whole of London. Considering how busy it was, I was impressed by the service. My spaghetti with vongole was nice, if a little tasteless. Others finished their plates so must have been good. Would return, but probably for lunch as it’s not very relaxing for dinner.

I had lunch here last week. It was a mistake. I had forgotten how poor the portions were and therefore expensive. The place is small and so rather than queue we elected to sit outside. There is quite a few tables outside but they are close together and the person a table or 2 along was smoking so it wasn’t too pleasant. It was beginning to get cold but they have some of those not very environmentally friendly patio heaters.

I had the Insalata Contadina which is described as: Smoked chicken, potatoes, green bean sand roasted peppers dressed with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You would have been hard pressed to find much in the way of chicken, let alone any that was smoked. Billed as a main course the portion was more like a starter. It was overwhelmed by red onion (a cheap ingredient) and had more potatoes than the other things it purported to have.

I’m sorry to say avoid them as I like Mr Carluccio but since he sold it, I think they are more intent on the bottom line than our palate and experience.

This is in my opinion the best Carluccio’s cafe/restaurant in London. It is located on a back street just off Oxford Circus and because it si slightly tucked away doesn’t get as busy as the more obvious ones, such as St Christopher’s Place.

Its location on Market Place makes for an excellent summer lunch venue, with a proliferation of outside seating and virtually no traffic. A late lunch is the best idea though as then the braying media-type office workers have returned to their pods and you have a better chance of getting a table - and not having to listen to Giles and Bunty discussing their 'contacts’ at length!

The food is consistently good, especially the vegetable antipasto plate and ravioli with butter and sage - delicious! A bottle of wine or three in the sunshine always goes down very well here too. Definitely my favourite location for a sunny day lunch in central London - the perfect antidote to the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street.

I eat here once every fortnight at the branch near Selfridges. Their food is of high quality very fresh and extremely tasty. Prices are reasonable however the queue to get in can take a bit to long than I would like. The only problem with the place is the loud atmosphere. I go there with my girlfriend and we can never really talk to each other, everyone is just so loud. The menu has just changed so they have made what’s on offer that little bit more interesting. You see branches opening up all over the place. I just wish they worked on the acoustics of the place as after my meal I’m glad to get out of there!

Ate there yesterday lunchtime. Staff are always friendly, but service was slow. As mentioned before, quite close seating, and they have now added a long 'Wagamama’ style table in the middle of the restaurant to fit more people in for the lunchtime rush. I’ve had a few tasty meals here before, but the Fungi Pasta I ate yesterday was tasteless and I had to ask the next table for some salt to add to it. I also think it’s over priced for the quality, which is a shame as it started out with really fresh, tasty ingredients, and now it seems like they’re more interested in getting the punters in.
However, I do rate their Cappucino Milano, one of the best in the area.

The food was ok and would have normally got an average rating but i found it to be very over priced for what it was, the seating was far to close to each other although the staff where very friendly.

Caluccio’s is a great place to grab a great authentic italian pasta for a very reasonable price. Not only is the food delicious but the decor is trendy and attracts a similar crowd. For around £25 we were able to get a bread, two pastas, and a bottle of white wine. My only criticism was that the size of the mains were a little on the small side. All in all, I would recommend this to anyone looking for an original italian style cafe but only if you’re not so hungry you could eat your left hand.

I’m a huge fan of the deli section here. They have a small but great selection of Italian deli meats with a dried food section containing merangues, pasta, cookies, chocolates and gift items.

At Christmas their Pandoro cakes are second to none. I travel to these shops specifically for this treat at the holidays.

I have been a frequent visitor to this Carluccio’s and I have found it a great place if you don’t want to have an extended conversation.

Perhaps indicative of the deterioration in hearing by people who have listened to far too much loud music, everyone in this resteraunt seems to talk at an excessively loud volume and the acoustics make it sound crazy and muddled.

I have had to wait for extended periods of time to get seated and served but once settled, service has always improved.

With a changing menu, Carluccio’s is more interesting than other restaurants in the area with a better vibe and good food however as Italian goes, it cannot touch Stef’s aroundthe corner. If you want cafe boutique trendy culture, this is the place for you. If you want Italian, go to Stef’s

I have been to many Carluccio's and I must say that this is one of the worst restaurants/restaurant chains in London. The food is average, the service is ABYSMAL, the noise in the restaurant is thunderous (especially at this location), and it has been this way for years. At this particular location, the workers bang the dishes and cutlery constantly, the acoustics only help to amplify the sounds, the service is slow, spotty and just plain poor. This consistently poor experience can be experienced at any Carluccio's branch across London. Stay away - this is awful and a waste of money. Go to the Strada next door instead for a much more pleasant experience