The Occasion

Last weekend Adair’s parents came to stay for the weekend so on the Saturday night we thought we’d go into town for a meal. As we all agreed we love Italian food the plan was to go to Jamie Oliver’s Italian which Adair and I had been to before and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately as you are unable to book a table there is quite often a small queue outside. This would not normally bother us but it was windy and raining so not the best weather to be stood outside. I had heard that Carluccio’s was a good restaurant and as it was only down the road we thought we’d give it a try.

The Venue

On entering the restaurant I was a little disappointed as to how little it looked Italian, the decor was very minimal and open plan. They have obviously gone for a modern theme which is nice but not an Italian atmosphere if you ask me. The restaurant was full when we arrived so we were asked to wait at the bar which would have been fine except we were given a drinks list but then nobody came back to take our order. To be fair though we were seated within ten minutes so it wasn’t so bad.

The Menu

There was a lovely selection of different food for appetizers and starters however the choice of mains was a little disappointing. Adair and his dad opted for the rib eye steak which was a bit tough and they were not provided with steak knives, which agreeably you should not need for a good steak but in this case they were required. My dish was nice and I enjoyed it. Adair’s mum opted for the special which was crispy fried spinach balls and penne pasta. The menu made it sound lovely but when served it was exactly as the menu said, there was no sauce so it was very dry.

The Service

Our waiter was very pleasant, attentive and chatty which made the experience a whole lot better and we were happy to leave him a good tip.

The Price

The price is reasonable for what you get but I can think of plenty other restaurants in this price range which ai would rather go to instead.

Overall Rating 6/10