Whenever I'm in London this is a must do. May be it's just cause of nostalgia from the days when I lived here but I think it's just a good treat. The mocha is like liquid chocolate. For food my go to is the Penne Giardinera, consisting of crispy spinach balls combined with a freshly made giant penne in a garlic and courgette sauce. The restaurant off Oxford Street is placed in a stones throw from shopping heaven. However, this location is quieter and you get a chance to refresh and replenish burnt calories. read more

Carluccios - Italian Near Me - London, XGL

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Always stop by the little store attached to the restaurant! My friend who lived in England for a while loves the lengua de gato cookies; they go perfectly with tea! read more

Just behind my work, this is my go-to option for meeting people for coffee. It's light, bright, and there's ALWAYS seating available. Plus, it's a stone's throw from Ox Circus tube, nobody could get lost! Sure, the coffee isn't phenomenal, but it's strong and tasty. The lemonade packs a punch and the OJ is delicious. Steer clear of the pastries though. I'd say this is a 'drink only' kind of place. Reasonable, friendly and efficient. read more

One of the many things I love about Italy is that their patisserie's stay open well into the night, perfect for when you get an attack of the late night munchies. Here, they just don't, it's usually either pizzas, burgers and kebabs or home time. After leaving Freud bar a few streets away on a Sunday night, we were determined to satisfy our sugar craving, but half a freezing hour later, with every place we came across was either being dine in only or closed, we were ready to give up and admit defeat. At one point we even debated going into a Christmas church service that we stumbled upon as we noticed the free mince pie sign outside! Then on the way to the tube we found Carluccio's delicatessen and, hallelujah, it was still open at 11pm. The deli is packed with continental cakes, biscuits, confectionery and store cupboard treats. It felt like walking into a giant Italian ginger bread house. I opted for a slice of chocolate gateau and as it was so late the lady gave me at all the cake that was left, for the same price as one slice which was a real treat. My friends got a bit carried away at the sight of everything and started buy all sorts, even 'Christmas presents' (that of course ended up being scoffed as soon as we got back home). The jar of white truffles went down particularly well and the Baci di Dama biscuits were lovely too. We'll definitely be going back sober to re stock. read more

Very basic - however it was relative tasty and relatively cheap. We had 2 different waitresses, that brought our drinks out twice. Ordered lattes and Americanos came out. The food wasn't terribly hot. The meringue was too hard and had barely any fruit or cream on it. Far much more to choose from in that area. read more

Carluccios - Italian Near Me - London, XGL

You know the phrase, "you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube"? An alternate phrase that I think has the same conceptual meaning could be, "you can't un-salt the pasta sauce". It sounds about the same, to me. I might start using that instead. And the first person I would tell it to would be to the guy who made the sauce that went on my pasta tonight. Whew! I feel like I just fell asleep with my mouth open at the beach, and when I woke up the tide was up. Or something that might communicate in an analogous manner that I ingested a lot of salt. Get what I mean? There is no place for you to reply to me here so I will just move on. My dinner was good ... but there was too much of the element Na for me, personally. Let me salt it myself, man. Give it to me a little milder. I'll figure it out. Instead, this thing tasted like it was just rolling around in a bed of olives and anchovies. Anyway, I like it here. For the price, you can get a decent wine, pasta, and salad. It's not the fanciest of fancy places but that's OK. I'm not the fanciest of guys all the time. Just kidding, I totally am. Three stars is nothing to feel bad about, Carluccio. I think you're doing a good thing for us out here in the world. read more

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 read more

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. read more

Carluccios - Italian Near Me - London, XGL

I slid in here recently to sample some of the offerings of Carluccio's Vini di Famiglia wine festival (http://londonist.com/2009/06/vini_di_famiglia_wine_festival_at_c.php) . 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! read more

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. read more

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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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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 read more

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!! read more

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 read more

Very friendly atmosphere and staff. The food was brilliant and I would really recommend this place to anyone visiting London.

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! read more

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. read more

Me and my girlfriend both loved the food. The staff are really friendly and make you feel welcome. I'd definitely come again and i will definitely recommend carluccios to any friends who visit london too. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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