Carluccio's is a brand that's been through a turbulent few years, from ownership changes to branch closures, but this branch remains, and you can tell why, it's one of their good ones that's for sure.
Carluccio's have made a few changes since COVID, adding a mobile payment option and removing pretty much all discount codes, making this a little pricey for a chain Italian, especially for one that's inside a shopping centre when compared to rivals who either have lower prices or generous offers.
I ordered a gluten-free carbonara, which instead of spaghetti is made with gluten-free rigatoni pasta, the pasta was actually good quality and the Guanciale was tasty and cooked well, the sauce was also good, it came together really well, and although it felt missing something that elevated the dish further, it certainly wasn't too bad for a generic chain Italian in a shopping centre.
I like how they served the food with grated parmesan, so I could sprinkle on as much or as little as I would have wanted, rather than awkwardly have a waiter standing over and doing it.
The staff seemed friendly and service came at a good speed, I did find it a little weird that one staff member had ordered food in from a rival business nearby, and another worker from a different rival business came in to order food, I guess with it being a food court they're getting bored of eating the same food... but it seemed off-putting to go into a restaurant and the staff are eating of giant packaging with another place's logo.
Not the most exciting in the world, but the food was fairly cooked well, I would return. 3* read more