Carluccio's Caffe Market Place

This place is somehow too crowded for its bad food and service. The woman at the bakery counter was rude (I asked if I can take some croissaints to my seat, she literally shoved her chin to tell me to talk to the waiters--since I was not seated yet--what right does she have to treat customers like this???) waiters were shouting at each other that they could not hear me asking for a seat. Drinks were ok, they got my changes wrong but couldn't be bothered to ask for them (small change anyway) wanted to leave the place as soon as possible. Never will I return.
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anonymous
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Very, very poor. I've been thrice and will try not to go again - but for colleagues who watch too much TV and read celebrity chef books who can bleat the bleat but little else (both the colleagues and said chef). Is it the dead hand of being part of the Conrans? Who cares. Flabby pasta, canned sauce, tired desserts, fellow diners bleating at top volume. Not going back.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Thursday, January 12, 2006

I can't agree with many of the comments below - maybe I was just lucky.

On Sunday, we braved the crowds to go Christmas shopping in Oxford Street. I've been to a few of the other Carluccio's and never been disappointed, so we decided to got to this one.

The restaurant itself is on two floors, one of which is a basement. We sat in the basement part so it didn't feel quite so airy as the other Caffes I've been to. That aside, the service was good and the food as tasty as ever.

On their Autumn/Winter menu there are seven meat-free main courses which, for me as a vegetarian, is pretty good for any restaurant that doesn't specialise in non meat dishes. I ordered a Pasta e Fagioli soup followed by Lasagnetta con Porcini.

To be honest, the soup would've been enough for me - it came in a fairly large bowl, so there was plenty of it and it was accompanied by a huge 'slab' of gourgeous bread. The soup itself was thick, full of beans, tasty and very filling.

The lasagne wasn't huge - which given the soup was just as well in these circumstances - but it wasn't small either. Layers of mushrooms, which looked like a mix of porcini and chestnut, covered in white sauce and cheese were interspersed between pasta sheets. It tasted great and the cheese and white sauce were enough to give substance to the lasagne without taking away for the flavour of the mushrooms.
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Gaz
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Friday, December 23, 2005

well, I may hail from somewhere a touch east of Italy but I still know that Pecorino doesn't play for Chelsea. I went to Carluccio's recently for lunch and really wished I'd gone to my proctologist instead. Infact, I may need to.

Being only 5 foot 2 it is somewhat hard to squish me but they managed to find me half a space on a joint table sandwiched between 10 others who had maxed out their credit at Sofas-r-us, given the scale and volume of their shopping. I was then served up what was described as a Lasagnetta con Porcini and it wasn't just the spelling that they got completely wrong. I realise that it takes an experienced pig to root out one porcini in an Italian forest so hand's up, I give in! By the time they took the dish away I still hadn't found mine. As for the Pannacotta, the taste was there, but the consistency reminded me of a nasty dose of tuberculosis.

I'll definitely be going back however, because the ambiance is character-building. Whenever I feel too smug and comfortable with my life, i'll trip on down to Carluccio's for the gastronomic equivalent of the Marine Commando's initial training.

Or maybe I'll cross the road, pop into Marks & Spencer, buy myself a Mascarpone and Tomato Tart and go home, where at least my dog pretends to like me.
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indian4444 - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Thursday, December 15, 2005

The only thing good about this restaurant, is the thick cocoa hot chocolate, which in all honesty, is not even hot. So you have to send it back and request for it to be warmed up, but admittedly, its worth it. Otherwise, the food is tasteless, the service is poor, the atmosphere is not what you expect it to be when looking inside what appears to be a relatively classy place. At least its clean. To summarize, overpriced bland food, and definately not worth the hype.
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mavi
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Monday, December 12, 2005

Criminally slow service, small portions of lukewarm - below average food, served on cold plates. What a rip off. A case of trading on a famous name with no regard to the quality of the product.
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David OSullivan
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Popped in for an early dinner after shopping. An absolutely satisfactory experience - excellent shared antipasto followed by three smaller plates (calzoncini, arancini and carpaccio) provided a very good Italian version of a tapas dinner. Along with four large glasses of very good value for money wine (particularly the reds, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Umani Ronchi and Salice Salentino Candido), the tab was just above £50 for two including service (which was perfectly fine). The atmosphere is a bit tacky (1970s formica on the tables...), but altogether this was a very good and very reasonably priced dinner.
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ER
Saturday, November 05, 2005

Disappointing. I used to love the tuna pasta salad, but first of all they hiked the (takeaway) price up by 50 percent, and now they've stopped doing it altogether.

Had a mushroom lasagne which was luke warm and seemed to have been sitting around for a bit.

Staff not that friendly either. Won't be going here again.
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Sanne
Friday, November 04, 2005

I have been to Carluccio's now three times and each time I swear I will not go back but friends always seem to plump for one of the increasing number of restaurants that are springing up around London. It prides itself on traditional simple Italian cuisine but is a prime example of 'Emperor's new clothes' because the dishes are simply bland and uninspired. If this is what Italian peasants are eating then God help them.
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Chris Bond
Monday, October 31, 2005

I completely agree to those who were disappointed! I'm italian and honestly I was shocked to the low quality of food and service. Any unknown "trattoria" in a small italian village would be ten times better then Carluccio!
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David
Friday, October 28, 2005