Carluccio's

I’ve just come back from lunch at Carluccio’s Brunswick Square; it’s safe to say I won’t be returning. I’ve eaten at a branch of Carluccio’s a couple of times for work purposes; it’s usually an efficient but bland experience. This one was just completely unacceptable.

With the exception of one waitress, the service was appalling and the food the same. We ordered two starters each to have all together: two mushroom and bacon soups, one bruschetta, one toast and pate. The soups took 20 minutes to arrive (not ideal at lunchtime; and the main rush was over so the kitchen was not at full stretch). When they did, they were roughly identical to thin, tepid, greasy dishwater; mostly fat, and what wasn’t fat was salt. The “bacon” was four limp tiny white lumps in the bottom, which may or may not have had a passing acquaintance with a pig, but could easily have been cotton wool and lard. I explained to another waitress that we’d ordered the food to have altogether, and asked if the rest was on its way; she just pulled a face and walked off without saying anything. She never came back to offer any information. I asked our original waitress (who was polite); she went to sort it out and said it would be here in a few minutes. It duly was, though not worth waiting for – bland and greasy. By this time it had taken over an hour to order and eat soup and bread. I asked another passing waitress for our bill - she didn’t deign to look at us, but stalked off, to return and shove the plate with the bill in front of us without a word. Surly doesn’t even cover it.

If you’re after salty slops, go ahead, but you’d get better service at Burger King.
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Kit
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Monday, September 03, 2007