Carluccio's (King St)

Because Carluccios is so close to where I work, I have used their deli many times for (rather pricey) takeaway lunchs and for the occasional eat in lunch. The deli food is acceptable and the restaurant OK, but certainly nothing to shout home about.

However my latest excursion there was a nightmare. A couple of days after Christmas and the place was busy but not overcrowded. Despite an army of young waiters and waitresses, the service was slow and plodding - they have obviously made an art out of avoiding eye contact.

I ordered a glass of mineral water, which came in a warm, cloudy glass (obviously straight out of the dishwasher in the kitchen) and my friend and I waited a further 25 minutes for the food - watching all around us getting served.

When it finally turned up, the waitress brought the wrong pasta course for me. When I said this to her, she turned on her heels and marched off with my dish and that of my friends (who had only ordered a cold salad anyway) without saying a word.

We waited for someone to come up and explain - or at least apologise for the cock up, but no-one did. Whilst I minded our bags, my friend had to go up and tap the waitress on the shoulder to ask her to bring back the salad.

Still the waitress wouldn't come over and explain the mix up - I had to grab her the next time she sailed past to ask her what had happened to my meal. I was told curtly that the other waitress had said I had asked for a different dish and that I would "just have to wait for a new plate."

I was taken aback at the blatent lie and again lack of apology. I asked to see the manager who told me that my dish was being prepared; and lo and behold, a plate of sad, rubbery looking pasta tubes turned up with a smattering of sausage sauce that looked as if it had been thrown from a teaspoon 10 yards away from the plate. Strange that this time, my dish had only taken 2 minutes to arrive when we had waited 25 minutes for it in the first place!

I had also ordered a side plate of chargrilled garlic bread, and it was obvious this had been sitting around the kitchen for a while as it was stone cold. Again, I asked the manager to take it away and bring me one that was fresh and recently made.

The second attempt was just as cold and the recently deposited plate of pasta was quickly congealing on the dish. It was awful, but I hadn't the energy to send it back again and I was starving by this point.

Again, the manager made no apologies for the delay, the stone cold food or the wrong order. Instead, he offered to get us coffees (like we wanted to spend even more time in the place drinking probably lukewarm drinks!) but didn't offer to reduce the bill - which would have been more acceptable to us.

Quite frankly with the number of restaurants in the area, I'll never bother with this overpriced tat again. There are far better restaurants around and I would rather spend good money to get prompt, friendly, attentive service, comfortable seating, and well cooked (and hot) food.
Comment on this reader review

4 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, December 30, 2009