Carluccio’s

Went here for a post-​work dinner and catch-​up with a friend on Tuesday night. The interior is nicely set out with enough space between the tables that you don’t feel you are at a concert as you try to eat. The menu was a little on the anaemic side in terms of selection but what was there seemed to cover most of the bases. Our waiter was attentive and arrived promptly to take our order. The wine list, I am told, was decent and the wine we had was served at the correct temperature etc. The waiter was a little over fussy with filling up our glasses after what seemed like every mouthful, but you can’t fault him for attentiveness!
The food arrived quickly — almost a little too quickly. It was presented reasonably but seemed to have been done in a hurry and to a pro-​forma rather than displaying any real creativity. Everything was cooked well and tasted as it ought to. If I sound rather clinical in my assessment it is perhaps because the food was that way. It was ‘good’, ‘fine’ ‘okay’. There is nothing I can really fault it on, but then nothing that made me go ‘wow’ either.
What did make me ‘wow’ was the bill. A bottle of wine and 3 courses each (for two of us) and the bill was less than £50.

Well, theres alot to be said about my first visit to Carluccio’s.
I popped in for a bicerin, the first place ive managed to find it up North so i was delighted, especially now its getting colder, its a perfect treat!
I popped in and the restaurant is really nice. However…
I ordered my bicerin, no problems; only to be told that he had never made one before and boy did it show.
No sooner had a drank it and got the 10min bus ride home, was i in the toilet throwing it back up!
It was nothing like it should have been, those who have had it before will know its a sweet brew, however this was just wrong!
Gloopy, lumpy, thin, synthetic sacrin taste too
I hadnt eaten or drank anything before i went so it was definitely limited to it being the bicerin.
Disappointing to say the least, i wont be going back for coffee thats for sure!

If you’re looking for something simple yet unique carluccios Is a must, we walked in and got a table straight away on a Friday evening, service was excellent and quick, food was awesome, if you’ve not been get there soon…

Visited Greek Street for the firs time, having dined at various other branches including the original one over many years. Having a daughter who is a coeliac [meaning that she cannot eat Gluten], can generally mean a lot of trouble when doing Italian — for obvious reasons, so there was a lot riding on this visit.
Carluccio’s was one of the first mainstream Chains to start introducing GF menu options, and after having had a years break from visiting, I am delighted to say that the menu of GF options has done nothing but increase.
Aside from GF Pasta, it would seem that many/​most of the sauces are made GF too — which is refreshing. GF variant ingredients are generally more expensive to produce than non GF, and many restaurants will take the slightly cheaper option, so it’s nice to see Carluccio’s buck this trend.
Service was attentive and quite happy to be fle
xible. Atmosphere was really good as the restaurant was at least ²⁄₃ full [at about 7PM]. The restaurant itself whilst roomy, comfortable and able to cope with a good noise level does rather lack atmosphere, however I cannot say that this detracted form my enjoyment.
Overall I was delighted, and there were clean plates all round.

I’ve just been to a private function at Carluccios in Greek Street. This is the second time i have been and i thought it was good the first time but they really excelled themselves tonight. It was a celebration of Piemonte wines and foods. On arrival i had a glas of dry white wine and some lovely canapes, pick of which was a mushroom cappuccino, all mushroomy and garlicky. Then came the main event. First course was a selection of Anti Pasti. When the waitress brought it, i nearly died. It was a very large platter and would have been ok for a main course. Washed down with a crisp white wine. Main course was slow cooked veal on the bone with potato gâteau. Inside the bone was delicious marrow which i’ve never tried before. Served with a large glass of Barolo red wine 2006. Dessert was White chocolate Panna Cotta with chocolate sauce and chopped hazelnuts with a glass of Moscato D’Asti sparkling sweet wine. £35 the lot, incredible. If you haven’t been, book a table soon.

I’ve been to Carluccio’s three times in the last couple of months so I’ll try cover them all in one review. The first time was a meal with a friend, the second was a quick coffee and a dessert with that friend, the latest was with the boyfriend and my parents.
During my first visit, my friend and I sat outside on Greek Street, shared a bottle of wine and had a lovely, relaxed meal. The waiter was friendly and enthusiastic at first, giving us some great suggestions — the Pasta Fritta (pasta ‘crisps’) weird surprisingly tasty. My main course of the penne with fried spinach balls was beautiful and a great sized portion. For dessert we couldn’t decide so she opted for the Panna Cotta and I went for the Chocolate Fondant and we shared which was a good idea as the chocolate was a little too rich. We loved the food and sitting outside in a fairly quiet atmosphere is always a nice change in Leeds. The only downside was that the waiter became more like a salesman as the meal went on. He began to appear offended when we said we didn’t want something and kept suggesting ideas, he was very pushy. I’d say that was the only downside.
For my second visit of a quick coffee and cake we sat at the little bar as the rest of the place was packed. This was fine and the staff were really friendly and accommodating. What I haven’t mentioned is that Carluccio’s has a great selection of foods to buy and take away. There are various oils, olives etc but more importantly — cakes and pastries. I took one home for the boyfriend, along with some lovely (but odd) cinnamon, ginger and cardamom pastilles for him.
The most recent visit was on a busy Friday evening (I would recommend you book way in advance if you’re planning a weekend visit). We took my parents who are usually not easy to accommodate — mum is coeliac and was really excited that there was a full gluten-​free menu and dad is a ‘no foreign food’ kind of guy. Although they said it was a bit busy for them — admittedly the noise levels did get pretty high when a hen party came in — they still really enjoyed it. It’s really rare that mum has much choice when she eats out, particularly with italian food so this was a nice treat. Our waitress was very lovely and patiently brought mum about six wines to try as she asked over and over if there was anything ‘like White Zinfandel’… With eight courses, a side, a bottle of wine, a few beers and a few coffees between the four of us, the bill came to just over £100 which I thought was pretty good.
Overall, I love Carluccio’s, it’s my new favourite place to eat in Leeds. The Limoncello isn’t the best I’ve had and the first waiter was a bit annoying but all the lovely staff since and the great food mean I’ll be back soon!

I have previously visited Carluccio’s in London, and was thrilled with it then. The deep fried spinach balls in particular were awesome. So try, if you can, to imagine my overwhelming excitement upon learning that one was opening up in Leeds. It was akin to the happy day when Patisserie Valerie arrived.
I finally went last Saturday with the boyfriend. As I was paying, I was pleased to see there was a prix fixe menu with £9.99 for two courses and £12.50 for three. There is a one course option, but as I didn’t even contemplate that I couldn’t tell you the price. For starters we had a bruschetta with red onion and yellow pepper among it’s delights, and garlic bread. Both portions were generous and delicious, but I think I will have to give the edge to the bruschetta, just about. For mains, the boyfriend had a spicy sausage pasta that he really liked. I didn’t, but I’m not one for spicy sausage myself. I had a sage ravioli with ricotta and spinach filling and what looked like an entire pat of butter melted over it. It was great. So delicious I don’t even have the words. I often find ravioli a dangerous dish to order, as if it has been left loitering about under the hot plates it gets very and the edges start to curl like a wilting leaf, urgh. This was lovely though. If the restaurant had been quieter I would have licked the plate.
Sadly, after that it all started to unravel a little. We both decided on dessert, the boyfriend pigging himself on chocolate ice cream, and me selecting a fancy coffee where coffee, chocolate and cream all arrive in separate little jugs for me to mix myself. I didn’t really see why but I really enjoyed myself anyway. Unfortunately, about ten or maybe even fifteen minutes elapsed between the arrivals of my coffee and the boyfriend’s ice cream. At that point it wasn’t particularly busy, and I can’t think of any good reason for the delay.
When we go to restaurants, we consider that the true test in quality of service lies at the end. We have before been left for half an hour waiting for the bill, blithely ignored by every waiter in sight. It wasn’t half an hour here, but we were desperately trying to catch eyes for quite some time. Then after the bill was brought, it was a good ten minutes before the card machine made it to the table, even though I was already holding the card when the bill arrived. The fact that there were six serving persons loitering by the till just having a chat apparently added salt to the wound, and I’m sorry to say that this along wth the ice cream faux pas eradicated any tip I had been thinking about leaving.
So, Carluccio’s in Leeds… It hasn’t beaten Jamie’s, for me, especially with the memory of that fish stew still fresh. And the service at Jamie’s is consistantly brilliant, I have never had to wait for the bill. However, Jamie’s can be a bit much for a casual lunch, and therein lies the solution. Jamie’s for dinner, Carluccio’s for lunch! We ended up eating for under £30 which was great value, and they also seem to do foccacias and pizza slices that look good for a takeout. Bargain!