Carluccio’s

I know that Carluccio’s is a (very large) chain restaurant but I really like going! I only ever get pasta for the main because I think it’s delicious and perhaps the non pasta mains are why people give it poor reviews. I especially enjoy the Tortelloni Di Cervo (venison tortelloni) and the Penne Giardiniera (slightly spicy with crunchy spinach balls). In addition to this I often get the calamari to start, which is always really crispy on the outside and never chewy on the inside. And for pud the cioccolato fondente — basically chocolate heaven (not sure that’s exactly how it translates…).
Carluccios in Earlsfield is never overly busy and the staff are really friendly. I always have a good experience here. The price is reasonable and the quality of the food is always great. I’m sure I’ll be back many more times!

It’s a chain, so it’s the same as all the rest!
Deli is ok, but pricey!
Lunch take away food is ok, but again pricey. Lasagne us good though.
Restaurant is soul less and too clinical for my taste. The food is middle of the road at best. Staff are happy and friendly, they saved it from a one star rating.
It’s ok but there are so many better restaurants in the area.
Try it for yourself!
Thx

Recently visited Carluccio’s for a family get-​together.
First the downsides. I arrived early and seemingly no-​one wanted to tell me where my table was until I was in the way in the deli. The table was smart enough but did not match the quality or level of pricing in the menu. It had a very café feel to the place which might be good for the lunch and deli crowd but seemed underwhelming for the dinner customers.
The upsides. Well, the service was almost five star — when we arrived a number of dishes were unavailable but the waiter talked us through the menu and made the extra effort to ensure that everyone had a dish they were happy with. The food itself was good. The fish dishes (I hear) were particularly well cooked, the meat dishes were just-​so. The deserts however, were a class apart, I could go to the restaurant just for a desert and that says a lot. All in all a very pleasurable experience.

The deli items and cakes are nice, sure enough, and I always appreciate very high shelving units stocked with good looking, expensive pastas and sauces. When I popped in for some takeaway lunch snacks the only downside really was that it feels like a chain. This is not a dingy, pungent, Aladdin’s cave of a local deli, but it’s handy to have it so near home.
Just went in for dinner and was really underwhelmed. We had a voucher, so I’m happy enough, but I wouldn’t go back. For regular, reasonable Italian restaurant prices (£7−10 for mains) you get ok food in a space reminiscent of the refurbished ‘posh’ Macdonalds that have been cropping up of late. No atmosphere whatsoever. Service friendly enough but slow.
I went for a really interesting looking veggie pasta with deep fried spinach balls tossed in a chilli and courgette sauce (hoping to steal the secrets and recreate the dish at home — one of my favourite pastimes). The pasta was perfectly al dente, but I had to have a couple of tablespoons of parmesan on it before it tasted of much. The spinach balls were just that — spinach patted into balls and deep fried. No seasoning, no nothing. As a recovering carnivore I leap at the chance of adding textural variation to my food. Although deep fried anything adds welcome crunch and nom factor, these really could have been deep fried anything. I am confident that deep fried spiders, skeletal autumn leaves or balled up tissue would have had the same crunchy but meh effect.
There’s a traditional Italian 1 min up the road, so at the moment I’m at a loss as to why anyone (unless they have a voucher) would choose to come here instead.
This would get an ‘a-​ok’ if it was in a shopping mall or service station.

Carluccio’s has taken up residence in the old Box Bar on Garratt Lane. A new Italian restaurant and deli, Carluccio’s will take the breakfast, lunch and dinner in Earlsfield scene by storm with its tidy, diner feel and bona fide selection of Italian food items you’ll never be able to pronounce but still taste delicious!
Other foods include specialities like Italian desserts and breads, hot and cold meats, pastas and more. This is also a lovely place to stop off for a quick coffee, American or Italian, and with the soft European tunes wafting over the stereo, a great place to serenade your significant other with promises to one day float slowly down a Venice river.

Carluccio’s has now come to Earlsfield and I am so, so glad! Not only is this a restaurant but you can also grab bread and anti pasti from the deli too. Oh… and I have to mention the… CAKES!
I recently visited Carluccio’s with my boyfriend for a quick meal after work. The starters were superb! No where have a tasted a fresher bruschetta than here. The tomatoes were succulent and you could really taste the herbs and the garlic — superb.
It took a little long for our mains to come but I wasn’t disappointed once they arrived. I had the spaghetti vongole (my all time favourite Italian dish). The dish was fresh and spicy, really clean and totally full of flavour. My boyfriend had the lasagna but it was a little over done and I think he was slightly dissapointed. It was tasty though nevertheless.
For the two of us, with a bottle of wine, the whole thing was around £40 which is really affordable for what we ordered. When we left we got some cakes to eat at home — yum, yum! The chocolate torte was brilliant but I wouldn’t recommend the meringue which looks good but was a little chewy.
All in all, a great experience, I can’t wait for the next time…