Carluccio’s

Visiting a friend in Newcastle, this place came recommended, we wanted something good to eat, couple of cocktails/​glasses of wine and chill.
We all ordered cocktails to start, with the price of them, you’d expect something great or even a large glass, but the glass was half full and tasted pre made, with little or no effort.
We got 3 sharing plates to start which were tasty and just enough to get our appetites going, but nothing special.
Two of us ordered the new chicken pasta dish, it sounded lovely on the menu and we were all starving at this stage.
I was so disappointed with the food. The chicken was thigh and dark meat, very chewy and greasy and not only that, there was fresh blood in the chicken. The type of chicken meat was not specified on the menu, but usually you would expect chicken breast, dark meat or thigh meat is better cooked slowly. And with the price of the dish you would expect it to be breast.
To be fair, I sent back the dish and the staff were very apologetic, they checked with the chef who advised even with the blood the chicken was OK to eat, but do you really want to see/​eat that? They did advise they would take the comments about the type of chicken meat into consideration.
They did take it off the bill, but it still leaves a bad taste in your mouth and turns the stomach.
I’d have no interest in going here again or any of their chains, nor would I be recommending them

I’ve been to Carluccios in Glasgow before a few times so was expecting the same kind of service and excellent food from the one in Newcastle.
I was not disappointed food wise as it was just as delicious as the food I had had before. I opted for a venison pasta dish, which is truly lovely. It doesn’t look like a lot of food but is very rich and fills you up.
The service was good, but we were left wondering where all the staff had got to a few times. Our food came out very quickly very but our drinks (although just soft drinks) took just as long.
I will probably try here again on a different day to give it another chance as the food was very nice.

After hearing good things about this place I finally checked it out tonight with my friends. I can honestly say that there wasn’t anything I could find fault with. The service, atmosphere and food were all perfect. I wasn’t drinking alcohol and was happy to find some delicious soft drink options… I would highly recommended the elderflower apple juice. My ravioli was very satisfying and the pudding, well, what can I say?! The pudding was phenomenal! I will definately be returning soon!

As soon as you walk into Carlucchio’s you are faced with an array of amazing looking desserts and I can honestly say they taste as good as they look-​great destination for coffee and cake! The espresso comes served on a tray with a glass of water which they have now set the standard for so I’m always disappointed elsewhere.
I really like the ambience when sat in the restaurant but there is also a bar area and seating outside which tends to be a bit quieter. The variety on the menu is pretty good and they do offer seasonal specials so I can vouch for the pumpkin and butternut squash soup at Christmas which was divine.
Sadly where Carlucchio’s loses it’s stars is due to its service. Although on the most part staff are friendly enough, there has been more than one occasion whereby it can be either impossible to get their attention or they thrust the bill at you without personally requesting it which can certainly come across rude. That said now I have come to expect it’s a bit hit and miss I will still choose this restaurant for the reasons above.

GREAT restaurant. I’ve been craving eggs Benedict for a while and Carluccio’s has been talked about quite a bit amongst my friends so thought I’d give it a try.
Got their Eggs Royale (two poached eggs with smoked salmon on two slices of Italian bread) and got a smooth caffe latte. Everything was delicious — the bread, although scrumptious (I have a thing for bread lol) was a bit burnt so that turned me off a bit but otherwise, amazing.
Also…right when you walk in, you’re greeted by not only friendly Italian staff, but a beautiful display of their freshly baked croissants and pastries (majority of which go for about £1.50 and they’re huge). We got croissants which come served with butter and fig jam but honestly… you don’t need to add anything to it. SO GOOD!
Highly recommend! Will be coming back many many times in the future :)

My boyfriend and I stopped in for dessert, and the service and desserts were excellent. I had a chocolate fondante, and my boyfriend had the pistachio ice cream. There are also amazing choices for antipasti, cheese, and lots of other goodies from the store. We are returning this week for a meal.