Carluccios Cafe

The location and décor suggest a very nice restaurant, but the food severely lets this place down.
I was part of an evening party of 10, which not only tested the waiters (who were superb), but also the extent of their
lasagne was barely warm and came with no extras (green beans an extra £2.50!!!) and my ‘neighbour’s’ pasta looked like boiled penne with tinned tomatoes. only the seabass and spinach ball dishes looked appealing.
With a lot of Italian food you feel you could give it a decent go in your own kitchen, so you look for something special in a restaurant — unfortunately this was a long way off!!!

Been here a couple times and haven’t been disappointed. Service is always good, food is always good. Can get a little pricey if you don’t choose a deal, but the set meals that they seem to have whenever I am there are a pretty good deal.

I have to admit to dragging husband in to this branch of Carluccios based on my enjoyment of the place in London and I was not disappointed.
I can’t say the service was stunning but it was better than I had been given elsewhere and we were shown to a table quickly and had a menu instantly.
The waitress came to our table quickly enough for us which I think is tricky as you need to know when they have finished selecting but not before they have had enough time.
We did get some lovely starters which were absolutely perfect. Mine was great and fussy husband couldn’t complain — high praise indeed!
Our main dishes were Ok but really I was not blown away. Perhaps my expectations have been raised by Stef’s and Pizza Express but it was no disappointment. Husband enjoyed his more and I enjoyed mine but I think I should not have chosen pasta.
The coffee we finished with brought a smile to husband’s face and what more could anyone ask for — a happy hubby!

i have to confess that the idea of a quick lunch in Carluccio’s Oxford didnt fill me with huge anticipation. To be honest, I was expecing Yet Another Generic Italian Restaurant — and my feelings about those are well documented in prior reviews!
However, I was utterly mistaken in my expectations, and ended up pleasantly surprised!
The place itself feels a little strange, walking through the deli area to get to the tables. While we had a table tucked away at the back, well away from the main door and any potential draughts, I would think it would feel a little exposed sitting near the retail area.
The shop itself is, of course, an Aladdin’s Cave for a foodie, with a wide range of traditional Italian delicacies, along with other treats and dry goods. The only thing missing was the smell — while there’s lots of good food around, there wasn’t the welcoming smell of fresh produce and herbs that one might expect.
For lunch, we started with the savoury bread tin, which comprised a lovely range of breads including a delightful focaccia, with a light texture and a well-​salted crust. There was also an excellent sun-​dried tomato and walnut (I think) wholemeal. All was served with a first-​class, fruity olive oil for dipping.
Our antipasti were a chicken pâté for The Darling G (good flavour, and with a firmer texture than most, which gave it a more substantial feel), and for me a surprising dish — Vitello Tonnata. This was thin slices of medium-​rare veal, topped with a tuna mayonnaise and capers. I was surprised at how well they went together, and thankfully the capers added to the overall dish rather than overpowering it, as they can so often do.
On to the main courses, where Gerry went for Penne Luganica, which was a delicious ragu made with sausagemeat. I opted for Linguine al Frutti Di Mare, which was packed with seafood and had a clean, clear sauce sparkling with garlic and chilli.
Portions for both courses were more than adequate!
We were in a hurry, so skipped desserts and coffees, but if they were anything like the other courses then I’m sure they’d be good. The bill was reasonable at £41 including a tip for (excellent) service, however neither of us were drinking which pushed the overall cost down.
In all, and as I mentioned at the start, this is anything but a Generic Italian Restaurant. The food’s excellent, the service quick and attentive, and the price reasonable. While the nature of Carluccios would make it less attractive for an intimate dinner for two, for a good lunch it’s hard to fault it.

This place was pretty accommodating for a large party without a reservation — but it turned out that there was a reason why they were able to seat us — they were almost completely empty.
The food here is reasonable but nothing special — it was spoilt for us by the fact that most of it arrived cold and some of our party were brought the wrong things, twice! The food itself was nothing particularly special. There was a long wait too, especially considering that we were almost the only people in there. We were also annoyed in particular by the fact that the bill arrived with a good £14 added on as a tip — we thought that this was pretty rude, given the poor service and cold food! When we disputed it, the maitre d’ came over to argue with us!
In general, pretty poor — give it a miss.