Carluccio's — Restaurant in London

Absolutely dreadful experience this evening. Booked a 7:15pm table about 2 weeks ago and arrived to hear that there was no table available but that we could sit on the concourse tables with heaters. Meeting 2 long time friends and we only get together once or twice a year and have to travel into London to do that. We took this outside table option and ordered drinks but very quickly we got cold enough to need our coats on. 20 mins later I went to ask if we could get our drinks. We were all pretty thirsty by this point even for just water because our journeys had been quite long. We waited another 10 mins before I had to go back and ask again for our drinks. Sally was the person we spoke to and she was very apologetic and so kind, we could see that the staff were under tremendous pressure. We looked for other local restaurants to see if we could move but of course, given the time of year, there just wasn't. After about 30-45 mins we had got drinks, ordered food and got an inside table. The food was edible but genuinely so average my 11 year old could have done better. We all ordered the 3 course set menu. The bruschetta toast was badly burnt and basically should have been called burnt toast with tomatoes. The garlic bread was cold and the cheese undercooked and flaccid. The mini arancini were the best bit and they were 6/10. My friends ravioli was turgid and so unappealing that she ruminated as to whether the thin yet slightly lumpy sauce might have been ejaculate. I had the chicken Milanese, best described as a large chicken nugget on a Tesco bag of mixed leaves without dressing. Portions were small so we were all up for dessert. Sadly we'd finished our wine and table water and had to eventually ask for some service, this was perhaps about 20mins after finishing the last drop. We then asked where the toilets were only to be told that there was only one working toilet and had to queue men and women to use it (this was quite a queue), the area around the toilet was dirty and full of rubbish (see pics). Meanwhile broken glass came out of nowhere and hit my friends feet and coat under the table but we couldn't see or find the source and a cold breeze from the concourse kept me nice and cool enough to need my scarf on my back in the restaurant. All in all; the rhythm of our very infrequently held meet ups was broken, we all went home straight afterwards and, although not usually complainers, we were really aggrieved at paying for it at all. This was about as far from an Italian dining experience as you can get and I would avoid at all costs. I would however like to mention that the staff were evidently trying their best under very difficult...

I decided to stop for some food while waiting for my train, this is a decision I now deeply regret. Despite being a solo diner and simply wanting to order a dessert, it took nearly 20 minutes for someone to take my order. It was frustrating to see other guests who were seated after me already being served their drinks while I hadn't even been able to place my order... Fortunately, I did not have to endure an additional wait for the dessert menu, as I had already made my selection before arriving at the restaurant. When my food arrived, the pastry was lukewarm. The presentation was lovely, but the portion size did not justify the price. No one checked if everything was alright with my meal, even after I had finished. It was then an incredible challenge to receive my bill. The waiters seemed to avoid making eye contact, so it took a while to even be able to ask for it. Even after asking multiple servers, it took another 25 minutes for the bill to arrive. It was frustrating to feel neglected, and it seemed like other customers were receiving better service. To make matters worse, the card machine stopped working when I finally received the bill. Granted, this is not the restaurant's fault, but it undeniably adds to what was already a long list of negatives about my experience. Overall, the dessert was satisfactory; however, it failed to compensate for the subpar dining experience. I perceived a lack of hospitality and deeply regretted having spent money and time in an effort to utilize my time well while...

This place has gone downhill.. Looks like the private equity group that has bought Carluccio’s has implemented cost saving measures that make the whole experience cheap and tacky.

Potatoes were cooked from frozen as probably many other things, totally cold in the middle. Soup came out cold.

Starters all came out different times in a group of 6, so food getting more cold so we could eat together.

The lobster and crab tortellini tasted like cheap frozen rubbish.. couldn’t even taste crab to be honest. I also caught a mouthful of what felt like sand or some sediment as it grinded in my teeth.

The restaurant had run out of so many items which were on the menu, including no orange slices or orange juice, no vanilla ice cream, no limes.. cheap cost saving operational issues from higher management perhaps?

On top of this, the doors were kept open on a really cold day which meant an awful draft of cold air constantly, which is not really a pleasant experience on top of cold frozen food.. Furthermore faulty flickering overhead lights were extremely annoying, and a broken toilet… simple things like this would of been repaired years ago, but now the cheap cost saving owners don’t care to do even the simple things..

It’s a shame, Carluccio’s used to be our family gathering restaurant.. never again now. Clearly it’s had it’s time....