Carluccio's — Restaurant in London

My friends and I visited the South Kensington carluccios in the late afternoon and unfortunately will never be returning. Everything was shocking from the service, to the food, to the bill- truly terrible experience all round.

To fully explore why we all left feeling as such, and to avoid others feeling the same way I have taken the time to craft this review.

Upon arrival we were greeted promptly and with a friendly conversation, giving us high hopes for the rest of the meal- boy were we wrong. Firstly, we were left to sit for 15-20 minutes with no one to take our drink order or ask if we were ok. If the store was busy we would’ve been more than happy with this wait, but it was close to empty (clearly the locals knew better than to eat here!) with multiple staff stood around in private conversations. Finally our server came over to take our order but decided whilst doing so to make some questionable comments and ask some very rogue questions. Upon two of us placing our order she exclaims ‘oh are you all Muslim?’ I replied with a short ‘no’ on behalf of the table for her to then direct the question at me again specifically to which I again replied ‘no’. Having ordered an alcoholic beverage and my friend ordering a pork-based dish, I presume her questioning was due to our appearance rather than menu choices which felt targeted and somewhat inappropriate. My friend struggled greatly attempting to order an Amaretto Sour having being told it was not on the menu despite it clearly being so and was rewarded with a Diet Coke instead of his chosen alcoholic beverage for his troubles. Brushing this aside (and having an awkward laugh about it) we waiting for our starters. The bruschetta and garlic bread arrived but we were left waiting another 10 mins for some olives. I asked the server where they were and she responded ‘oh oops I forgot to get those’ which seemed unprofessional, especially considering her previous demeanour. We then watched her dip her hand into the olive pot and pop two in her mouth. Without so much as a hand wash or even sanitise, she swiftly picked up another tables meals and dropped them off- hygienic.

Following this, our mains arrived (we hope a hand wash was involved at some point) and my lovely pasta dish was completely stone cold. Another frustration!! Having caught the eye of the manager, I informed him of the issue and with all credit due, he resolved it extremely quickly and kindly. Whilst we were not satisfied with the behaviour of his staff, he was incredible helpful and even added a slight discount to the bill which was very commendable. My friend ordered a spicy sausage dish that was described as including burrata which it simply did not, we questioned this with our server to which she responded ‘oh sorry’ and just walked off- no effort to rectify or even clarify the issue! At this point we just wanted to fill our stomachs with anything and leave.

We requested the bill and were presented with it (with the discount offered by the manager along side student discount ) Given the shocking service, we also politely requested the service charge be removed. I suppose they did remove the text including it on the receipt, but some simple arithmetic proved it was still very much included, just not stated. Already wishing to wash our hands of this whole ordeal, I simply paid the tab and left. To top it all off, once I’d left I then checked the bill to find they had indeed charged us for the Amaretto Sour they were unable to make; perhaps the most expensive Diet Coke I’ve ever bought!! Truly the cherry on top.

On our walk home we passed countless beautiful Italian restaurants and I implore you all to explore those than spend any time or money in Carluccios. Having visited numerous other branches and always leaving satisfied I have to say this was a truly disappointing experience and put a real dampener on our day. The lack of professionalism, hygiene and care from staff was stark and a complete put off. From this review I am sure it is clear we will never...

I would start by saying that my dinner experience from last night in the Carluccio’s South Kensington was truly SCARY and not a joke at all so you better take my review very seriously and get in touch with me asap . Me and my 3 friends and 1 baby popped in around 7 pm for dinner and few drinks . My friend ordered for her son a Margherita pizza mentioning that her son is highly allergic to nuts and she added a side of chips with it on which she’s been told that it can be contaminated (of course , from the oil in the fryer ) so she cancelled the chips as it wasn’t safe for the baby . When we received the pizza , she noticed that on top of it was some kind of a pesto so I immediately asked for our waitress attention which answered me that she will DOUBLE CHECK if that is pesto or not (so , the staff is not informed of what the dishes ) she asked me as well if I would like to have a look at the label of the pesto which is on the pizza which you are using in the restaurant and I straight away said yes . She brought me first of all the bottle and the first thing I spotted was the Pine Kernels (pine nuts) into the main ingredients so I told her that that’s a nut . She went and talk to someone who apparently was the manager (RENATA) which came to our table holding the bottle while telling me with very rude attitude without even apologising that , HER HEAD CHEF INFORMED HER THAT THIS PESTO DOESN’T CONTAIN NUTS !!!!! (While she was holding the bottle herself) . I could as well mention that I am working as a GM in an italian restaurant chain since more than 10 years and if this person is indeed one of your managers you better think this through for your own safety . A manager can’t reply to the customer that she has been inform by her chefs about the dishes ingredients, she should know herself all the products used in her own restaurant . Anyway , passing that , she brought us at the table the headchef in person who once again while holding the bottle told us that in that pesto there is no nuts 🥺 SCARYYYYYYYYY. In the meantime, while the manageress realised that i Know what I’m talking about , she moved the conversation towards my friend (the baby’s mom) pointing her another table and telling her that ‘ u see that lady on that table , she is allergic to nuts as well and she is alright after eating it so you and your son are safe ‘ . SAY NOOOOOO MORE . I asked them both, the manageress and the headchef please to leave our table as that was the limit point of my conversation and I am seriously looking for someone to get back to me in this regard before me getting further with this issue . (This may be my first complaint in a review and I hope the last but your restaurant is SCARYYYYYY , UNTRAINED AND IT IS NOTTTTT A JOKE AT ALL so , you should take actions before someone will get seriously ill in that location - just a friendly advise )

Kind...

This restaurant could easily get 5 star reviews as it has what it takes. Unfortunately the staff, though very friendly and helpful, are extremely slow and inattentive despite being a large serving team on a relatively small number of tables at full capacity. Located right opposite South Kensington Tube Station, this restaurant offers views from glass walls to the main road and its livelihood. The atmosphere was vibrant at 6.30 pm with most tables full. It took the waiter almost half an hour to take the first order for the drinks.. As i was feeling hungry I ordered my food at the same time - about 15min for my first drinks to arrive and about 45 min for my starter.

Half an hour after finishing my starter my empty plate is taken away and i take advantage of this attention to order a second drink. The second drink arrives after 15min and the previous empty bottle and glasses are left on my table. Just less than an hour and the main course arrives but i have no cutlery so I grab a set from the neighbouring table and the customer next to me does the same.. The food was simple but very tasty albeit not hot…with all that waiting, I ended up ordering another starter after the main course as i was still hungry - I asked if it would take long and this time it arrived after 20 min.. Dessert and coffee also delicious and these arrived at a reasonable waiting time of also 20min..

This was my first time having dinner at this venue. My partner loves the egg, avocado and smoked salmon breakfast- the first time we came to this venue, this breakfast came with no avocado, the second time on the following day, it came with no salmon but in both occasions delicious - we’ve gone back after that and the breakfast was served fully and delicious as expected.

The menu is very child friendly.

I would definitely go back to Carluccio in South Kensington keeping my fingers crossed that the staff would be a bit more attentive and check on all tables more often and as I wasn’t in a hurry to go anywhere it was a pleasant albeit ‘very long’...