Carluccio's — Restaurant in Stratford-on-Avon

As an ex chef, I'm always slightly wary of eating out as sadly I'm often disappointed with the food, however, last night we ate at Carluccio's and the whole experience was exquisite! First off the staff, Nadia behind the bar, our waiter Eduardo (absolutely amazing service), and Arthur front of house were exceptional. Then of course there is the food. The 'Piccolo' and Antipasti were divine. Nocellara Olives, Pesto nuts, Bocconcini (amazing) and chicken liver pate, and then my nemesis at SO many restaurants Steak! The amount of times I have to send steak back is ridiculous, how so many so called professional chefs manage to cook steak incorrectly astonishes me, but on this occasion it was cooked to perfection. I had the sirloin rare, the fat was beautifully rendered down allowing you to eat it, it was beautifully seared and seasoned to perfection, the roast potatoes were beautifully crisp and fluffy on the inside and the simple rocket and parmigiano salad was super fresh. We will definitely be eating there again, outstanding food, outstanding service, outstanding...

DO NOT GIVE YOUR PERSONAL INFO TO THIS RESTAURANT - THEY WILL NOT REMOVE THE DATA AND WILL PLAGUE YOU WITH SPAM EMAILS! THEY WILL NOT REMOVE YOUR DATA DESPITE THIS BEING AGAINST THE LAW.

If you go to this restaurant don't make the mistake of using their WiFi. I did and have been plagued for weeks now by their emails. You click unsubscribe and nothing changes. I've written to this establishment requesting my email address be removed and the email has been ignored. They are breaking the law by not fixing this problem. Their emails are a damned nuisance.

UPDATE: I wrote to the email address provided by Carluccio's to have my details removed as they are in breach of the law. I am still receiving their emails even today. I am now making an official complaint to the ICO and will look for financial compensation. What a dreadful place - do not give them your personal information or you will be plagued forever by their often...

We didn't book on a Saturday evening buy we were lucky enough to walk in and get a table. Service was prompt and friendly.

For drinks we had a bellini and an aperol spritz as the weather had been scorching. We shared a starter of the selection of breads - plenty here to split between two. The foccacia and sourdough were delicious however I found the flatbread a little dry so we left most of that. For mains, I had the vegan spaghetti (I'm not vegan but the description lured me in!) and my partner had the (I forget what it was called but) sausage pasta. Both were incredibly delicious and our plates were empty when we finished. We had ordered a side of fries to share but in hindsight these weren't really needed (they were also a little underwhelming).

Only thing to comment is we were placed next to a family with three young children who were shouting and screaming so it was a bit noisy.

Overall a great visit and...