Carluccio's
Snapshot
- Area
-
Bristol City Centre
Cabot Circus - Tags
-
italian
cabot circus
Ratings
- Overall
- 2.8 stars
- Food
- 2.8 stars
- Service
- 3 stars
- Ambience
- 3.3 stars
Restaurant Reviews
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Service good, food poor
Rating - Overall: 3 Food: 3 Service: 4 Ambience: 4
24 Jan 2009
The first thing that struck me about this place is that it really has tried hard to make an impression. Fresh food delicatessen on your left as you walk in, bread cooked on the premises for sale in front of you, and colourful displays of Italian food adorn the walls. It was very very busy on Sat lunchtime, but staff were very attentive and service was very good.
Now, after all this hard work I'm afraid that the food came as a disappointment. The Lamb Stew was nothing more than mediocre - it wasn't terrible but didn't do justice to the description on the menu - no taste of rosemary and the vegetables were also bland. The soup was fairly thin and uninteresting. Also, It is a dish that is crying out to be served with bread but this needed to be ordered as an extra (although at £1.50 it wasn't expensive)
Mrs Dandelion opted for the seafood Linguine and reckoned that the fish was similar in quality to the frozen 'seafood selection' packs that you can buy in the supermarket. Sauce was nice, very garlicky, but really average bog standard pasta dish overall.
It is a shame that, although we thought this was a nice environment to dine out, and the atmosphere was pleasant, due the the overall average to poor level of food served, we will not be returning.
Visited: January 24, 2009
What I ate: SPEZZ ATINO D’AGNELLO (lamb stew), LINGUINE AI FRUTTI DI MAREThis review has no responses yet
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Over-rated
Rating - Overall: 2 Food: 2 Service: 2 Ambience: 1
15 Jan 2009
I was looking forward to eating here. I really enjoy italian food and was expecting this place to do it very well. It didn't work out that way.
When we walked in staff were serving other customers and just nodded in the direction of some empty tables. Not a great start. The menu wasn't up to the standard of other italian restaruants in the area, and offered very little other than pasta.
A non-descript bread basket starter - accompanied by olive oil but no balsamic vinegar - came and went. And then our main dishes arrived. Unfortunately the tiny table we were on hadn't been cleared after our starter so I had to shift the salt, pepper, candle and empty glasses to a nearby empty table so that the waiter could put our dishes down.
My pasta - Penne Giardineira - was average. And I certainly chose best out of the three of us dining that night. The service, combined with the food, meant that we didn't want to stay so we paid up and left, and felt like no-one was bothered that we'd been there. There are far nicer italian restaurants who care much more about their food and their customers than this place.
Visited: January 3, 2009
What I ate: Bread selection, olives, Penne GiardineiraThis review has no responses yet
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Almost excellent...
Rating - Overall: 3 Food: 4 Service: 2 Ambience: 4
13 Jan 2009
Having rung up during the day, I was told that there were no tables avialable for booking, but if I turned up at 7pm, they should be able to fit us in, which they were without any trouble which was excellent.
The waiter was really friendly, but unfortunately, having ordered two starters, only one turned up and it took 5 minutes to attract anyone's attention. It then took at least 10 minutes for the second starter to arrive, although when it did arrive (Calamari) it was really good and lots of it, but unfortunatlely one starter had already been finished.
The two pasta dishes were very good - not too expensive, and both arrived on time. Overall we had an excellent time, but it isn't a cheap restaurant, and you would expect a 2 course meal for two to arrive without issues...I will probably try it again, but any similar faults, and I probably wouldn't go back again
Visited: December 19, 2008
What I ate: Calamari, breaded smoked mozzarella, spicy sausage pasta, seafooThis review has no responses yet
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Nice but Disappointed
Rating - Overall: 3 Food: 2 Service: 4 Ambience: 4
31 Oct 2008
Me and 4 friends went to Cabot Circus for the evening and after having had drinks at Harvey Nichols and Piccolino, we opted to go and eat in Carluccio's as none of us had eaten here and the previous day I had popped in for a coffee and thought It might be nice to try
We booked our table and turned up 15 minutes later and unfortunately nobody was aware of our booking, not a great start to the meal but we were compensated with a bottle of house red wine which made up for the error. The place was very busy and had a lovely ambience. The menu was selective and well priced although not many of the dishes jumped out at me when browsing through, the waiter was exceedingly helpful and very pleasant.
We started with some bread and olives and as a main I had Penne Giardineira (50p went towards a charity which is always nice) When I got my food, unfortunately it was cold and had to be returned. All the other dishes were ok but nobody was overly impressed to be honest. When I got back my hot pasta dish, it was enjoyable and the spinach balls added a nice touch. I finished the meal with a coffee and we of course had several of bottles of wine throughout. The bill was reasonable and the ambience was great but unfortunately I will not be rushing back here....
Visited: October 28, 2008
What I ate: Olives and Focaccia, Penne GiardineiraThis review has no responses yet
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