Carluccios

Usual meeting place at Canary Wharf, lunch box is a good choice. Coffee is our usual option in the afternoon. I also pack takeaways sometimes when I finish late. It’s a nice place in the heart of CW, very easy to find so we all use it as meeting point. Especially the breakfast is popular:)

Canary Wharf is such a funny place… I was meeting a friend here for breakfast before another meeting. It’s nothing special, but given where it is, I really enjoyed the porridge (ample amounts of fruit!).

Eaten here plenty of times… The pasta with spinach balls is awesome. Their starter platter is very decent if you have a group of people. Good brunch options as well and of course. they have decent coffee…

Worst breakfast ever. The poach eggs were over cooked, the toast was completely burned. I asked for a squeeze orange juice and they gave me a regular juice. Unfortunately this was not the first time, but certainly will be the last. «Full me once, shame on you, full me twice shame on me…»

Carluccios is, I’m afraid, another in a long list of blasé chain restaurants in Canary Wharf. On the plus side it’s in a great location right next to Canary Wharf Underground Station and boasts lots of outdoor seating. The service is usually quite friendly and succinct (in a good way), but the food here just doesn’t do it for me.
They offer a gluten free menu, which is considerate, but it’s not great. The pasta is chewy and the sauce sort of tasted like generic salty cheese. Pasta on the regular menu is ok and decent value for the area.
I like the vibe at this Carluccios, but I’ll only go if I’m craving pasta and am too lazy to cook it at home.

I REALLY hate giving low reviews, but I literally had the worst takeaway coffee of my entire life here. It tasted like poison, and left me feeling sick for the rest of day.
After ordering a latte and receiving a cup back that was less that half full, I nicely asked for it to be topped up. The server was extremely unhappy about this request (which I think was entirely reasonable — given the price of a coffee, I wanted to get my money’s worth!).
Now, I’m not sure what exactly she topped up the coffee with, but the result (which I only discovered after leaving) was a toxic disaster. Was it rotten milk? Was it something else in the coffee? I’m not sure, but my friends and I agreed it tasted like poison (actual poison). I threw it out, but felt sick for the rest of the day…

I was really hopeful for some good quality Italian food. The menu is vast with plenty of options and they have a dedicated gluten free menu which is great. The service is fast but it’s so fast you almost feel like you’re being rushed through. The food is decidedly average. I had gluten free bruchetta and gluten free tomato basil pasta… I explicity said no onions as I’m allergic. Low and behold the bruchetta mix had onion and given how awful I felt after I’m sure the pasta sauce had onion in. If someone says they’re allergic/​intolerant you should check what’s in that particular meal. It’s not a preference, it’s matter of health! My partner had rosemary potatoes which were nice and the veal which was average. Overcooked and very ordinary. Needless to say we won’t be coming back anytime soon but for some it probably suits exactly what they’re wanting. Cheap Italian food.

If I were in Canary Wharf, I would just head to Gaucho’s or Nando’s.
But say I overdosed on beef and chicken and was looking for a carb alternative (but let’s be honest with ourselves, there is never a perfect alternative). Enter Carluccio’s.
We ordered garlic bread, house salad, and the trio of pastas for 21 quid, which gave us a tasting of the beef tortellini, the putanesca (with capers, anchovies, olives, and tomatoes), and pasta with butter and truffle.
Everything wasn’t bad, it just taste of chain. The garlic bread was a big soggy, the tortellini filling was a bit mushy after a while, and the pasta with butter and truffle was tasteless. The best thing there was probably the putanesca. Panna cotta and lemon tart were okay.
Don’t come in with high expectations, and you’ll leave satisfied.

Yeah, it was alright.
The biggest plus involved the options — they have a note on the menu that they offer a vegetarian-​friendly menu if you ask. I didn’t ask, but I did ask if I could have the pasta e fagioli soup without the ham-​infused olive oil topper. The waiter quickly asked if I wanted the strictly vegetarian version, which I received without a problem. The soup was overly salty, but otherwise rich and delicious.
I do like the simple touch of including a bowl of coarse salt on the table, though there was no spoon in it. The thought of other people’s fingers in my salt bowl is a big turn-​off, and my whole party avoided using it.
Another plus was the shop you walk through before the restaurant area — from tarts to go, to unique pastas and sauces, it all looked delicious!
However, the tables were incredibly close together (making manoeuvring through to the toilets very difficult… and making it a bit easy to lose focus on my own conversations, what with the overwhelming influx of voices from all sides!), the staff was very difficult to flag down once we made it clear we would not be ordering dessert or coffee, and the food — while good — was, as I said, salty.
Still, regardless of how decent the food is, a bad atmosphere really takes away from it.
My one line summary of this place would be: «Yeah, it’s only alright-​ish.»

For a chain restaurant, it’s pretty good, much better than most of the upscale chain Italian places in the US.
I found the service ok, the food was very good, particularly the milanese de pollo and ravioli.
They also sell a lot of their own products so you can browse and take a look around and try your hand at duplicating their sauces.

My first time to this chain and I will be back ! The scrambled eggs and mushrooms are wonderful. Eggs are cooked and firm which can be hard to find in Europe! all on top of am amazing piece of Italian toast.
I also like that they seat you and take your order and serve you. Not just a take away place where you battle for a table.
Service was super friendly. I also went to the one in St. Albans and had another fantastic experience.

I’m not sure if it’s the fact I was super hungry, but this place was recommend by three co-​workers as well as my friend (all native Londoners). Excellent eggs with ham, and the English tea was fantastic. Absolutely would recommend this even though it is a well known Italian chain in the heart of London. Just fantastic.

Carb loading before race. Spaghetti carbonara & choc gelato were excellent, good service, and the grocery had great items from Italia. I’ll be back!

Not very happy with this restaurant. Noisy, tables too close one each others, slow service. The ravioli with spinach and ricotta from the menu was average. And the pasta as a starter is more an apetitizer than a starter.
The best is the situation and the area.
Probably will not repeat.

Still the great Carluccios menu and service, but OMG it’s loud inside at lunch time!

Good food, convenient location, friendly but very slow service

Try the hot chocolate it’s great!
The staff was very friendly as well.

Carluccios is only good if it works, it is quite expensive for what it is and so if the quality and service is off then it is quite poor. I went there last night and in our party the lowlights were dirty plates, cold lasagne and a piece of growing medium (wood/​bark/​cloth?) in the mushroom pasta — full price was still charged although there was an apology for the mushroom pasta. Highlights were the atmosphere, location, antipasti, good flavours and the seafood pasta although one of us got all the tomatoes another got much more pasta. They had run out of their house red and one of the desserts but apart from that the rest of the food was OK.
I’ve been there for lunch and been impressed but last night — a busy Saturday — I was really not happy. A pity. I would go again but make sure it was a lunch or a quiet weekday evening or maybe go to Pepenero in Canning Town — rubbish location but great food.

2 x Bread pudding = (4.95) 9.90
1 x Prosciutto E Parigiano = 4.95
Served by Eril
Dear fellow Unilocalers
Long time no Unilocal and am back and ready to review the places that I have been to recently.
I’ll start of with lovely Carluccio
This little baby deserves 4 stars for the amazing customer service, location and décor!
On one fine evening me and a friend met up after work and headed down to the land of the Corporate estate ‘Canary Wharf’.
Both of us had sugar cravings so we decided to have dessert! We hopped from one restaurant to another just to find a place to satisfy our sugar buds!
After 45 mins and no luck my friend lost all hope:
‘Ok Michelle I give up, lets just go here A** B** O*e’ — says friend
’Oh hang on’ (I turned around) how about here? ‘Carluccio’ — says I ‘have you been here before
no’ my friend replied ‘lets check it out’
As we walked in we saw a deli right in front of us and a plush restaurant on our left ‘HANG ON!’ I said aloud as I stopped her ‘we are allowed to just order desserts… right’? I whispered
’AH yes you have come to the right place’! Said the man and woman behind us, who works there. I loved the welcoming *tick*
As she sat us down I couldn’t help but soak in the warm atmosphere. I love the ‘chef style’ uniforms the waiters/​waitress are wearing, its like as if you’re being served by the chef themselves it rocks!
Eril was our waiter for the evening Greetings Eril! (If they get to see this. I told him and the Deli manager about Unilocal).
My friend gave in and ordered Prosciutto E Parigiano as her starter. A starter that’s she’s never heard of and Eril was happy to explain what it was (parma ham wrapped grissini with slices of Parmesan cheese and rockets drizzled with balsamic vinegar that is served on a wooden copping board. Great combination) she was so impressed that she ordered it.
I ordered 2 chocolate puddings (for me and my friend) with vanilla cream. I was a teeny disappointed as the pudding was slightly cold but that did not stop me from savouring every moment of it.
I wouldn’t mind going again. The thought of the bread sticks and pudding is making my mouth go all gooey like Homer Simpson dribbling over beer. mmmm ‘Puddddddinggggg’.
Prices are reasonable and all tips goes to staff! There is a 12.5% service charge for more than 8 parties.
I am very impressed with the service they provided I had to tell Eril and he was so humble. Worth visiting again =D

This big Carluccio’s caffe is located right by Canary Wharf tube station. It has a nice ambience (pretty much like all the others), but can get quite busy in the evenings when all the City folk get out of work, so you may have to wait a little while for a table.
The view when you come out is really pretty as it is right on the river.
The staff are polite and friendly, and the food is consistently good — I particularly like the pan fried calves liver, and the chicken milanese is tender and delicious too. The portions are filling, and something such as the spinach and ricotta ravioli or a nice salad is perfect for lunch and will only set you back just under £7.
I think overall the prices are reasonable, and there’s just something about this place that I find relaxing and chilled out, yet it still feels like a bit of a treat coming here.
I would particularly recommend going for a leisurely stroll on a Sunday morning and ending up here with a newspaper, a big cup of coffee and the breakfast bread tin, which is filled with different types of toasted bread, breadsticks, jam and a croissant. Perfect.