"I had high expectations going into Carluccio's, as it's in a wonderful location and is a beautiful, ambient restaurant. Myself and my S.O went on a Thursday night, and there were only a few other couples in there, making it very quiet and the service on point. Our waiter was, however, hard to understand because he maintained a very low speaking volume which came across as a nuisance. I didn't think there was a huge amount of choice on the menu, but we still managed to pick out things we liked. I treated myself to the Summer Garden soft drink (apple, elderflower, and mint lemonade), and it was delicious. Like a softail Mojito, very refreshing and zingy! The food, I must say, was pretty disappointing. My Sicilian Arancini starter (fried rice balls stuffed with mozzarella) just tasted odd. There's no real way to describe it, the flavours and textures weren't marrying, it was bland but also left a bitter aftertaste. Very strange, give this one a miss. For mains, my S.O's beef ragu was delicious! He wasn't fond of the al dente linguine but I thought it was perfect. I had the seafood linguine, a dish I've had at other places, and by comparison it was a little lacking. The shellfish were cooked to perfection and it was a great size serving, but again the overall flavour was bland. I would be willing to give Carluccio's as a whole another chance in future, but will be trying different dishes the next time around."
