Carluccio’s
Garrick Street, Covent Garden
London WC2E 9BH

I had been to Carluccios once previously. Although that was a couple of years ago, my recollection is that this restaurant did quite good pasta. On this occassion though, it was for an office Christmas lunch, so my expectations weren’t high.

From a limited menu (that we had to pre-select from) I chose a vegetarian platter as starter, Bistecca di Bue con Patate for the main course, and Pasticcio di Cioccolato as dessert.

Great vegetarian platter

Bistecca di Bue con Patate

The starter was really quite good, with very nice fresh foccacio bread and a variety of peppers, olives and mozarella. Unfortunately, the main course wasn’t so good. The steak was a very thin cut and rather fatty, overcooked and very tough. I abandoned it after just a couple of bites. It came with a sort of creamy tomato sauce that would have been better with pasta, but definitely did not improve the steak.

Pasticcio di Cioccolato

Dessert was a chocolate bread pudding. It was a welcome relief after the steak, but actually also not very good. It was cold and rather soggy.

Overall, it was a disppointing meal, with only the starter worth eating. Christmas set menus for office parties are notoriously poor, and this one was no exception. It doesn’t make me inclined to try this restaurant again.