An insiders' small essential list of food and drink venues in Cambridge 2010
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Excellent
- Massaro's
- Crown and Punchbowl, Horningsea
- Trockel, Ulmann & Freunde
- Jamie's Italian
- The Punter
- Cambridge Chop House
- Zara, Shelford
- The Free Press
- Savino's
- The Hole in the Wall
- Le Gros Franck
- Cristine Patisserie
- Teri-Aki
Could Do Better
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RSS FeedCarluccio's, Fisher Square, Cambridge
January 08, 2010
A massive chain, mainly resident in London offering 'authentic Italian' food. One opened in Cambridge as part of the Grand Arcade shopping centre development.I used to really enjoy chancing upon one in London years ago as the restaurants were fresh quirky and exciting places to eat. They were also trendy places 'to be seen', a brand to get cosy with. Strike a pose on the Italian leather seats whilst eating a rather elegant looking lemon tart next to your latte. Buy something delicious from the deli to take home and show off in its well branded packaging.
Carluccio's in Cambridge has a deli counter and a restaurant/cafe with outside seating. The design is really cool inside, very slick and modern with curved glass walls. So I guess the charm is still there.
There are problems though.
It is immensely popular at lunchtimes (I mostly go there for either a deli snack and a macchiato or the occasional sit down meal), so be prepared to form an orderly queue, which is far from fast moving. The service is very very slow. Not attentive enough. They always seem overstretched.
The food is the all important part isn't it? Well here there is a major let down. Twice I have been now when presumably the heat lamps have crucified the pasta on the edges of my dish, from sitting around too long in the kitchen. I have also been given salad that looks old and tired, and should be in the bin. More bad meals than good I'm afraid.
In my opinion the menu is far from exciting, and not enough is made of the 'authentic Italian' ingredients. I look at it now with a lacklustre half gaze and normally play it safe, choosing the Calamari Fritti to start followed by the Penne Alla Luganica, all washed down with a glass of Valpolicella. When I have ventured 'off-piste' I have been massively disappointed.
But with the negative points in mind, it is a perfect spot for a deli snack and a coffee. Lively and buzzy, full of excited fashionably dressed shoppers with plenty to chatter.
Verdict
Despite a stunning environment, the service and food let this place down. I now eat a meal there much less frequently, and opt for coffee and a snack instead.
Karen said...
It was my mums birthday on Sat 20 March so i booked train tickets to go to Cambridge for a days shopping. Normally my Mum and I would just grab a sandwich for lunch but as it was her Birthday I said we would go somewhere nice and be waited on. We went to Carluccios what a let down. It looked a lovely place we arrived at 12.30pm and were told that we would have 10 minutes to wait for a table, sure enough 10 minutes later we sat at our table. A waiter came over and asked us if we wanted a drink, 2 glasses of wine were ordered and we also placed our meal order as well. Less than 5 mintues later our wine arrived, at 1.15pm we asked where our food was (as everyone else ariving after us were being served) and were told by this so called waiter that it would be 2 mins there had been some kind of breakdown with the tills. 1.25pm still no food but a lady came and told us that it was on its way and being plated as we speak. 1.35pm we called the waiter over again and he informed us that he did not know how long our food was going to be.I asked him why he lied earlier about our food being 2 mintues and he said well thats the way it is. Needless to say that my idea of buying my Mum a lovely birthday meal to celebrate her birthday was gone. What a waste of money for train tickets when i could have stayed in Norwich and got better service.
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