Gavin McGinty

Review of Carluccio's

I mourn the passing of a formerly great branch of ...

I mourn the passing of a formerly great branch of Carluccio's. This restaurant has 100% given itself over to the tourist trade - it might as well be an Angus Steak House.

15, 10, even 5 years ago this was a reliable place to get lunch or dinner if you found yourself in Covent Garden. Spacious, relaxed atmosphere, reliable service and food that you'd expect of the Carluccio's chain. It was one of the rare places that you'd see locals as well as tourists in Covent Garden.

Sadly no more. They've squeezed in what feels like twice as many covers on the ground floor. Gone are the comfy circular booths, now it's a sea of Starbucks style high tables and stools.

Service further eroded any sense of relaxed dining. Starters and Mains were served at the same time - our teeny-tiny table went from empty to overflowing. We were looking for a leisurely dinner before a show, but suddenly it felt like we were being rushed through our meal.

They lost out on both bar tab and deserts; the rush made us realise that we should finish up our food as quickly as they wanted and go spend our time and money in a nice wine bar in Soho instead.

Sadly, I had the same experience last time I was here, not long ago. Then I put it down to a "bad night". Clearly it's just the new reality.

Anywhere else, I'd expect to see this place go out of business. But I suspect it will survive purely off the tourist trade. Don't expect to see any locals there though.