Carluccio's

32 Mount Pleasant Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1RA 01892 614968

Housed in the old Bank building at the foot of Mount Pleasant, Carluccio's is another in the successful chain of Italian restaurants from Antonio Carluccio offering traditional and modern Italian cuisine. Its one of those restaurants in town which come lunchtime is packed to the gills with yummy-mummies who lunch, but please don't let that put you off, the food is great. I have fallen slightly in love with the Pate de Fegatini di Pollo, or in less Italian, chicken liver pate served with toasted ciabatta bread. I have also become accustomed to asking for an extra slice of ciabatta as the pate/bread ratio is a bit leaning towards pate.
My wife also recently discovered the delights of the most perfect gnocchi in the form of Gnocchi Alla Romana (Light slices of semolina gnocchi, baked with cheese and served with homemade tomato sauce).
I can also heartily recommend literally any of the breakfasts from the morning menu and coffee aficionados won't be disappointed with the perfect crema on your accompanying espresso.
If it's a nice day why not forgo sitting inside, order one of their picnics walk round the corner to Calverley Park and sit on the grass and eat. Fabulous.
If you can ignore the yummies trying to one-up each other by how well their child can colour in the placemats with crayons, its a great place for lunch or preferably breakfast. Just get there either early or late.

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Comments

[Joe Kenward]

I ate at Carluccio's last night. First impressions were that this was a place that didn't want you hanging around for too long- no carpet, hangings, tablecloths- absolutely nothing to absorb the noise. I think the aim here is to turn tables. However, this was a Thursday night, moderately busy, with a selection of socialising mums with children, and the waiting staff were attentitive without rushing us through the meal.

I had the wild venison tortellini, which was superb. Rich, red wine braised venison with a nice saltiness and well cooked (by this I mean cooked as it should be) fresh egg pasta, sitting in a pool of melted butter sauce. Fantastic. I could have eaten the dish twice over. This is something I find common among pasta dishes in any restaurant- they just don't serve enough of it. Yes, it's filling and rich, but it doesn't mean I want to eat less of it, it means it's bad for me and I want more of it's goodness!

I had this accompanied with a green salad, which was simple and pretty uninspiring (not that green salads often inspire), but the Parmesan and balsamic used were of very good quality.

The glass of house red was perfectly acceptable too.

For dessert, I chose the Chocolate and Kahula Fondante with vanilla ice cream. The portion size again was a little on the small size, but I had now come to expect this. The vanilla ice cream was lovely and creamy, and the chocolate fondante itself was tasty, but not gooey enough in the middle, suggesting it had been overcooked a little, which made it more sponge than fondante. Still, it tasted very good indeed.

All in all, the food was of a good standard, but I was left feeling that this is not the place to take a first date. Or, in fact, have a meal with just one other person. If you want a romantic meal, go elsewhere- the decor and noise will quash those long moments of staring into each other's eyes. This is a place to bring friends, enjoy the food, and get out.

[agamemnon]

There is a warmth about this place that has not come through in the other reviews. It is large, and when not too busy can seem a little empty but most of my visits have benefitted from a wonderfully buzzy atmosphere. I love the Italian motor scooter (Lambretta? can't remember!) at the entrance to the restaurant. The breakfast at about £9 is wonderful value, served until noon, including coffee, fresh orange juice and a cooked delight of sauteed mushrooms with scrambled egg, bacon, tomatoes and toast. Unmissable!

[critique]

I went with a party of 3 last Saturday night for the first time and must say that we all had a very average meal. Prices aren't too bad but portions are very small and I have tasted better supermarket meals.

Service was good but all in all a very dissapointing evening as far as food went. Won't be going again!

[Jan]

Couldn't agree more with the comments relating to the noise. The restaurant is in one large room, effectively, and there are no soft furnishings to absorb the noise. Having visited at various times, I have found the noise very intrusive. Not only from the children, who can be avoided by going later in the day, but from the staff who seem to toss crockery and cutlery around with no awareness of the terrifc noise they make, and the music. Food is excellent and I would visit more often were it not for the lack of ambience and intrusive noise.

[Mark Dodwell]

If you understand *anything* about italian food, you'll love Carluccios!

It serves good quality ingredients prepared sensibly for a reasonable price. Good parmesan, good olive oil (good olives for that matter), good bread, good pasta. Simple and delicious. I'd strongly recommend going with pasta, as these are the best dishes in my opinion.

We need more restaurants like this.