Carluccio's in Richmond Review

Carluccio’s is an institution of Italian food in the UK with, Antonio and his then wife opened an Italian food shop, named Carluccio’s in 1991 and the first Café opening in 1999. I’ve never not had a lovely evening in Carluccio’s as I always visit with good food and have an enjoyable evening with friends and family. Tuesdays evening in the Carluccio’s in Richmond was no different.

Arriving at our checking in time we were greeted warmly by our waitresses and seated near a window seat with the view of Richmond High Street. The Richmond Carluccio’s is similarly designed like other Carluccio’s so has that classic warmness and welcoming atmosphere one expects.

We couldn’t go past the Sicilian Arancini (two crispy rice balls – one filled with buffalo mozzarella and basil, the other with provolone cheese, beef ragù and peas. Served with pepolata sauce) and the Bruschetta with fresh baby plum tomatoes, basil and garlic. We devoured both these starters and couldn’t wait for our mains. They were both quite light starters which were perfect because most Italian mains are quite heavy and full of carbs.

Carluccio’s has recently upgraded their menu for the first time in years so we were keen to test out some of the new dishes. I went with the Chicken Saltimbocca (a flattened chicken breast topped with Parma ham and sage, with mushrooms and a rich Vin Santo and cream sauce. Served with rosemary & garlic roasted potatoes). I didn’t have the mushrooms in my dish as I’m not so much of a fun guy… get it because mushrooms are fungi… (Alright I admit I may have had too much of the appealing Rosé wine from Carluccio’s when I made that joke and found it way funnier than it is but hey I love a bad pun). I had previously tried this at another Carluccio’s and had been disappointed in it but I thought I’d give it another try as I love the idea of it. Fortunately the Richmond Carluccio’s definitely made this better. While the sauce was a little bland, the chicken with Parma ham & sage and the rosemary & garlic roasted potatoes were bursting with flavour. It was probably a good thing the sauce was less rich than I expected it to be or else the combination of flavours would have been too much.

My friend went with the Duck Pappardelle (slow cooked duck, pork, pancetta and mushroom ragù, topped with garlic breadcrumbs). Another new dish on the menu and the portion size for this dish is huge so make sure you bring a big appetite if you’re planning on ordering it. Now her dish was full of flavour. The tasty garlic breadcrumbs were delicious and added that lovely crunch to the smoothness of the dish.

For dessert, there were a lot of options that sounded amazing but I couldn’t look past the Meringa Al Futto Della Passione – the dish just sounded sexy so I had to order it. This translated into meringue with a passion fruit cream, fresh raspberries and a raspberry coulis. This was deliciously tart, however, I wished I’d had ice cream with it and a smaller portion of the passion fruit cream as a topping. I think this would have complimented the dish more and made something already delicious into something that little bit more special.

My friend went for the classic Italian ‘Gelati Artigianali’ and chose the Coffee and Hazelnut Ice cream, Chocolate Ice cream and Vanilla Ice cream. She enjoyed all the flavours apart from the Coffee and Hazlenut as she found the coffee flavour too overpowering.

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening in Richmond and left the restaurant feeling like we’d been welcomed in the Italian Kitchen of a next door neighbour or an Italian famiglia. Carluccio’s really does the best comfort Italian food. There are numerous Carluccios around the UK so head to http://www.carluccios.com/ to find your closest restaurant now and start planning your next family night out.

Reporter: Tegan LeBon
Twitter and Instragram: Toogs1

Richmond Carluccio’s 31-35 Kew Road, Richmond TW9 2NQ

Email:[email protected]

Tel:020 7580 3050

Fax:020 7580 3070

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