Review: Lunch at Carluccios Italian Restaurant

Yesterday, a lucky member of Team Total and her friend had the pleasure in going along to Carluccios in the Swindon Designer Outlet to try out their fantastic summer lunch menu. Here's what they thought...

On arrival at Carluccios, we were greeted by the friendly waitress Jess, who was extremely welcoming and let us choose where we'd like to sit. We decided to dine outside the restaurant, in the middle of the Swindon Designer Outlet to make the most of the buzzing atmosphere. We were given menus straight away, both the summer and special menu, which included a huge variety of delicious Italian dishes and refreshing drinks to choose from.

We both decided on soft drinks (it was 12pm on a Tuesday after all!), however we were offered a selection of wines to accompany our meal if we wanted to. We were spoilt for choice with tempting pasta dishes, salads and meat dishes, but I eventually opted for the Lasagne Tradizionale, which was a unique and tasty take on the classic Italian dish Lasagne, and my friend Shannon opted for Gemelli alla Luganica, which was also a pasta dish made up of a spicy Luganica sausage and tomato ragu, cheese and gemelli pasta, along with some mouth-watering garlic bread to share. As you can imagine, once we'd ordered this we couldn't wait to just get stuck in!

Luckily for us, our food was served very quickly, and our lovely waitress sprinkled as much Parmesan cheese over our dishes when she brought them out which was a lovely touch. We could tell that lots of care had gone into the presentation of our meals too as they were served beautifully. My classic Lasagne was absolutely delicious – the pasta was layered beautifully between the mouth-watering sauce and they complimented each other perfectly. The meal was incredibly flavoursome and was cooked in the perfect Italian style - it certainly went down a treat!

Shannon equally enjoyed her Gemelli alla Luganica just as much as I enjoyed my meal, describing it as being extremely tasty with a variety of different flavours bursting through every bite. Her pasta dish had the spicy Luganica sausage, which she described as giving the meal a lovely tangy taste throughout. She also described the staff as extremely friendly and welcoming, and the restaurant as very clean and tidy - which I couldn't agree more with!

During our meal, the friendly waitress made sure to check that we were happy with our meal and if we needed anything else, so we felt very looked after! The portion sizes were incredibly generous, so much so, that we struggled to finish our dishes (though we did try as we couldn’t possibly let such delicious food go to waste!). Our meals were perfect for lunchtime, as we were left very satisfied and it kept us going for the whole afternoon.

Overall, we were extremely happy with the service and of course, the delicious meal we had at Carluccio's. We couldn't have asked anymore of the lovely staff and waitresses who made us feel so welcome and well looked after! It was both Shannon and I’s first time dining there, but we can guarantee we will be back!