Carluccio's York Restaurant Reviews - St Helens Square
Kevin says We said we would go back and we kept our word for you. A friend of mine pointed out the obvious when we have been a few times. He said "There must be something you like about it if you keep going back!" and there is. The staff have had a chance to get to know the place, know what their job is and they do quite well now. Well done to them.
The food was better also. We were recommended a couple of things by the waiter and we are always happy to try something new. The olives covered in breadcrumbs, cooked till crisp outside with a herby mince beef stuffing were a triumph. The saltimbocca was not quite right for me, not enough ham wrapping it and too few sage leaves. But, it was tasty, well cooked and well seasoned. Again I say, we will be back as we enjoyed our evening here!
Kevin says Overall this is was a good experience, that could have been much better. We will be back. The food was OK. Not what I would expect if Antonio was actually cooking for us but, quite good. However the service was a farce. To be honest after 2 Negronis and a bottle of wine we had quite a laugh at how similar to Faulty Towers it was for us.
We sat at the bar downstairs as we came 1/2 hour early. Ordered drinks from a cocktail bar where the barman quite obviously didn't know what he was doing. He faffed about for 15 minutes and we didn't get our drink.
We did get told our table was free 15 mins early, so we sat down. Reordered our York Negronis along with some mixed olives. These arrived in good time and the "chocolate orange" (York tribute) Negronis were good. Real good. 4/5 The olives were very mixed and pass�. Very pass�. We have had better in a lot of places I promise you. 2/5
Starter
Our starter was a grandiose sharing platter of mainly meats a touch of cheese and more pass� olives. The meats were all good to superb. The hot salami was real spicy and we loved it. The hams were all tasty, in their own way. One chewy and smoked, another thin cut and well seasoned. 1 although obviously processed with lots of fat was still quite nice and well seasoned. The cheese pastry could have been more cheesy but, the small bit of cheese was super. All in all 4/5.
Main Course
Mains were lasagne and chicken Milanese. A true test for a new restaurant. However we were approached 1/2 way through our starter with 2 plates of our main course. David's comment was "what on earth is happening here?", to the manager who came over when we made a fuss. My comment was "There is no way I am eating that!".
We were promised freshly cooked mains from the manager and when we had finished our stater, they seemed very hot and freshly cooked. In fact the manager came over to our table, squatted down to tell us "Can I confirm, these were freshly prepared."
My lasagne was unfortunately nothing to write home about. I have had better in most places I have had lasagne, especially when I cook one myself. 2/5 The Milanese was crispy coated and not overly dry. Well done there. A touch of oregano and or basil might have been nice and more seasoning was definitely needed. However with the salad, the dressing made up for its lack of seasoning. 3.5/5
Dessert
The Affogato we had for desert was what it said it said on the tin. No great flavour to what seemed to be mass produced ice cream. The espresso and a shot of amaretto made it. 3/5
Please mention Hotels in York website when you call. Thanks.