The Oxford Guide

Socks's review of Carluccio's from November 2006

The entrance takes you into the deli, which stocks a range of upmarket Italian foods including freshly-baked items such as cakes, and chilled items such as cheeses and cooked meats. There is also a wide selection of dried and preserved food items, along with a few cookery books and utensils.

The café/restaurant serves, as you might expect, a wide range of Italian food (no pizzas, however). In our experience, the food has always been very good and not too expensive (although this isn't a bargain café by any means). There is also a special breakfast menu, but we've never been in that early. The décor is clean and fresh, with bright lighting at least during the lunchtime service.

This is one of the most child-friendly places to eat out that we've found in Oxford, while still managing to be a "proper" restaurant for adults. There is a special children's menu (printed in black and white, but supplied with colouring pencils for decorating it!) and the tables are far enough apart to fit pushchairs or the supplied high chairs without encroaching on the next table. When we went in November 2006, just over half the tables had one or more children, and yet it didn't feel (or sound) like we were eating in a playground.