Historical version 1 of Carluccio's (view current version)

  • 249413
  • 249738
  • Oxford Castle
  • OX1 1AY
  • Mon-Fri 8am-11pm; Sat 9am-11pm; Sun 10am-10.30pm

Part of the national chain of Italian food shops set up by the Chef Antonio Carluccio. This Oxford branch contains a delicatessen and a café.

The entrance take you into the deli, which stocks a range of up market Italian foods including fresh baked items such as cakes and chilled items like cheese and cooked meats. There is also a wide selection of dried and preserved food items and some cookery books and utensils.

The Café/Restaurant serves, as you might guess, a wide range of Italian food (no pizzas, however). The food in our experience has always been very good and not too expensive (although this is not a bargain Café). 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 in Oxford that we've found, 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.

OS X co-ord: 451050     OS Y co-ord: 206093     (Latitude: 51.750748 Longitude: -1.260403)
This is version 1 (as of 2006-11-27 13:32:35). View current version.