Carluccio's on Little Clarendon Street, Oxford

I found the menu scrumpled up at the bottom of my handbag, next to a taxi receipt and some fairly hefty cocktail bills. But that’s the problem with Little Clarendon Street; too many temptations, meaning few manage to escape unscathed, especially now that a brand spanking new Carluccio’s has been added to the line-up.

Trying to decipher my shorthand the next day was therefore much harder than usual. I remembered a fantastic bloody Mary in Brown’s and a tart raspberry cosmo in The Duke of Cambridge before walking a few paces down to the new Carluccio’s nestled where Strada was until a couple of months ago.

Fortunately, a lifetime’s training meant I remembered the meal in all its detail so didn’t have to resort to filling in the gaps, but then you’re on fairly neutral territory there. And with 84 branches up and down the country, most of us know what to expect from Carluccio’s. That Oxford has been such a late addition is only due to the demise of its site at Oxford Castle, where it struggled valiantly for several years before shutting up shop and biding its time until a more suitable venue came up.

And here it was, automatically recognisable despite being only a few weeks old, thanks to its signature Conran-influenced pastel-coloured palette and food inspired decor, (Antonio Carluccio was married to Priscilla Conran who designed the caffes while they were still together).

So on entering it seemed as though Carluccio’s had been there for ever, our wonderful waitress Rachel seating us quickly, explaining the menu, sorting some bread and olives, gin and tonics with lemon thyme, water and menus and then returning time and time again as we chatted on and on, finally choosing our meal.

It was only the food which made me question whether the chain had finally overextended itself, because historically Carluccio’s strong point has always been Italian food done simply using incredible ingredients.

Sadly, however, it didn’t achieve this on Tuesday night. My shorthand just said ‘meh’ next to the ‘primi’ special — a cold tomato and cucumber soup with fresh basil leaves (£5.45) which I left almost untouched. I was expecting a vibrant gazpacho-style dish bursting with flavour and instead the insipid green broth tasted of nothing, the tomato presumably being the small red circle in the middle, a tiny basil leaf doing nothing to liven things up.

The king prawns were OK, nothing special, and I’d written ‘disappointing’ next to it, the accompanying focaccia being too dense and needing some springy softness to offset it. Rachel whisked away our soup immediately when we complained, offering to replace it with something else and took it off the bill without batting an eyelid. The mains were good though; my courgette and gorgonzola risotto (£10.95) being absolutely superb, just the right consistency of creamy bite and velvety flavour, which perked us up a bit. In fact, I could have eaten it with a spoon it was so good, like a tub of Häagen-Dazs.

The pasta al funghi from the main menu (egg pappardelle with a mix of shiitake, oyster, porcini and button mushrooms £8.25) was also delicious if a tad dry, so when I explained to my friend we needed to try the dessert, her eyes widened in alarm. She soon changed her tune, however, when her pasticcio di cioccolato (a warm chocolate bread and butter pudding with vanilla cream £5.25) arrived, making a bit of waist-band chafing worthwhile.

My special, the zucotto al cioccolato (Tuscan sponge cake dipped in rum and cocoa, filled with whipped cream, toasted almonds, hazelnuts and chocolate £5.25) wasn’t as magnificent, so I kept pointing at things outside and swiping hers, my food envy knowing no bounds, shameless in my pursuit of sweet-toothed heaven.

By then our gowns were turning into rags and our shoes into slippers as our train time sneaked ever closer, causing us to bolt off as quickly as we’d arrived, cantering like demented wild animals to the station, our three courses bobbing up and down like apples at Halloween.

The more observant of you will have guessed the conclusion; I missed the train home and had to get a taxi instead, but if it’s a choice of pudding or transport, I’ll go for gluttony every time. And with enormously sociable opening times Carluccio’s offers a safe haven, come day or night, to those of us needing some respite from the bright lights of Oxford and some carbohydrates to boot.#

Carluccio’s 
1–2 Little Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX1 2HP 
01865 514 468
carluccios.com/restaurants/oxford

Opening times: Monday to Saturday 8am–11pm, Sundays 9am–10.30pm
Parking: Tricky
Key personnel: Manager Isla Hunter, waitress to borrow, beg or steal, the lovely Rachel
Make sure you try the... fixed-price menu: two courses £10.95, three courses add £14.45.This includes bruschetta (fresh ripe tomatoes, roasted peppers, basil and oregano on garlicky chargrilled ciabatta) or pâté di fegatini di pollo (homemade smooth chicken liver pâté, toasted ciabatta bread and onion relish); pasta alla puttanesca (penne with a spicy sauce of tomatoes, olives, capers and anchovies) or Milanese di pollo (flattened chicken breast, bread-crumbed and fried, with rocket and baby gem) plus dolci such as tiramisu, panna cotta or gelato ice cream
In ten words: Great to see Carluccio’s back in town but needs fine-tuning.