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Christmas is coming to Exeter!

Last week, I met up with my sister in Exeter. Unfortunately due to the recent bad weather we had a little train trouble but when we eventually arrived, the first thought that came to our mind was FOOD!
We had a craving for Italian food and originally we wanted to go to Jamie’s Italian but it was fully booked. Nearby is Carluccio’s, which my sister said was quite good so we headed there.
The front of Carluccio’s resembles a shop with cakes, biscuits and other Italian sweet treats which you can buy to takeaway. Behind this is a dining area – it doesn’t look particularly impressive or restaurant like. It looks like a cafe (indeed some people just ordered tea and coffee).
The menu looks quite good – it displays Italian dishes with impressive ingredients. We opted for the Christmas menu – 2 courses for £17.99. I opted for the Risotto Festivo (a mushroom and spinach risotto with porcini oil and cheese wafers on top) and the Panettone with vanilla ice cream – I went for the more Christmassy options! My sister chose the truffle butter ribeye steak (this will cost you an extra £3.50 on top of the set menu price – I didn’t realise this until after we left!) served with rosemary and garlic potatoes (these were nice, I stole some to eat!). For dessert she had the chocolate torte.
My sister enjoyed the food, I thought the food was above average – not the best meal but not the worst. It was the first time I had tried risotto and it was not bad. Very filling! It was also the first time I have tried panettone and it was ok. The ice cream was really nice – you can tell it is good quality ice cream. The service is friendly and knowledgeable.

Afterwards, we headed to the Christmas Market. Exeter is decorated with Christmas lights and looks so beautiful when it is dark outside. My favourite part is the Christmas tree row – local business and charities decorate their own Christmas tree. It looks so nice!
Exeter has other trees in the area. I like this one outside Topshop, and the screen behind looks like falling snow!


The Christmas Market, held outside Exeter Cathedral, has lots of local arts and crafts. My favourite is the hot food! I had a Baileys and White Chocolate Crepe. Mmm…

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