Bella Italia

Two of us ate there at Irving Street, last Saturday evening - 29th March 2008. The place was really busy but we got seated straight away at 5:20. We ordered a couple of drinks and a main course as we were ina bit of a rush - had to leave by 6:30. I ordered what was effectively steak and chips (medium steak). My wife ordered chicken stuffed with cheese, etc. By 6:10 we were getting well and truly fed up, as there was no sign of our meal. I asked the waiter where it was and about two minutes later it appeared... The chips were dreadful - looked like they'd been bunged in the microwave and what would originally have been a nice piece of steak was well and truly overdone. My wife's chicken was tiny and there was a marked lack of stuffing. We didn't have time to send it back and we were both starving, so we shoved them down. My wife also wanted a dessert and we managed to order that, get it served and eaten in another 5 minutes - and that was very nice.

The waiter was very good, the food was grim and it was horribly busy, but these places aren't expensive really, so you pretty much get what you pay for. We went because we had Tesco vouchers for the food. (one of the £4 for £1 offers). I'd go again if we were using vouchers. I wouldn't if we were paying wholly in cash.
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Mike Davies
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Monday, March 31, 2008

My husband and I visited the queensway branch of Bella Italia near Hyde Park last Friday evening. We arrived at 11pm which was quite late however last sitting was meant to be 12pm so we should have had plenty of time. The waitress initially told us they were closed then went to ask?? we were then seated at a very small table. I ordered bruschetta to start and my husband had ciabatta bread, my bruschetta was literally chopped tomato on bread with a lump of bagged salad leaves on the side, there was NO olive oil or garlic on the bread which was so dry it stuck to my palate! the ciabatta was not much better. The main was cardboard pizza for my other half and I had chicken in a creamy sauce (cant remember the name they used for it) but what i never noticed was that it was served with fries! in an italian restaurant!! this turned up with burnt fries although to be fair the chicken tasted ok, i was offered a replacement which i declined as i had tasted enough bad food for one night but i was still expected to pay. This place had a terribly poor atmosphere and customers wre rushed and looked miserable, ive seen happier people at a wake! The only happy looking people were not eating but were clearly friends of the waiting staff sitting, waiting for them to finish for the night.
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Mrs P
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, February 11, 2008

We visited Bella Italia in irving st off Leicester Square,London and decided never to go there again. My wife, two children and myself waited to be seated and we were then rushed to a hastily put together seat consisting of two tables (one square and one round) near a draughty exit in the smoking section, we weren't asked our preference. The garlic bread starter which was cold, arrived at almost the same time as the main meal so we were eating both at the same time and the place had all the atmosphere of a busy tube station. Dessert was nondescript so I ordered a coffee and a glass of grappa. My first grappa got sent back as the glass looked filthy and the second one was watered down which as any Italian will tell you is a cardinal sin!. All in all it was a pretty poor experience to be avoided at all costs, don't be fooled by the blurb!
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Ennio
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Awful place! The food is decidedly average. I had some terrible pasta thing that could have been pulled straight out of a packet. Avoid at all costs.
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Hadrian Finebaum
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Visited bella italia brighton overall very good food served nice by friendly staff , approipate waitng time betwen course and not rushed as some place food very good would return there and there is a lot of competiton in brighton thanks
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gretel keadell
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, July 28, 2006