il Piazza ristorante — Restaurant in Circolo di Bellinzona

It's always a struggle travelling with food allergies, intolerances and, in my case, coeliac disease. And since I was travelling on business, I had no real choice over the area I was visiting. So it was with some trepidation that I went out each evening to find dinner, sometimes with a colleague, sometimes alone.

Most of the advances in gluten free pasta have - not surprisingly - come from the Italians, and I was hopeful that the proximity of Italy to Bellinzona would open up some possibilities for me on the food front. Sadly, it was not to be. Waiting staff are not very aware about menu options for people with dietary restrictions, although very friendly, and it took some persistent questioning to work out that the risotto options were in fact safe to eat.

I'm glad I persisted. I had the risotto al merlot and a green salad, and it was delicious: very well worth the effort. It was also lovely to be able to sit outside in the early evening across from the fountain and the undoubtedly beautiful surroundings of the town square. Hence the four stars: good food, lovely surroundings, but the loss of one star for the lack of GF options and allergy awareness. If you've no such restrictions, I've no doubt you'll...

We stopped by as we liked the spacious terase, however, we were disappointed by the food. We ordered a fitness salad and were surprised to see turkey ham and not a normal turkey pieces. Also it was a bit unusual combination of tastes. The pasta carbonara was unfortunately very dry, almost tasteless. They serve huge portions but that should not be replacing...

We found this restaurant on our way back from Italy. We were lucky to find it open and willing to serve food nearly at 3pm on a Sunday! The service was excellent, and the food was really delicious. We were a party of 6, and we all agreed our dishes were...