La Bellezza Birmingham — Restaurant in Birmingham

Sunday, 9 March. The restaurant was bustling with energy, and the staff, many with Italian accents, added an authentic touch to the experience. The atmosphere carried a dark, romantic vibe that set the stage for an interesting meal.

For starters, I sampled the Bresaola della Valtellina—a 40-day cured beef leg—and the beef tartare. The bresaola, at £10 for six slices, felt a bit overpriced given its mild flavor. I expected a bolder, more pungent taste typical of a well-cured meat, perhaps reminiscent of dry-aged beef, but instead, the flavor was surprisingly subtle. The olive oil dressing, although not top-tier in quality, however a unique zest was added that complemented the meat.

The beef tartare, on the other hand, was nearly a 9 out of 10. Its flavors were perfectly balanced, with house-made fried capers adding a delicate crunch that hinted at a seaweed-like texture. A touch of horseradish or French mustard and a dollop of yogurt elevated the dish without overwhelming it, and the beef was tender rather than chewy.

For the mains, I opted for the skewered sea bass and the Netflix and chilli pizza. The sea bass was fresh and paired with a tangy cream that added a welcome contrast, though the skin was slightly burnt, imparting a bitterness that detracted from what could have been a smoky, charcoal flavor. The accompanying sautéed whole potatoes were a highlight—they were smashed before cooked, resulting in a crunchy exterior and a soft, silky interior.

Unfortunately, the Netflix and chilli pizza was a disappointment. Despite the menu’s promise of a broccoli cream base and mozzarella fior di latte, the dish fell short. The broccoli was merely blended and spread over the pizza, drowning out any hint of a true cream base. This not only masked the intended flavor but also left the crust soggy from excess moisture. While the concept was interesting, the execution was off, even though the homemade sourdough, fire-oven crust did show promise.

Overall, the experience was a mix of highs and lows. The starters impressed with their balance of flavors, the sea bass showed potential despite a few missteps, and the Netflix and chilli pizza missed the mark entirely. It was a memorable evening, and despite some disappointments, I’d consider returning—hopefully with a few different...

Not sure if this place buys its 5 star reviews or if it’s all the instagram hype but unfortunately it did not live up to expectations at all. I fear that many other people will make the same mistake I did and trust high ratings on google, but you have been warned.

The interior is nice but the experience is ruined by the fact that the tables are so close together. I imagine it gets very busy and if you’re booking for a special occasion you won’t get any type of intimacy here.

I can overlook a crammed restaurant but the food was disappointing and expensive. I ordered the truffle pasta and it tasted just of heavy cream, quite bland. The waiter only came about halfway through eating the meal to ask if we wanted parmesan, which slightly redeemed the dish, but it was still too heavy and sickly and did not have much truffle flavour. I ended up leaving about 3/4 of it. The starter focaccia also did not have much flavour and was a bit stale at the top, it’s not hard to make good focaccia.

The desserts were probably the lowest quality. The lemon merengue pie looks impressive but it’s definitely style over substance. The merengue is quite tasteless, you get a burnt aroma at the top since i’m pretty sure they blowtorch it. Then the bottom layer is a stale and hard biscuity base with a lemon cheesecake layer which tasted like from a supermarket. The profiterole was also not very authentic at all and again quite dry. I am used to choux pastry but this was more of a biscuit with ice cream in the middle.

The bill came to nearly £100 and I felt like I could’ve made a nicer meal at home. I have been to many lovely Italian restaurants before and I am not a fussy eater, but come on Birmingham the standards need to be higher than this for somewhere rated 4.9/5.

The service was just ok, there are not enough waiters for the amount of tables and there was a misunderstanding with our mains which was rectified but does show the rush and pressure the waiters are under. Can’t say it justified the 12.5% service charge.

Also, the women’s toilets were veryy dark and strange choice of decoration for what is otherwise a pretty restaurant. If you want to take photos or touch up your makeup...

We were genuinely looking forward to our evening at La Bellezza, especially as we were celebrating a friend’s birthday — but sadly, the entire experience left us thoroughly disappointed.

It took over 20 minutes for our server to even acknowledge us, while tables seated after us were being served first.

-We felt completely forgotten throughout the evening — food was delayed, items were missing, and service was disorganised.

-We asked for an extra portion of baby potatoes that never came. We also had to request bread multiple times, which finally arrived — but it was tough and stale. Oddly enough, the table next to us had no issue with theirs, which made it all the more frustrating.

-The meatball sauce was bland, just tasted like canned tomatoes with no depth. Same with the crab pasta we ordered.

-We ordered wine, and the waiter asked us how many glasses we needed we said 4 but only 3 arrived. When we asked the waiter he seemed confused when we asked for the 4th glass.

-For a restaurant of this quality you would expect that the server would pour the wine after you finish your other drinks but no that never happened.

-Salt and pepper were requested multiple times and never arrived — we finished the meal without them.

-Service was extremely slow and messy. At one point, our server seemed to disappear entirely for a good 30/40 minutes or more, and no one else took over.

-After our mains, when our waiter disappeared we wanted to have a look at the desserts menu but in the end decided to leave it due to the poor service.

-Most disappointing of all — this was meant to be a birthday celebration. No sparkler, no special plate, nothing to mark the occasion. It gave the impression that unless we bought a dessert, the birthday wasn't worth acknowledging — something that really soured the evening. I did inform the waiter when he came to take our order and he even said “who is the birthday guest?” Which I then pointed to my friend.

La Bellezza had potential, but this visit was an unfortunate letdown in nearly every way — from service to food quality and attention to detail. Sadly, we won’t...