Moltobuono! — Restaurant in Bristol

I went to Moltobuno most recently on Valentine’s Day with my girlfriend, and have previously been to this fine Italian restaurant throughout 2024. You can always count on the best in class service and top quality food to put a smile on your face, whatever the weather!

I booked a table here in January for Valentine’s Day to ensure I had a nice restaurant booked for dinner that evening to celebrate the occasion with my girlfriend. It is a restaurant that we had previously been to and loved the atmosphere and vibe of, whilst also finding the service and decor absolutely beautiful. It feels authentic, but also quite glamorous, and balances both of these aesthetics very well.

Upon entering, you are greeted by the service staff and, on occasion, the owner. This is, always, an absolute highlight. The service staff are first in class, and make the experience at Moltobuono so enjoyable. Always with a smile on their face, but also with good conversation and greeting to make sure that their customers feel welcome from the off. This was the case both times I dined here.

On the first occasion, there was no need to book, and we could get a table on walk-in. This was during peak hours and so availability is often not an issue, though I do imagine it is not always the case that there are tables free, so do book in advance for special occasions to make sure of availability! Most recently, the restaurant was absolutely full, and this made for a fantastic atmosphere of plenty of happy couples and tables of families enjoying the food. Despite the business, this didn’t stop their service team from keeping everyone well served. We were seated upstairs under a beautiful lighting arrangement where a traditional rustic feel was mixed with a clean and very well kept nature.

After recently travelling through Italy, it was nice to revisit the culture and food. I do feel somewhat able then, to know when Italian food is good quality. I ordered the Diavola, a staple in my time through Italy, whilst my girlfriend ordered the Cacio e Pepe. The Pizza was fantastic - cooked exactly as you would find a classic Neapolitan style Pizza in Italy, and the pasta was also wonderful (I helped finish, as always!).

There can be little to complain about for a place like this. One slight mishap was we ordered some sides that were not immediately delivered - but this I believe was due to someone else being given direction to deliver the sides to the table, and then delivering them to the table next to us. Upon asking, this was quickly corrected. During such a busy service, such a small mistake is bound to happen, and that it was corrected is all that is necessary.

To top it off, on leaving, our server gave me a rose which I was then able to give to my girlfriend. This kind of service is what sets Moltobuono apart from other restaurants in the area. It manages to mix an authentic feel with true class, yet feels approachable for many different types of people. The meal was not too expensive, costing around £50 for the both of us, but given the quality and the occasion this was more than reasonable.

For any event, any time of year, any reason, I would recommend this restaurant. If you like Italian food, it is truly wonderful here. There is so much to like, and I cannot recommend the place enough. The prices are fair and for such good food in fact good value, the service is second to absolutely none, and the atmosphere is always a beneficiary of this. If you come to Bristol, come...

This is going to be a mixed review but it in no way means we would never return here. We were greated by a warm welcome having been in earlier to book our table. We were led to the upstairs dining area which I can only describe as a tad uncomfortable, cramped and noisy. It may have been a different experience of we had been seated downstairs. This was made worse by the cold air from the air con unit to our side. The tables directly in front of it would have felt it more so and infact a number of couples moved from these tables during our visit. Table service was prompt to take our order for drinks and food however all our food including our starter only arrived around 40 mins later. I ordered the vegan pesto pasta and garlic focaccia (which was a difficult choice from the generous vegan menu of pizzas and pastas, containing some beautiful combinations of ingredients - not your usual vegan offerings on a typical Italian menu) my partner ordered the Rossa hot pizza. The food was faultless and absolutely delicious, full of flavour and perfecly executed. I can honestly say it was the best Italian food we have ever had and the best pizza outside of Naples and we were happy to feed this back. The waiter was pleased to let me know they had a vegan tiramisu on the menu. Sad to say this didn't live up to much. It came in a foil tray on a plate so I'm guessing it was bought in as it really didn't meet the standard of the food we had just eaten. Overall it was a big nice experience of only for the quality of the food. I'm just sorry we had to wait so long for our food to arrive, (if we had been told this at the time we would have ordered some nibbles to be going on with), probably because the place is busy due to their fabulous menu and reputation. And I wish this restaurant was somewhere near to...

Update Aug 2021

Wanted to visit again with my girlfriend for our 1 year anniversary as she heard me share with friends how nice the food was.

Unfortunately the service was dramatically slower and it impacted negatively the whole experience; even causing us to skip the dessert which was ohione of the most exciting parts for me.

We were sitting upstairs and unfortunately staff tent to forgot their customers up there. Our starter arrived without two small plates, therefore we ate through the main plate. Our tap water and drink arrived approx 7 minutes after our main meal did. And dessert? Well we finished our main at 21:30, and our waiter came to ask for dessert at 21:58; we just asked for the bill and the card machine, waited another 11 minutes and then we were on our way.

Was extremely sad and disappointed to see this place go down like that.

June 2021 Speechless! This is definitely one of my favourite restaurants in Bristol; their food was fresh and full of flavours. Their staff make the whole experience even better as they are extremely kind and welcoming.

Will definitely...