Bella Napoli — Restaurant in England

Gobsmacked. Was ushered to come along and try the place out by the owner/one of the staff earlier today. It looked a cosy and lovely little place the sort of authenticity we like, family run. Was informed all home cooked food we would want to come back again in the future, with the look of the menu we came back later. It was quiet but early evening so not too suspicious and soon started to fill up, the guy who insisted we came in, didn't even acknowledge our existence playing on his phone, fine, no worries. A quick thanks for coming back when it's not too busy on the waiting front wouldn't have gone a miss, given how chatty n eager he was earlier but onwards and upwards. The food..... What it's all about.....I ordered risotto, my partner a lasagne..... rectangular lasagne in an oval dish? Looks familiar and the same size as a ready meal, it was missing it's outer packaging and had gained a nice leaf on top ....Meal deal level chicken pieces in my sloppy yet chewy risotto, not a sprinkling of parmesan offered to take the edge off. We have a lot of Italian food including our own microwaving sessions hence I recognize the level of lasagne we are talking here. Never gone without parmesan in any of the restaurants frequented to date nor seen a mishaped lasagne thats home cooked. Shocked to see all the lovely pictures of nice food and surprised we didn't experience this given the reviews. I can only guess that because it wasn't that busy maybe only the microwave was turned on this evening and not the ovens. For the price we paid I didn't expect tesco level microwavable meals. The ice cream and drinks were great, rest of staff lovely. Panna cotta awful.... The stars are for the staff being friendly and serving as needed and for the nice candle lit table. Never again. Home cooked was not the order of the day tonight. It's a big NO from us, utterly ripped off and dissatisfied. Hopefully no one else has this experience and I hope the owners see this and stop nipping to Them Tesco express. Harsh, no. My card payment for...

Firstly, I’d like to say that I’m not one to leave negative reviews, however I was so l was disappointed this evening that I feel I need to let others know of our experience.

My husband, Dad and I went for a post Christmas meal after a really good meal at Bella Napoli a few Christmas’ ago. The starter was okay, my husband had prawns which he said were nice. My Dad and I had the mushrooms which were okay, but could have been cooked a little bit more.

The main course was a massive disappointment. My dad had penne arrabiata which was watery, I had penne salmon which was literally pasta, a bland cream sauce and the tiniest bit of salmon. My husband had the calzone which initially was nice, although flat, until he reached the raw egg in the middle.

The waitress was nice enough however, she was clearing plates whilst we were still eating, then sat with someone who I assume was the cook having a chat, ignoring her guests.

My dad and I decided to not have a desert, given the disappointment up to that point. My husband had a lemon cheesecake which was okay, however I had ordered another glass of wine which never arrived.

Overall, I could cook a better meal at home. So to go out for a nice dinner and leave £100 down and still hungry (we’re currently cooking chips!) is very upsetting. I absolutely support local businesses, however please don’t waste...

Cheesy garlic bread was on super fresh dough, definitely home made, bruschetta was really fresh and we suspected the bread was home made too.

Lasange so fresh and light, beautiful layers of pasta, the tomato sauce was perfect. Clean plate club.

The Penne Gorgonzola E Noci was Creamy, nutty aftertaste, very light and still fillings with a deep flavour with the tang of gorgon zola, pasta cooked perfect Al dents

For Wine, we chose a bottle of the Chianti. Which was soft, fruity and beautifully complimented the savoury meals especially the lasagne. For dessert I had a single scoop of the Gelato, Salted caramel, which was decedant and rich with enough salt to balance it perfectly.

My husband's Cheesake was light but rich with crisp base that had delicious nutty aftertaste and the lemon wasn't overpowering at all.

Staff were kind and attentive, we were never left between courses or waiting for attention. They even realised it was his birthday, due to a loud video call where his mother bleted happy birthday at the top of her lungs, and put a sparkler in his dessert!

A must visit for authentic Italian food...