Bella Italia - Huntingdon — Restaurant in Huntingdonshire

We visited here as we had a £50 voucher after a formal complaint 8 months ago.

Booking a table was easy.

We were seated quickly and was told no cheesecake or chocolate brownie and risotto on set menu. We had dough bites and bruschetta. Due to serve allergic reactions to black pepper. They checked what I could have. Couldn't have two of my main choices due to black pepper. (Carrbonara and tomato and mozzarella pasta - chilli pepper)

Finally had chicken salad wasn't that great and wasn't a typical salad no tomatoes and cucumber.

As we were sitting we noticed not many people did the track and trace as they entered or even offered to write down details in accordance of government regulations due to covid. Management didn't question it.

When we were sat down there was a table of 8 seated as well. Which most likely aren't in a support bubble.

Also we had a table of 7 walk in and sat altogether and management pulled the table make that they could sit together. Under covid regulations its a table of six inside and 30 outside regardless of establishment. Management didn't even ask if they were support bubble.

A number of customers kept looking over to the table of 7. It is so wrong as the rules don't relax for another two weeks.

Then top the evening off I choice a desert the raspberry semifreddo has gluten in but when it is on menu, the chef told our waitress that it gluten. I pointed out if its on the menu as being gf . And miraculously they have got brownies which were off the menu due to not being available. The manager checked the ingredients and its gluten free.

I can not stress enough how annoyed I was with this main course and desert had issues.

My partner enjoyed his food a lot. Which is a plus point.

To be honest the manager gave us complentary drinks. And with my voucher it cost £7.35 for 2 3...

Let me begin by saying that none of this is the fault of the lady that was manager who had an impossible task of serving, doing front of house and making drinks. Ordered a bottle of wine for 23 quid that arrived lukewarm that we had to pour ourselves. It also came before any food When we raised this with the server she said that "the handle felt cold when she picked it up" . No apology or replacement offered The starter came and it was a 6.99 sharing Flatbread. It came with no garnish whatsoever and provided 2 tiny slices for each of us. The mains arrived and my wife's Marco Polo pasta was piping hot and tasty. Well done. My calzone however (17.50) was lukewarm and around 60%dough. What meat there was (2 meatballs , 2 pieces of spicy sausage and what looked like pre cooked chicken cut into slices) was lukewarm. Obviously one dish was ready way before the other. I asked for condiments and the server said "like what?" O asked what they had and she said salt and pepper. I asked about any oils and the reply was "were struggling for chilli oil tonight" Eventually returned with a bottle with the dregs of some chilli oil in it. After expressing our dissatisfaction my "calzone meat treasure hunt"was taken off the bill which meant that for "only" 45 quid we'd had 2 glasses of warm white wine, what was effectively cheese on toast and some pasta. Really disappointed and a reminder that chain restaurants are cutting every corner to make a profit. Won't...

So my experience with this place overall... awful. Let's break it down, shall we?

Service:

Friday evening is a time when you think a restaurant would be packed, however, this restaurant was not. Yet the minute we walked in the door it took us nearly 10 minutes to get seated and we were the first in line. The waitresses knew we were waiting and saw us, and then, believe it or not, kept us waiting! They honestly look like they didn't even want their jobs.

Quality of food:

For starters, i had mozzarella dough balls. They were overcooked and it was like biting into a bread stick. Dominos do better than that and their stuff is pretty much pre-made!

Mains I had a carbonara which I was looking forward to, oh but was I disappointed, might as well have just put Spaghetti on a plate with nothing else! It was the worst carbonara I have EVER tasted.

Dessert... how can you mess this up? Luckily they didn't this was the only course I somewhat enjoyed.

Worth the Money:

Straight up NO! If that's what the food tastes like and what the service is like then no, not even worth a penny out of my pocket ever again.

Conclusion:

Never will be coming back here again I would rather get dressed up all fancy and have better Service and Food at McDonald's which is a minute's walk from...