Bella Sera — Restaurant in Rochdale

We booked for my husbands birthday tonight, I had high expectations after seeing recent awards posts, however I experienced one of the worst service experiences I've ever had. It was my husbands birthday and my treat, we arrived to a nice, warm reception, the FOH saying they would be with us shortly; when I stated my table had been booked for 4 at 7, he looked wild eyed around for somewhere to seat us. The options were slim and we were eventually seated on garden furniture, which was very different from the tall back leather seats that the rest of the restaurant had; the FOH proceeded to tell me he would move us as soon as he could......we were not moved. This annoyance aside we stayed happy and willing to stay. The starters we ordered were lovely, crisp and fresh; my husband had the goats cheese and mushrooms on toast, and I had the calamari, which was delicious. My children ordered an appletiser and a coke, first delivery was fine. Second order was not. We were informed that they had ran out of appletiser, fine...but they served my thirteen year old a booze, and coke. I asked for this to be replaced, which it was, but no real apology. Then an employee took a large fake plant and dropped it so hard behind my 13 year old daughter she actually jumped. It was so close to the back of her chair that she couldn't move out and my husband had to move the plant. They did not ask at all if the service was good..it wasn't, it was shocking. Me and my husband had steak for main and the children had pizza. The steak was nice but the sauce was thinned within an inch of its life and there was no taste left. The children both enjoyed their pizzas. We ordered 1 desert and some aperitif which were all nice. When I asked for the bill I was offered a lemon cello and a drink for the children, they brought the lemon cello but I had to ask for the children's drinks. Overall is was an underwhelming, disappointing experience that I will not be revisiting. The food had the potential to be very nice, but severely stretch produce and shocking service will be a no. I don't know whether this was a one off or whether they had taken on too many patrons but it wasn't a...

average restaurant , serving typical italian meals . The food was alright , nothing wrong with the meals but nothing exceptional . All members of staff were lovely and very family friendly. We visited with two children and a toddler. Our meal was somewhat disturbed by one member of staff squeezing between one of our chairs and a back cupboard to access what looked like a fuse box or electric meter ? He apologised . One of the forks wasn't washed properly and upon picking it up , I noticed a stain on it :/ This was promptly replaced, when I mentioned it . In addition we were almost charged for two bottles of wine , when we only ordered one . We flagged this and the bill was amended . HOWEVER - please pay attention to what you ordered and what you're paying for . This could have been a human error , but seemed a bit cheeky and should not have taken place . Lastly ... starters and mains were served all at once , leaving us with limited space on the table and mains losing the temperature as we ate starters first . I wish I could give more stars , but three is as high as it can get . Again , food was nice but will not...

This used to be an amazing place, and following the mixed reviews since it was taken over, we had to try it for ourselves- I wish we hadn’t bothered. The decor is nice and the staff are lovely, but the food is a real let down. Positives first: the mussels were lovely. I had the ribs to start- served cold in a warm sauce that was way too ‘vinegary’. The meatballs were also cold with a warmer sauce. The lasagne has hardly any meat and was a cheesy and pasta mush- not eaten. The lamb shank - the size of a chop served with mash potato and what was described as a red wine sauce- had no red wine, was the wrong colour, and was a tomato sauce that blended with the mash to make like a thick soup consistency. Served with no veg, told we could have it at an extra cost abs only told this when we’d already been served the luke warm lamb. Stroganoff- too salty to eat. Steak with peppercorn sauce- too salty to eat. Mixed grill special- parts not cooked properly and that person is now ill. No desserts asked for as we wanted to leave. When raised, staff said ‘sorry’ but all in...