Belluno Bideford — Restaurant in Torridge District

Unfortunately for the chef of Belluno's, the serving staff leave a sour taste in the mouth, despite the food being excellent. Amazing quality food is let down by a large number of wait staff ushering guests out of the door as soon as physically possible. While I imagine they have a large number of bookings, there is a fine line between being efficient and down right rude.

When booking, there was no mention of a "time limit" to dine at the restaurant, however upon entry guests are advised they have 90 minutes to eat and are expected to leave at that time. Due to the speed of service this would not normally be an issue, however the problem lies within being reminded multiple times despite being nowhere near the time limit we were given.

An hour into our time at Belluno's we received our desert and multiple times heard wait staff ask what our table was doing, what we were waiting for and constant looks from staff. Everyone had had multiple drinks and ordered main courses and a few had ordered desserts, if we had gone in with no intention of ordering a decent amount of food it would be understandable to turn our table over as quickly as possible.

We requested the bill and payment was requested mid way through members of the table eating dessert.

The constant reminders of a time limit and poor treatment of customers waiting outside, ultimately meant we left the restaurant pleased with the food, yet annoyed with everything else.

My compliments...

I had been to Belluno in the past & always had an excellent experience - this time it was completely dreadful & I would never eat there again. The restaurant was v quiet - only 4 tables occupied.

I’ll bullet point the issues for clarity as there were so many of them:

1. We had to wait for 20 minutes to be served & in the end had to call the staff over to order.
2. We ordered starters & mains - all food was served at the same time because’we hadn’t specified that some items were starters & others were mains’ - despite ordering from the menu.
3. One of our party is allergic to peas & asked not to be served them - the dish arrived with peas twice!
4. I ordered steak & asked for it to be very well done-brown all the way through-it had to be sent back 4 times to be cooked they way I asked for. The manager tried to lecture me on how to cook/eat steak & said if it had to be brown all the way through the outside would be burned. We explained how to cook steak. She then said it had been cooked in the pizza oven.
5. The restaurant website is out of date & doesn’t provide current location.
6. I ordered a desert which arrived looking like a mess.

Dreadful service, dreadful food apart from the starters.

V v disappointed - & complimentary desserts do not make up for a...

Had an absolutely amazing experience at Belluno in Bideford! From start to finish, everything was fantastic.

I tried the Raspberry Lemonade, which was served beautifully—an 8/10 for me, as it was slightly bitter (personal preference), but still had a great taste. My friend had the LimonCello Drop, which was a 9/10—smooth, sharp, not too strong on the vodka, and the sugar-rimmed glass was the perfect touch! The Thatchers Gold my friend ordered was spot on—perfectly poured, not flat, and exactly how it should be.

We started with some bread (not sure what type), but it was absolutely delicious, served with oil and balsamic vinegar that was sweet and full of flavour. The fries were a solid 9/10—crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, perfectly seasoned, and beautifully presented.

For mains, three of us had the Margherita pizza, which was wonderfully presented and tasted incredible. My other friend had the Carbonara, which she loved so much she couldn’t even finish it!

The service was exceptional—staff were incredibly friendly, respectful, and took great care of us throughout the meal. Honestly, Belluno is miles better than some other places we’ve been to!

Highly recommend this place, and we will definitely be back! Thank you to the amazing team...