WellingtonNZ.com,
New Zealand 

Patricia W.
7th February 2011 5 star 

This business is a MenuMania SponsorOne of the Business' Favourite Reviews

We went to La Bella last week for dinner and it was amazing. We were warmly greeted at the entrance and given a nice table at the back. It was Saturday night so the options also included traditional Italian pizza. We had some bruschetta as a starter and then ordered pizza – I had a pizza with Italian sausage, my partner had the one with seafood. We were so happy with our choice – the pizza was so good and the beer we had with it was just a perfect combination…. We decided to have a look around the shop before leaving, we found so many different types of pasta and products I’ve never seen before in Wellington. We will be back again, highly recommended!

Jodie
18th April 2012 3 star 

Dined out here last Friday with friends, first time I’d been here for dinner. Place was a-buzz when we arrived, brilliant atmosphere, was quite excited to try what was on offer.

The service was great, and wine recommended by our friendly waitress was perfect really brought out the flavours in the antipasto dish we shared as an entree.

However a couple of disappointments the mains were all quite bland and boring as well as being quite heavily priced. Had pistachio gelato for dessert and it had a slight chemical taste. Would have expected a bit more for what we were paying but overall (mostly due to the company) a lovely dining experience

Neeks
17th April 2012 4 star 

I must admit walking into the place it looked nice as there was so much going on and to take in. And I loved the little side seats for 2 between the shelves very different. I went last week for dinner with 3 other Friends a good girlie night out. We all decided on La Bella Italia, as it had some good reviews I was looking forward to going. We got an Antipasto platter to share and some breads and dips and these were amazing totally loved every bite that there was to offer. With the mains I had the Lemon Chicken & potatoes, It was nice but nothing to flash I did expect a lot more taste from an Italian place and did have to more lots off salt on. . The Prawn Pasta one off the girls had looked to be something that we could have made at home and to me the prawns were more like shrimp. Another had the meatballs which did look very yummy, but to me was not 100% tasty since we all had a try at all the meals. But their Gelato Ice Cream was to die for totally loved it and was a good taste to end with.

We did all how ever like the look of the rest off the food on the menu and will be back to try more off the dishes. And would differently be back to for the platter and the Gelato.

Would recommend trying this place.

Good Luck.. & Thanks

helen d.
9th April 2012 2 star 

I am a frequent visitor to la bella and usually go to enjoy their special fettucine with clams. They generally know why I am there when I arrive.
My last visit was very dissappointing. The service was as you expect at La Bella. Italian style. warm and hospitable but a little lacking polish. Thats OK we are in Italy and the mix ups were quickly recified.
I order my usual and are very dissappointed. The pasta was not “to the bite” but one step short of that so was very firm and unless I constantly coated it with the meagre amount of sauce became dry and stuck together. One small tomato does not a tomato sauce make and my clams were somewhat lacking in quantity too.
My desert cake – fig and pistacio should have been removed form display a few days ago, dry and course. The ice cream once I got through the crusty past on the edges was divine and my simple glass of Montepulciano just as I expected.

Is this a restaurant trying to do too many things, deli, restaurant, cooking classes, tours, personalities. Maybe sticking to the basics and providing consistently good food every time would ensure the clientelle keep coming back. I wont be and most of my group said they wouldn’t be.

Comment from La B.of La Bella Italia 10/04/2012   Hide »

First of all I wish to apologise for your negative experience and…    More »

First of all I wish to apologise for your negative experience and I hope that the previous positive ones will convince you to come back to La Bella Italia.
Cooking is not an exact science and La Bella Italia is not a branch of a multinational fast-food chain where you expect one item to look and taste exactly the same every time and everywhere in the world. You can of course expect consistency, and by your admission you have had the Linguine with clams many other times and they must have satisfied you every other time because you came back for more. Something probably went wrong this time, the kitchen made a mistake, like people do. And like all people, even chefs like the opportunity to rectify their mistakes if they are informed. You are a regular customer, so you must know that at La Bella Italia we take food very seriously and our aim is to always offer the best quality.
I can assure you that our cakes and sweet are changed at least every day or, due to high demands, sometimes twice a day.
La Bella Italia has become a destination for people with an interest in Italian food and culture and we appreciate every feedback from our customers because it helps us minimize the human errors and offer a great experience to all our customers. Even better when the feedback is immediate and we are given a chance to do something about it. And it is just fair to let people know when they have done a good job, especially if they are very passionate about what they do.
But you chose to write a review about the one time you were not satisfied and not about all the times when you were happy.
I hope there will be an opportunity to do that. And for you to enjoy our unique concept that has received so many awards through the years.

Hilary C.
8th April 2012 4 star 

Booking dinner at this restaurant turned out to be very popular with our social club members – we had quite a crowd going along.
My request to the restaurant to extend the booking was no problem, even at short notice.

When we arrived, we were politely shown to our table. I hadn’t been there before and hadn’t realised the size of the venue – it’s huge!

Discussions over the menu choices with (presumably) the Maitre d’ were clear and he went to great lengths to accommodate requests. However, there was a concern later that the price of the specials wasn’t made obvious at the time of ordering, only at the time of paying.

I ordered lasagna with a side salad of rocket. I thought the servings were very generous. I could see other pasta dishes that were huge as well. My lasagna was delicious.

Some members of our party ordered desserts and they looked amazing.

I ordered EB Tea instead of dessert. I ordered it with soya milk but was brought cows milk. When I pointed out the error, it was swiftly replaced.

I found the staff to be very polite and attentive and, despite the little hiccups, we enjoyed our evening very much.

I think I’ll be putting it on our event calendar again in the not too distant future.

Hilary from SaRC Social Club.

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