Bella Vita at Dover Marina Reviews Summary

Category: Italian restaurant

Address: The Esplanade, Esplanade, Dover CT17 9FS, United Kingdom

Phone: +441304207740

Rating: 4.2
based on 152 reviews.

Food Quality

Pros:

  • "Each one lovingly prepared and delivered to the table in a timely fashion, from pate to pud this meal was perfection."
  • "The real star of the show here was the fish. The beer batter was among the best I've had, it was light and crisp and absolutely delicious."
  • "Fabulous meal, Perfect view, great food, excellent house team."
  • "The food was brilliant, very tasty and amazingly good for value."
  • "Really great, tasty, quality food!"
  • "The food was out of this world !!"
  • "Great food quality and service!"

Cons:

  • "Waitress forgot my food order."
  • "The Sea Bass was not caught locally or was fresh, to my disappointment."
  • "The chicken asparagus risotto was awful, I couldn't finish it."
  • "The burger is the other item we tried. The meat was well cooked but due to the vegetables weird placement it caused the bun to be soggy by the time it was served."
  • "The mixed seafood platter as starter is 'mixing' fresh and preserved seafood with no dressing,no sauces and not even fresh lemon+a watercress garnish of 3/4 days ago."
  • "An anorexic plaice offering no more than 3 mouthfuls of flesh was the disappointing birthday lunch 'treat' for my partner on Easter Sunday."
  • "The quality of the cod has diminished"

Service

Pros:

  • "Been here twice now and on both occasions the food and staff have been amazing."
  • "The waiters were really well behaved I remember, and they were quick to serve the food."
  • "The staff were excellent, attentive but not to the point it became annoying."
  • "The staff are very friendly."
  • "The staff were very attentive."
  • "Service and food were well worth it."
  • "The staff at Dover Patrol were both friendly and attentive."

Cons:

  • "After paying our bill, we sat for a few minutes while I finished my wine. I noticed a gritty substance in my glass and I asked the waiter about it."
  • "Our drinks were empty for awhile while the waiters were chatting for awhile."
  • "The waitress that 'served' us was very unprofessional and rude."
  • "Food being served obviously warmed up, soup barely warm, items on the menu not available, incl vegetables and general quality of food is poor."
  • "Waitress asked 3 times to clear table, and when she did, took a plate of whitebait that is still half full and being eaten by another guest."
  • "The service was the biggest let down for us."
  • "The first server was amazingly attentive and friendly, which made me hope for a great meal. However, once the first server left the rest were uninterested and just seemed to want to have a chat among themselves."

Atmosphere & Location

Pros:

  • "Enjoy the wide views of the harbour, the doughty swimmers and neighbouring ferries coming and going."
  • "It was a lovely afternoon leading to a lovely evening, as I was strolling around the beach and went to the far end of the pier."
  • "Great views of the harbor. The cliffs and castle are visible from the table in the far back corner up against the glass windows."
  • "Great views across the harbour."
  • "On the harbor in an oasis of sea side splendor, with lovely view of harbor and all the lights on the boats."
  • "The view of the coast, white cliffs and castle were all amazing."
  • "The Dover Patrol Restaurant was very tastefully decorated I remember. It had a great ambience, beautiful lighting hanging from the top, and the sea side of the restaurant was entirely glass walled, offering a majestic view of the sea round the clock."

Cons:

  • "Seating in the restaurant is difficult because everyone wants the window seat and they are always reserved."
  • "There was no atmosphere in this place at all when we arrived with a party of 9 the other 4 customers were gone within 30 minutes."
  • "The thing that was a bit weird was the atmosphere we booked in advance and were shown to a table but then every 5 minutes it felt like we were being checked on or watched."
  • "It was quite cold in the restaurant."
  • "Plus it smells like public toilets, the whole place."
  • "We were seated but I wasn't satisfied with the overall decor."
  • "Inside the interior is a bit dated."

Value & Pricing

Pros:

  • "Our booking was made with ease, a very reasonably priced menu was effortlessly agreed."
  • "The pricing is very fair for what it is, seafood and so amazing."
  • "Great value for money."
  • "The food itself was delicious, and very good value for money as it was reasonably priced."
  • "Overall great value with excellent view!"
  • "Not very cheap but the quality definitely worth the price."
  • "You certainly get value for your money."

Cons:

  • "Would we go again? Probably not!"
  • "Such a Shame considering the re-brand and way overpriced from what I saw."
  • "However dont bother trying to get served after teatime... They will no doubt have closed their kitchen and not advertised the fact."
  • "All in all, too expensive for the quality we were being served."
  • "The food is a bit overpriced for what it is."
  • "For the cost of the food, I was expecting more, but nothing justified how much we spent."
  • "Wine was nice but not worth £28 per bottle."

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