Bella Italia - Reading Oracle Reviews Summary

Category: Restaurant Reading

Address: Unit 11a, Oracle, Reading RG1 2AT, United Kingdom

Phone: +441184670867

Rating: 3.9
based on 168 reviews.

Food Quality

Pros:

  • "Thank God the panettone bread-and-butter pudding was actually very nice and slightly crispy as it should be."
  • "The new additions to the menu were a welcome surprise."
  • "Absolutely delectable. The pizzas are very large which is perfect for people with big appetites."
  • "The food was good, I had pasta bolognese and my girlfriend had lasagne, in both dishes we had beef chunks, it was good but some pieces were just unchewable."
  • "We had a range of starters, mains and desserts and we were impressed with every one of them."
  • "Both breakfasts and coffees were hot (most places I go for breakfast the food is warm) and the food was delicious!"
  • "The food was gorgeous and the portions were large."

Cons:

  • "Food was ok, just at the border line. I ordered the new seafood pizza, the topping were minuscule."
  • "The food was awful and I mean really awful. The chicken looked like a piece of sandpaper."
  • "Disappointed with the pasta and pizza dishes."
  • "The food was extremely bland. The minestrone soup was lukewarm and tasteless."
  • "The food is uninspiring, boring and the portion sizes are tiny."
  • "Disappointed with the pasta dishes... they lacked real taste."
  • "The food was okay. I don't think I will be going there again."

Service

Pros:

  • "Really nice food and excellent service, Matteo served us and made our experience brilliant."
  • "Everything went very smoothly, thanks to the efficient and attentive team, and the children had a great time - thank you!"
  • "Jose, not only was he quick, polite and friendly with us he went out of his way to help an older gentleman that was struggling with the menu."
  • "Our waiter Huw was excellent and extremely helpful…"
  • "The staff are helpful and knowledgeable and the food of acceptable standard."
  • "The staff are always attentive without being pushy."
  • "The service from Sara was amazing. She was funny and was always smiling, she livened up the place and made our meal much more enjoyable."

Cons:

  • "Service was just awful don't even deserve 1 star."
  • "Having ordered a vegan option in Veganuary we were told 15 minutes later whilst eating our starters that they had run out of vegan cheese so we couldn't have our choice of mains."
  • "The place is fine, however the service is a bit slow."
  • "Six of us ate there, they forgot a starter and forgot a main course, took over 2 hours to get our food and eat."
  • "ordering was confusing and the service was rude and provided no help."
  • "I had ordered food via deliveroo, I received the wrong order, when called Bella Italia they did not take any responsibility."
  • "The restaurant was empty and we were sat straight away but then had to wait 15 minutes for our order to be taken and a further 15 for our drinks to arrive with no apology or explanation from staff."

Ambience and Cleanliness

Pros:

  • "The atmosphere is amazing."
  • "The atmosphere was great and friendly."
  • "Good ambience!"
  • "We were greeted and sat at a table by a lovely gentleman, place was bright and clean!"
  • "The starters were delicious. The calamari is outstanding and we have squid any time we see it on the menu."
  • "Decoration is attractive."
  • "Fantastic experience, atmosphere excellent with ideal music and extraordinary service staff."

Cons:

  • "Just to start the restaurant furniture has dirty and very bad looking seats, the plates are dirty with rest of food."
  • "Also sat on a table outside with bird droppings on it."
  • "As you can see from the picture of the seat (which wasn't unusual, a lot of them were similar) - the decor is well due for a renovation."
  • "The tables are dirty, no one bothered to clean them."
  • "First table we sat at we found had not been cleaned properly with crumbs on seats and table which was slightly sticky."
  • "You couldn't help noticing the table was slightly sticky and the seats worn."
  • "The toilets were dark and grim."

Value

Pros:

  • "The food was a bit pricey, but we had checked the menu before hand so knew what to expect."
  • "Food was rightly priced and there was a lot of choice."
  • "Menu is similar to other Italian restaurants but we also had a voucher for 50% discount really great value."
  • "If you go online you can download 40% discount code from Bella Italia website and enjoy a delicious meal for a really low price."
  • "Our bill came to less than £50 despite the fact that we'd had 3 course meals and 2 drinks each."
  • "With 2 for 1 tastecard discount, the food was worth it."
  • "Kids meal deal is excellent value and size."

Cons:

  • "The food was good, hot, simple and flavoursome."
  • "This place is not cheap, and for the quality of meals, I'm not sure it's worth it."
  • "The pizza was nothing special, and the fries were all too crunchy and overcooked to enjoy."
  • "The service was Good! But the fact that you have to pay over £5.00 for Dough balls as a starter."
  • "Thought menu was a little overpriced but we used an online discount code (30% off) which balanced it out."
  • "The portion sizes were really disappointing, especially the dough bites. The flavour wasn't good enough to justify the cost/size."
  • "Absolutely disappointed. I ordered pizza and ice cream, and the pizza was cooler than the ice cream."

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