Back in June, we spent a lovely Father’s Day up in London where we met up with the lovely Franca and her family to watch a multimedia screening of The Secret Life of Pets.

Afterwards, we headed over to Baker Street to try out the newly opened Bella Italia. The chain has recently undergone a new makeover with a Mediterranean-inspired look that is bright, fun and colourful.

I tried to recall the last time I visited Bella Italia prior to this visit and realised that it was before I had the boys. In fact, I think it was when I was pregnant with E. I don’t remember much about the restaurant itself but I do remember that it was set pre-theatre meal somewhere in London. I was interested to see if the new makeover and new menu would be enticing enough for it to be added onto to our dining options for eating out as a family.

On arrival, the restaurant looked quite small, but as we were shown to our seats at the back of the restaurant I was surprised how long the place was. It was like the Tardis!

We started off by sharing a selection of bread and olives whilst looking at the children’s menu to see what they fancied eating.

The Kids Menu had plenty of choice and offered 3 courses in two different sizes depending on your child’s appetite (Piccolo for £5.45 or Grande £7.95) which included a drink, starter and a main. There was a great selection of mains to choose from ranging from Pizza, Pasta, Burgers, Chicken Strips to Ribs and Pizza Dogs! What I really loved about the Kids Menu was that if nothing took your fancy you could choose any Pizza or Pasta from the adult menu and they would serve a smaller portion. A really nice idea as quite often the boys like to eat what we are eating.

They had Cheesy Garlic Bread and Veggie Sticks as their starter and for main, E opted for Ciao Chicken which was served with chips and a kid-sized Spaghetti Bolognaise for M of which he is obsessed with.

The portions were a really good size – the pasta, in particular, was so big that M could not finish it.

For us, we tried the antipasti and went for Gamberi (King prawns baked in garlic & Chilli Butter, served with Ciabatta) and Calamari (with garlic & lemon mayonnaise). Both were delicious and the Calamari was also a hit with the boys too.

For mains, I had Gamberoni (Spaghetti with King Prawns in a spicy chilli, garlic and tomato sauce) which I thoroughly enjoyed and it had just the right amount of spice to it for my liking. I also love the fact that you could switch the pasta for spiralised vegetable spaghetti made of courgette, carrot and beetroot – this is something I would definitely like to try next time.

Mr H had the Diavola Calzone which had Italian pepperoni, Njuda fiery sausage, chicken, onions, bell peppers and green chilli.

For dessert, E had the Mini Dougnuts and M had the Choccie Brownies – they didn’t last long so I think they were a hit! I had the Shot Glass Desserts, I really liked the fact you could pick and mix what took your fancy. You get to choose three for £5.25 (bargain!) I went for the Salted Caramel Chocolate Pot, Strawberry Cheesecake and the Limoncello Tart. They were really good, I especially loved the Salted Caramel Pot which was lovely and chocolatey but no too rich. I didn’t get much of a look-in with the Strawberry Cheesecake though as M decided to claim that as his own!

Mr H being the chocolate lover that he is, went for the Cioccolatoa Diavolo (Sticky chocolate fudge brownie with nutty praline pieces and a melting chocolate top, with vanilla pod gelato) – I didn’t even get a chance to try this as it went in a flash! He assures me it was good, though.

Overall, we had a really good experience of Bella Italia, the staff were very friendly, the food was beautifully presented, fresh and was delicious. The only minor niggle I would have would be the speed of service. It may have been due to the fact we were situated at the back of the restaurant but we were in there for over two hours by which point the children started getting a little fidgety.

With other Italian chains on the scene I have to say Bella Italia is not one that would have previously been on our list of places to dine, but now having tested out the new menu I can honestly say it would be somewhere we would return to again.

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*We were invited to dine at Bella Italia, Baker Street in exchange for this review. Photos courtesy of Franca and Bella Italia.

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