Bella Italia

This place, I went here with my class, so I consider as well what my group says. What it has going for it, is the food. Overall, everyone in my class enjoyed their meal — of course I ended up having sea bass. The food was flavorful, it did come out warm, and that’s about where it goes wrong.
We were on a tight schedule, so we didn’t have a lot of time to eat – it took nearly an hour just to get the food. My teacher tried to let the server know when we were ready for the check, and the server blew her off. One classmate and I ordered gelato for dessert and while it took about ten or twenty minutes to prepare, they brought hers out and informed me then that they didn’t have a certain ingredient for mine. We wound up having to leave right when they brought it out, so I decided to just cancel my gelato altogether.
When we grade atmosphere, well the entire place was crowded, and I didn’t really get a sense of atmosphere in here. All in all, if I ever come back to London, I probably wouldn’t give this place another chance

A relatively inexpensive Italian restaurant chain on the Strand. The place was very clean and tidy and was very well presented. The staff were very friendly and reasonably efficient. The upstairs seating area is quite cramped, decorated with a theatrical theme. However, downstairs is huge and is capable of feeding large groups. The downstairs decoration is far more Italian, with hoards of renaissance paintings depicting various Italian themes leaning heavily towards the Venetian. It is a little tacky, but we are talking about a restaurant chain here, so it is unlikely that the restaurant management have much say in the matter of decoration! Regarding the food, well a very mixed bag here really. I plumped for a Pollo Piccante (Spicy chicken breast, roasted peppers, onions and fresh green chillies on a spicy arrabbiata base), which was absolutely delicious and not too bad value at £8.95. My wife however, plumped for the Canneloni (Cannelloni filled with fresh spinach and creamy ricotta, topped with tomato and béchamel sauces), also priced at £8.95. The cannelloni was dry, had obviously been microwaved, and was presented as a small parcel on a small plate. Ironically the meagre portion was a blessing as it was not particularly palatable and certainly not worth the price. The table opposite ordered a garlic bread starter and were presented with two garlic pizzas. Not what they had expected and after some discussion with staff promptly left after finishing it before ordering a main (they won’t be back!!). In summary, a relatively cheap Italian that bakes excellent pizzas but would appear to find it a little bit difficult to meet the same standard with their pasta dishes. I suppose you get what you pay for, although not always the case as we unfortunately discovered!