Bella Vita

8 Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

Food is fantastic! The garlic prawns were great. The difference was the sauces. My friend also had amazing sauces. The food is great because of the unbelievable sauces, which are the secret to the difference in taste. Everything else is adequate - service, staff, setting. But it's the food which I will go back for.

Oct 26, 2008 

3 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  1      Service  2      Value  4     

We too wanted to experience a restaurant having undergone the 'Chopping Block' experience. No atmosphere, the young guy looked like he was serving a death sentence working there and the older lady was polite but lacked any enthusiasm for the job.

The menus were confusing. My wife and I had two different looking menu's both with slightly different items and different prices. Noticed that the board had a different set of prices again!

Garlic Bread was quite nice. Very garliky which I am a fan of, served from the take out area so I guess they must be getting them out quickly. Ordered the veal parmagiana and meatballs, meatballs were similar to ones I make at home but to be honest were what we were expecting. Good sized portion. The veal was ok but looked like a 10 dollar pub meal rather than a 20 dollar restaurant meal.

Service was average to slow. I've been in slower. Like other people here, shame to see they couldn't bring the place up to scratch with the advice given. I wouldn't go there to impress anyone, if you want basic italian food then its ok.

Oct 03, 2008 

4 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  4      Service  3      Value  4     

We were keen for a "Chopping Block" experience and were eager to see how improved a place could be after such great exposure on television, but when we went to Bella Vita, it was completely empty and deadly quiet. (My first thought was: they could at least turn the radio on.)

We were served by the lady - no smiles, no attempts to make the place seem friendly. We ordered bruschetta, veal saltimbocca and the lamb shank special. The bruschetta was very ordinary and looked pre-prepared and mixed as all the bits of basil had turned black. The meals were served with vegetables which reminded me of the mass produced slop they serve in hospital or school cafeterias, although the lamb itself was quite tasty. The meals don't look at all special or appealing - definitely not appropriate for being in the Gold Fine Dining section of the entertainment book.

After our meals which came out extremely quickly, we sat for 55 minutes (luckily we did byo wine) before having to ask for desserts. We were not offered a menu and as the desserts actually on offer differed from what was in the menu, we decided to go elsewhere.

What's the point of trying to save your failing business if you don't take the advice offered to you?

Apr 13, 2008 

4.3 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  6     

The food was alright but the service was terrible. We had to sit ourselves, ask 3 times for water and the table was never cleared or dessert offered. The recent reno helped the atmosphere, but there it's still not great. The food itself was good, standard Italian. Good value with mains in the low $20s.

Apr 06, 2008 

6.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  8      Value  7     

All the reviews here seem either really pro or really against. Frank and his team did a pretty good job. It's a family restaurant after all not some cordon bleu nonsense. We had octopus and scallops as entree and chicken parmagiano and a veal escalope with a yummy tomato and olive sauce. It's kind of 70s italian food. And you can tell the reason why, Frank who runs the place is salt of the earth and believes in knocking out honest fare. No zucchini flower dishes here! We loved the fact he came to say gday and that we were transported back to 1979. All in all a good experience.

Feb 13, 2008 

5 Average

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  1      Value  6     

The food was great and reasonably priced. However, the service was terrible. We had to ask for menus and were not given the wine list. Our entree (which we were sharing) and one main course arrived together. We were told the other main courses would arrive soon! The entree and one main were finished and we still had not received the other mains.

The waiter started to clear the table including all the unused cutlery, until we pointed out that the rest of us hadn't eaten yet! When the food arrived it was great but with all we had been through we didn't bother with dessert or coffee. When the bill arrived the manager stood over us while we paid. We won't be going back.

Jan 06, 2008 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

Enjoyed my night here immensely. Had wonderful bruschetta, spinach and ricotta canneloni, seafood gnocchi (we asked especially for), 3 scoops of fresh gelato and a very moist, homemade macadamia and caramel cake. Two soft drinks as well, all up $54. Very good value and very enjoyable meal with lovely service and hospitality from owners. Plus a complimentary dessert port. Very well done!

Oct 12, 2007 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Great service, beautiful food and cute pizza chef. Highly recomended.

Aug 09, 2007 

2 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  1      Service  4      Value  2     

The restaurant was very quiet with only one other patron. The garlic bread served was terrible, the crust was burnt and should not have been served. There were also bits of plastic/shells in a vegetarian lasagna.

May 08, 2007 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  10     

Very Friendly. Great Food. Great staff.

Oct 05, 2006