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Restaurant Review - Bella Italia
AS any parent will tell you, eating out with young children in tow is always a bit tricky – especially is the child in question tends to be a bit finicky about her food.
While most restaurants now have some sort of kids menu, the majority are still limited to the usual choice of sausages, chicken nuggets, chips and beans – for which they often charge fairly hefty prices.
That is one of the reasons why Bella Italia has always been a firm favourite with this writer – and his family. Their children's menu – or menu bambino, as they call it – has a nice choice of healthy, yet still child-friendly, options like pizza, spaghetti Bolognese, tagliatelle, meatballs, even a vegetarian penne.
The portions are generous enough for an older child, but our three-year-old tucked into her Bolognese with gusto.
A side serving of garlic bread also went down a treat.
It just goes to show – even the most picky child will be wooed by real,
tasty, good quality food. And that has always been the hallmark of Bella Italia, now almost 20 years in business.
The restaurant on Thomas Street has undergone a bit of
a transformation of late, with the kitchen moving upstairs and the entire ground floor now given over to seating.
The tasteful new design makes for a more comfortable eating experience, without sacrificing the relaxed, intimate atmosphere regular customers appreciate so much.
According to Hugh McMahon, who runs the restaurant along with his sister Caroline, the redesign gives them a larger kitchen space to cater for their popular take-out and catering service as well as the busy restaurant.
What hasn't changed, thankfully, is the quality of the food. It's still as tasty and wholesome as ever, prepared and presented with the kind of care and attention what you would see in a genuine family-run restaurant anywhere in Italy.
(It doesn't come as a surprise to hear that Caroline spent some time living in Sardinia before coming home to open the restaurant – she definitely picked up some good tips along the way).
For starters, the hearty minestrone soup was packed full of tasty bits and had enough of a kick to wake up the tastebuds – without being too spicy for the Irish palette. The yummy garlic mushrooms also served as a good opener.
The menu has a good choice of mains, touching all the bases for anyone who loves Italian food – various types of pasta and sauce options, with all the standards like meatballs, chicken and Bolognese.
I opted for the tagliatelle polpette, a sumptuous meal of tagliatelle served with yummy fresh meatballs and a creamy tomatobased sauce.
Again, the portion was very generous – and following on from the soup was more than enough to satisfy any man.
It was a similar story with the tagliatelle chicken special enjoyed by my companion. It was creamy, flavoursome – and very satisfying. The perfect thing to refuel after a busy day's shopping - in her opinion.
After such a toothsome meal, it was a challenge to face into dessert.
However, we managed one portion of their very delicious ice-cream between us – and it was a bit hit.
Bella Italia has been in business now for almost 20 years and judging
by the healthy crowd that was present on the Saturday afternoon we dined there, it remains a firm favourite with Limerick diners. Good
to know that real, family-run local businesses can do well, even in these tough economic times.
The secret probably lies in the fact that the food on offer is great value, with most main courses coming in at about the €12 mark.
And the size of the portions means that even just a starter will be enough for many. And, of course, there's the great children's menu for €8, including a drink and ice cream for dessert. Bellissimo!.
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