Bellaria Restaurant

(Really 3.5 stars, but can't justify rounding up.) Cute little place, but didn't quite live up to what we were hoping. The service was mediocre...it took a while to place our order, and then they forgot to bring our appetizer. Food was hit or miss. Some of our dishes were excellent, while some were just meh. London has so many great Italian restaurants to choose from. This one is fine if you are in the neighborhood, but don't make a special trip.

Great little Italian restaurant that was actually open Christmas Day and provided a great dining experience. Prix Fixe menu had some very good choices with good variety. The staff couldn't have been nicer and made very good recommendations. Great warm, "Christmas-y" atmosphere in their downstairs dining area.

Great experience.

My flatmates and I celebrated locking down our first London flat with dinner at Bellaria. It was a fantastic night actually - good food, wine & ambience topped with delightful company and conversations. I left in great spirits. Also, looking forward to coming back and dining with a larger party in their beautiful downstairs dining area (if you ever get a chance to come here, check out the downstairs!!)

Highly recommended: pappardelle with prawns followed by glasses of rose :)

Great food and service! The bolognese was full of flavor and the pasta was cooked very well. We sat outside and were able to enjoy a great meal.

Quaint restaurant with warm and welcoming staff. Delicious food at great prices. We had Christmas Eve dinner there and had a great visit.

Dropped in on a whim for lunch after getting turned around in the quarter. Ordered the he mushroom risotto which turned out to be delightful - just what I needed on a cold, rainy day in London. Can't wait to come back for dinner to sample their wine list.

Booked via toptable, on a 50% off deal. The downstairs area is much cuter, so book a table there if you can. Very nice, warm, cosy atmosphere, candle lights... the menu is standard italian fare, with antipasti, primis made of pasta, secondis made of meat, and of course fish dishes.

The exec chef is super nice, and now runs the front office. We were here on a busy night, when they were short staffed... that being said, service was good. The tagliatelle bolognese with porcini mushroom is very good, and is the owner's fave. The sardine on bed of rocket is also pretty good. The mushroom risotto oozes with truffle fragrance, and they can veganise it, and it will still taste awesome. I would definitely focus on the starter/pasta/risotto combination vs. the meats... though we didn't try the fish. The chianti was also very good (29 pounds, though). The affogato leaves to be desired...

All in all good place... though the wait staff needs to step up their game... but the atmo is absolutely great, and we will definitely be back, if only because it's a new place, the owner is trying really hard, and his food is actually quite good...

16 reviews. Sounds like the kind of place that's fully booked. Oh right, it was totally empty. And yet the hostess told us it was "fully booked" when we asked if we could sit for a drink. Maybe if you don't want people to sit and not order food, you shouldn't advertise yourself as wine bar. Especially when it's hardly as if people are clamoring in for ambience or anything ...

Mmmmm...
We went back for some more gorgeous Italian food last night, and again, Bellaria was just lovely. The menu has changed since our previous visit, so I was happy to choose some delicious pasta.

I have to admit that when I saw my teeny plate of Tortelloni, I was so hungry, that I thought it wouldn't even touch the sides...but I was wrong! The rich creamy goats cheese/pumpkin filling was so rich that I was happy full and smiley.

To top this off, the crème brulee was simply heavenly.

Overall Verdict: Neutral - Not recommended, but I would not suggest you avoid it.
Notes: Booked via toptable.co.uk and signed up for 50% off offer (why would I ever choose the "no thanks" offer?). Whenever I book these types of offers, I take the opportunity to try more of the menu and always have a bottle of wine or cocktails. The little card they put on your table when you sit down does make you feel a tad low class, especially if you happen to be on a date. Luckily, I was not! The card stipulates rules for the discount and the items on the menu that are not fully discounted like tuna, sirloin steak, and other specials. Not a big deal, actually, and I'm not sure there would be an easier way to make this clear without the waiter having to actually say it out loud.

DECOR: 3
From the other reviews, I surmised that the basement was nice and quaint. I guess that depends on what you prefer. I did not sit down there but I did see the basement when I went to the Gents. overrated would be my conclusion, looking a bit like a dungeon and perhaps causing a mild claustrophic reaction. The upstairs was fine, albeit plain and boring, but the tables were WAY too small. We had to request a table sized for 4 guests to actually fit the starters, mains, and wine we ordered.

FOOD: 3
I had a calamari and zucchini starter that was quite well prepared and lightly floured. My partner had the crab and passion fruit starter that was bland and boring. And we think they may have forgotten to add the passionfruit. For our mains, we both had the sirloin steak with Parmesan shavings over rocket. The steak was prepared okay. They are a bit to the over side on temperature so if you want medium rare, order rare, as my medium rare was more medium and my partner's medium looked kind of well done to me. Besides the temperature, I was not impressed by the thin steak nor the lack of flavour. If it were a thicker cut of meat, it likely could have held its own with little seasoning but the thin steak was rather flavourless. Dessert was fantastic for my partner (tiramisu) and acceptable for me (strawberry cheesecake).

SERVICE: 4
Perhaps I expected to be treated like a second class citizen after reading the reviews about discount diners n tripadvisor, but I would say that service was pretty good. Very attentive staff, but not overly so. I don't think they poured our wine after the first pour but our food came hot and things were timed fairy well.

VALUE: 3
Based in the average quality of the food, and considering the Neighborhood, I would say this place is about average. The discounts you can easily get via the reservation sites and dining clubs give you a bit of wiggle room for wine and extras. We spent £125 for two people including the automatic service charge of 10% plus another 3-5% service gratuity we added. This included the red wine of month, a nice Barbera d'Asti, plus two starters, two mains, two sides, and two desserts. Given I know that I could have had the same meal on Marylebone High Street for about the same price without the discount, I'm giving Balleria a 3 for value.

OVERALL: I would not recommend this restaurant but would not turn people away from it either. There are too many nice restaurants in London for me to tolerate average.