Bella Italia - Oxford, England. Bella Italia is one of several Italian chain eateries which are currently big in the United Kingdom. They are well-known and common, offering an introduction to the cuisine in a budget-friendly setting. Presumably, any decently-sized city will probably have at least one of each chain or at least a selection of them. At the Oxford branch with Bella Italia, you are treated to a wide, spacious dining area (complete with what is a labyrinth if you need to use the toilet) that - at least at the time of my visit - is often busy with plenty of diners. On the other hand, going by car is troublesome in getting any sort of park close by - meaning that there was not a car park or collection of parking spaces in sight as far as I could tell around the location.
Hearsay tells me that the service varies depending on the waitress. Whether or not that is true, the party of four (plus baby) I was with had a pleasant waitress who was lovely and gave no fuss when asked if the meals could be brought out as quickly as possible. The reserved table could have easily fit several more people; knowing how much items can spread with me (and just by human nature itself) this was convenient.
It is no surprise that the meal might not be the most authentic around, even just in Oxford. That did not diminish that the dinner - with multiple courses - was filling and satisfying. My sister had to meet someone here, and had long arranged an Italian place to go to; it was arranged to be here with her husband, me and the baby. The meal was whatever a voucher allowed with a given amount to spend accordingly.
To begin, the four of us shared an entree. After discussion, the "Panna Bella" was settled on. This was a basket filled with a selection of different types of bread: it contained slices of crusty baguette, several breadsticks, and what could be best described as sort of "bread nuggets" - or mini rolls. These were served with a mascapone dip, and an olive oil/balsamic vinegar mixture both for dipping.
While breadsticks are essentially what they are, the rest of the bread was good quality. The bread nuggets were still hot and soft, making them the best of the bunch without doubt. The baguette slices were slightly stale, still edible. They complimented the dips that they came with. The mascapone dip was creamy and filled really thickly with spinach. For a more subtle and mature taste, there is the oil-vinegar mixture which is a dynamic that has been proven time and again in the past.
Between the four of us, we ordered a pizza, a calzone, a pasta dish and a risotto. That was only for mains; it was easy splitting the four items between us. This is especially so, since it was requested that everything be served in the centre of the table and separate plates for everyone was given. Say what you will about the chain restaurants; this is very much in the Italian spirit of a meal out.
The pizza was a simple one topped with smoked ham, garlic mushrooms & mozzarella cheese; its name on the menu was "Pizza Cotto". It is the traditional Italian style: thin crust, small amounts of strongly-flavoured ingredients with the additional authentic aspect of needing to be torn. Or be roughly cut into the correct segments. On its own, it might have needed some more flavour; in the scheme of the meal it was a good, simple pizza with slight flavours. Much like how pizza is not a meal and more of a course in Italy, it is not possible to subsist on this alone.
Next was the pasta; an agnello tagliatelle was selected. This is essentially a bolognese with base of slow-cooked lamb as the meat sauce. The pasta might have needed a bit more cooking. The meat sauce though, was tasty. It is difficult to describe, but the flavours and aromas of lamb as opposed to beef mince is really different even seeming to be leaner in texture. Throughout the sauce were all sorts of vegetables - mostly capsicum and onions. Adding to that plenty of Parmesan cheese, the pasta dish was completed as a meal.
The calzone - called diavola - was filled with sausage, pepperoni, bell peppers, chilli, red onion, and plenty of mozzarella cheese. Topping off the crust was a spicy arrabbiata sauce. The filling was generous, and - as can be deduced - was spicy. It had a robust texture. What helped it further was that it was surrounded by a well-baked, crispy shell. The sauce finishing it off had a great tomato flavour with further slight hints of chilli throughout.
In attempting to take a break from the usual suspects of pizza and pasta associated with Italian restaurants, I went and decided upon an item from their speciality section. It ended up being a "Gaberoni Rissotto". This risotto was delicious, the combination it had was prawns, edamame beans and peas along with the flavours of lemon zest, garlic and chilli. It was the most subtle of all the dishes ordered, and the winner of the savoury items. There were not a lot of prawns, but when you came across one it was juicy and sweet. The usual combination of the sub-flavours worked a treat as always, and it had a creamy, consistent texture that is known with a well-cooked risotto.
For the baby, a lasagne from the children's menu was ordered. However, she was fast asleep therefore she was not going to be eating it. Much like the aforementioned adults meals, this one was split up between the adult patrons. It was great quality - a good beef mince and plenty of whole wheat pasta. Her meal also came with a choice of dessert - a simple honeycomb ice-cream cone, which was also enjoyed by the other patrons.
To have on the side with all of this, come fries - or Chunky Chips, as they were called on the menu. They were well-cooked, and thick. With recent regulations around the United Kingdom in tact, they were served sans salt thus one patron went right out and generously shook the salt shaker over the fries. This improved them immensely. Aside from that, not an awful lot can really be discussed - they were fries.
The real fine print of the meal out was a certain amount needed to be spent. There was the inevitable discussion of whether to reserve some of the cash for dessert instead of getting more entrees at the beginning. Ultimately, it was decided to order some desserts to share, as a couple looked very good. Therefore, I decided to reserve my drink order until dessert. It was a toss-up between seeing if they would do an affogatto or going with a double espresso; the latter was opted for in the end. This was coffee at its finest and basis, strong and flavoursome.
Again, the desserts were split between the patrons. The first dessert ordered was a "Cookie dough lava cake". This was a giant, freshly-made chocolate chip cookie that was topped with ice cream and caramel sauce. It is not every bit as good as it sounds; in fact, it is better. How could this go wrong? A thick, doughy cookie base that is almost a cake as well filled with melted chocolate bits combining with soft, creamy vanilla ice cream almost melting works a treat as well; the caramel sauce simply adds to it. The cookie part was really soft, and the whole concoction was a combination of chewy and moreish. Get this one while it is hot.
The second dessert was an ice-cream sundae: they called it the Godfather. There were a couple of other sundaes with the name Godfather, plus other words to distinguish them. This - the original - consisted of brownies, both vanilla and chocolate flavoured ice creams, chocolate sauce, cream, and dark chocolate tagilatelle. This was all sorts of delicious, and the serving was far from modest. The brownies were in huge chunks, the dark chocolate tagilatelle was swirls of melted chocolate refrigerated to be hard and eventually the two flavours of ice cream melted together making a great flavour combination. Not knowing initially about the sundae components will result in many surprises throughout.
With a combination of exceptionally friendly service, a family-oriented atmosphere, and a reasonable menu there are plenty of good options for dining here. It is still a chain, so there is not a high deal of speciality to be found. By no means is this the pinnacle of Italian dining. For what it is worth, there is a sense of quality control present. It is where you go when you are not feeling particular or finicky, but don't want something too involving.
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