Bella Italia Burton-upon-Trent review

I was invited to the new branch of Bella Italia in Burton-upon-Trent for a meal last weekend, and I jumped at the chance. I’ve visited Bella Italia quite a few times before, but I was looking forward to this time as there was a new menu.

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I adore Italian food, mainly because it’s full of carbs. Pasta, garlic bread, pizza, gnocchi – delicious!

The new branch is really nicely decorated inside. It reminded me a bit like a cross between Frankie & Benny’s and Nando’s and the atmosphere was great.

It was a Saturday night when we went so it was quite busy but the tables are nicely spaced apart so you didn’t feel crammed in and the noise levels were fine to hold a conversation.

Appetisers

On arrival, we were greeted by the lovely staff and shown to our table. We were given lots of attention and recommendations from our waitress, Sophie – she really knew her stuff!

For appetisers, Sophie offered me some olives, which I adore. There was a significant portion with three different varieties – two green and one black.

The olives still had the stones in, which I’m not overly keen on (my mum and dad bred an irrational fear of choking into me at a very early age), but these were so tasty that I didn’t mind a bit.

They were just the right level of salty and sharp, without being too much – they were full of flavour. Plus, all three varieties were distinctive.

Cocktails

I also decided to have a few cocktails and was recommended the Strawberry Tesoro, which contains Grey Goose vodka (my favourite!) and strawberry jam. It was really sweet and easy to drink, the flavour of the jam was intense, and it was delicious!

I also like it when restaurants don’t skimp on their alcohol and use the nice stuff in cocktails.

Later on in the night, I also tried an Amalfi Lemonade, which included gin, limoncello, and fresh lemon juice. The Amalfi Lemonade was quite strong, you could really taste the gin, and after both cocktails, I was feeling a little merry!

Starters

We then chose a mozzarella and garlic pizza bread to share for starters which was dripping with melted cheese and was really soft and yummy.

Mains

I chose the seabass, a new item on the menu served with roasted vegetables and potatoes. The dish is also one of the restaurant’s under 600 calories options, although I didn’t choose it for that reason.

The fish was beautifully cooked, flaky, and melted in your mouth and the vegetables and potatoes made for a lovely accompaniment. The portions were also a good size – not too much and not too little.

Dessert

Although we were getting a little bit full by this time, we made a little room for some pudding. I chose the cookie dough lava cake, which was what I could only describe as a vast cookie pie filled with doughy, delicious cookie goodness served with vanilla pod gelato and caramel sauce.

It was super sweet, and I could only really manage a tiny bit of it, but it was the ultimate indulgence and perfect for cheat days (ok, every day).

We had a fantastic meal at Bella Italia in Burton-upon-Trent and will hopefully be back many more times.