Bella Italia, Bletchley, MK Stadium Review

Last week Adam, Ethan and I were kindly given the opportunity to review the brand new Bella Italia that has recently opened in Bletchley/Milton Keynes right next to the stadium. We'd never visited a Bella Italia before so we were excited about what sorts of things we'd find on the menu and we were looking forward to seeing the award winning kids menu - winner of the 2014 Mumsnet family friendly innovation award.

The kids menu is split into a couple of different sections to make things easier.. There's the Piccolo menu recommend for 2-6 year olds and the Grande menu which is perfect for 7-11 year olds as it offers larger portions and exciting flavours and new foods to try. Ands it's nice to see that there's also the option to buy babyfood for £1 from Ellas Kitchen, in case you forget to bring your own! 

- There are some great kids choices on the menu, including healthy starters like this one.

- Ethans main meal -spaghetti cakes, chips, courgette and tomato.

There's a drinks menu for the kids offering the common sorts of kids drinks such as Robinsons squash, but there's also a delicious fruit 'mocktail' (Being pregnant - I had a larger version of this and it was lush!). There's also milk on offer and other sorts of juices and of course water is available if you'd prefer your child to have that. There is, of course, also a dessert menu for afterwards and it was personally nice to see that everything on the menu was suitable for vegetarians as some desserts aren't. There was a gelato cart that children could go up to right next to the bar to choose their ice cream (if that was their chosen dessert), their sprinkles and their sauce. I thought this was lovely as I watched many children, including Ethan, excitedly go up to the cart with the biggest smiles on their faces!

- At the gelato cart

One thing that's obvious is that they've really thought about the kids menu, it's the little things like the gelato cart, the way the staff interact with the children, the stackable crayons that they give to the children, the child sized pot of breadsticks on arrival, the way the food is presented and even how the drinks come out on arrival. A standard Robinson squash is put into a small milk bottle type glass and it comes with a fun and fancy straw - that Ethan loved!. It's these little things that make the children feel included, that keep them entertained and happy. As a parent, I really believe that Bella Italia have got it spot on when it comes to the kids! 

In regards to prices for the kids.. it's £5.45 for those eating from the Piccolo menu and £7.95 for those who eat from the Grande menu and they both include 3 courses, a dessert, nibbles and free refillable drinks - so to be honest - it's a complete bargain! Especially considering that you don't have to clean up the mess that the kids make afterwards too! ;) 

- Funghi Arrosto starter

- Arancini Funghi starter

For the the adults there's the main menu, as well as a lunchtime and evening menu, a drinks menu and of course a dessert menu for afterward. Adam and I chose mushroom starters, he went for Funghi Arrosto and I had Arancini Funghi - both were gorgeous! For our main meal Adam had Calzone Legume and I had cannelloni ricotta, again both were amazing! The desserts are probably the best I have ever seen in any chain restaurant, it was so hard to pick, but in the end I settled for ice cream and cookie dough, yes I did just say cookie dough, and let me tell you - the portion sizes are more than generous! We both commented several times on how nice the food was. 

- cannelloini rictotta 

- Cookie dough and ice cream tcan be found on the dessert menu!

After our visit I'm more than happy to say that Bella Italia will be included in one of our new favourite places to eat - it's veggie friendly, family friendly and the food was amazing. The staff were equally as great - if you live anywhere near Milton keynes stadium it's so worth popping in to there, Damien the manager was probably the friendliest restaurant manager that we've had the pleasure of meeting! Such a great guy, who is clearly passionate about what he does and the customers that walk through the doors!

 

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