Functional. Bella Italia Victoria may not be glamorous or particularly exciting but it does what it sets out to. Which is fill your belly with pasta.

The Venue
Bella Italia is a small, rather unassuming building with a brown exterior. Brown. Nice. The lit sign comes across as a little tacky in the evening and inside you’ll find a simple layout of a few scattered wooden dining tables and matching chairs within a neutral colour scheme. However, terracotta stone tiles save it from being painfully dull, adding a rustic Italian feel to the space, and candles on the tables cast a flattering light over the restaurant.

The Atmosphere
Heavily skewed towards tourists and pre and post-theatre goers, the atmosphere at Bella Italia is usually rather frantic. Get ‘em in, get ‘em out. However, you don’t feel rushed by the staff, who are simply efficient and quick to take your order, serve your food and clean up after. It’s a system that works well, especially if you’re in a hurry to get back to the office at lunchtime or to get to your show seats in the evening.

The Food
Pasta: the food of students and easy to cook - you’d be pretty surprised if the food here was bad, and thankfully it isn’t. A large menu is well priced with most dishes coming in at below £10. Antipasti, pizzas and pasta make up the bulk of the menu, with pasta dishes a highlight. The Penne Zafferano (£9.95) comprises smoked salmon, prawns and cherry tomatoes in a spinach, saffron and cream sauce, and is surprisingly good. The salmon is rich with a light smokiness that doesn’t overpower the dish and the prawns are well cooked and don’t suffer from that awful rubbery texture that can infect cheaper prawn dishes. Sweet cherry tomatoes and iron-rich spinach add a lighter, fresher flavour against the heavy creaminess. Alternatively, the Spaghetti Bolognaise (£8.50) is a little reminiscent of cheap, easy to cook student meals with little kick due to a lack of seasoning. Covering it with parmesan does help, a little.

The Drink
A rather dull wine list is reasonably priced, with the cheapest house wine coming in at just £13.75. They do have a decent choice of bottled beer, however, with Moretti and Peroni complementing the more run-of-the-mill Stella. Soft drinks are priced at the £2 mark, which isn’t expensive, given its location.

The Last Word
Bella Italia fills you up with pasta, washed down by a well-priced, if unexciting drink. It’s not reinventing the wheel but for a quick bite it’s not a bad option.

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