Thank you MN and BI 
for this meal, this is a great way for companies to get real feedback for family/child oriented ventures I think!
Generally - how did you find Bella as a place to visit with the family for breakfast?
Positives: Lovely Decor, Great music volume (some places Frankie and Bennys are SO loud, this was just right) comfy temperature and seating. Generally clean, nice touch of chunky beakers which were plastic for the children with straws given as standard - thoughtful and ideal for young ones.
Suggestions: No children's activities, no high chair offered, sellotaped fairy lights around table looked poor and potentially dangerous, a very dirty piece cutlery on the table (I'm not just talking a smudge - looked like it had been used to spread egg then left to dry on a napkin that it was stuck to!)
How would you rate the food quality?
Generally good, not exceptional given the price. 3.5/5 if giving stars!
Drinks: Coffee was good, machine was loud for DC though! Hot chocolate a bit insipid - both hot drinks had no saucer which was a pain as no place to put wet spoon / sugar packets?! Juice quite strong / cheap tasting but was chilled well.
Positives: nice sausages, ample portions, banana initially not available so nice surprise that they found one by the time they served us, tasty maple syrup - extra given on request (pots were half full) which was nice to have as they needed it
Suggestions: Steak OK but not great - possibly due to being put on a cold plate / waiting around for other elements of the dish OR possibly due to meat quality and/or seasoning.
Pancakes heavy consistency, eggs frazzled and not presented well - let the plate down really.
Not sure I like the rectangular plate!
How would you rate the selection of food – grown ups and kids - what did you and your DC choose?
We had a gigante breakfast, steak and DC both had pancake stack from adult menu as the children's options looked poor.
Good selection for adults, black pudding would have been a good addition though.
Very poor for children. No separate children's menu - am baffled by this and the lack of any activity pack - surely if targeting MNers you're aiming for a certain market i.e. families and children? If not then that's entirely fine but it confused us; as an adult breakfast place great, but the addition of 'children' on a menu which consists of two items and no photos was poor. This is a shame as we looked online before the visit and the children LOVED looking at the pictures and talking about what they would like. The effort is there online but not in print?
What was the best part about your experience?
Now this is strange but DH and I both said the toilets! They smelt nice, bright lighting, the hot taps weren't scolding (v.good and v.rare we find!), they were very clean and in working order, the driers a touch loud but luckily DC are just past the raging fear of them! The only suggestion is a nicer soap - (it was a cheapy-smelly kind).
There were changing facilities in the disabled loo which we didn't use but I honestly think that you could have the nicest meal but horrid toilets really let a place down - it's bad enough when you use a grotty loo but you hate having to take children in them - good effort to Bella Italia for high standards in this area, it matters!
How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
Positives: Both on the phone and in person, the one lady we dealt with was friendly and professional. Very understanding when we had to rearrange booking. Smiley at the DC and not too forced with their attentiveness (this is ideal as youngest is very shy - some staff in other places see this as a cue to talk more at them and try to make them respond…! Lady serving us was just right in this respect).
Suggestion: I found the rowdy conversation with another staff member (male) at the till kind of unprofessional - the chap didn't smile back when we were on our ways to the toilets either although he may not have been 'on duty' but still - so we would say just that one woman was great, the others not so much as they pretty much ignored us.
Did you know Bella did breakfast prior to this?
No - I wouldn't have thought they opened before midday!
NOTE - there was a lovely sandwich board which was advertising breakfast at Bella… it was folded up, leaning on a wall in the entrance way hidden behind the christmas menu display?! Might have been better outside in a visible and useful position, especially as we heard a couple come in a while after us who were unsure if Bella Italia was open for breakfast.
And lastly, would you go again?
Yes, but either for dinner with DH or as a family for lunch - possibly for breakfast only for a snack and drink as I think the mains are over priced for the content. It also took around half an hour for food to be served - this felt a long time with DC and would have been even longer if I hadnt brought our own activities.
We would return for breakfast however if there was a greater emphasis on the family / children element - maybe a pricing structure where children eat free or reduced, the addition of a children's menu, a simple child's pack, balloon etc?
Thank you again - RL has been getting in the way of us attending any sooner so we have really been looking forward to this. I hope our feedback is constructive, do let us know if there are any other points to cover or clarification needed.
