Bella Notte Italian Restaurant & Bar - Rosalie
I took a leap of faith today and ate somewhere I’d been warned against. My faith was rewarded with mixed feelings, a heavy stomach, a walk uphill and a consolation coffee.
Bella Notte
Italian Restaurant & BarShop 6, 165 Baroona Rd, Rosalie
Ph: 07 3505 0990
The name Bella Notte Italian Restaurant & Bar exudes the confidence of a professional who knows their business well. Located in the Rosalie Village (and also on Park Road, Milton - within 500 hundred metres of Rosalie), the restaurant has literally placed itself among the popular, heavily-patroned restaurants that litter Rosalie’s social hub. (It is almost as if popularity is to be achieved through association.)
I was resoundingly warned off Bella Notte, for some reason or other. However, that night I couldn’t decide where I wanted to eat and when I’m indecisive, I tend to opt for Italian food or choose a really unremarkable restaurant.
There sat Bella Notte, innocently empty at 8pm on a Friday night. That should have been warning enough, but I was distracted by my concern at getting seats without a booking. The menu appeared comprehensive and the specials board demonstrated some variety. Admittedly the interior did not look particularly Italian with metal-legged outside furniture and unmemorable table settings inside.
My companion and I (ok, ok, my mother!) opted for outside seating so we could eyeball the passing menagerie. We ordered glasses of wine to start, me a moderately priced Cab-Sav, my ‘companion’ a similarly priced Merlot. To accompany this we ordered bruschetta ($6.90) from their extensive selection (ok, only 3) of bread dishes. Our waitress, an almost over-attentive but friendly girl served this quickly, announcing our ‘brusheska’ had arrived.
The ‘brusheska’ was satisfactory. I’m assuming it is hard to ruin salsa on crusty bread slices. Our wine, served alongside this was less then satisfactory. The merlot (brand omitted) was a vinegared number, sour to the tongue and producing a eye-twitching recoil. We decided it needed time – perhaps an eternity – to breathe. The cab-sav was fine… but unremarkable.
The menu offered a seemingly large array of pasta dishes which actually turned out to be a large array of boring and unadventurous dishes (choose spaghetti, fettuccine, penne, ravioli ricotta and add bolognese, napoletana, carbonara, puttanesca… am I exciting you?). I chose Penne con Pollo ($13.60) and decided to spice it up by asking for fettuccine instead. The Fettuccine con Pollo would feature a sauce of sliced chicken, mushroom, onion and seeded mustard sauce.
My companion ordered the Spiced Yoghurt Chicken Kebabs ($7.50) and Spanish Meatballs ($8.00) from the meagre tapas selection. A word of warning: When a tapas menu offers you only 7 dishes to choose from, it’s time to start looking doubtful. Tapas should be a speciality and not a tack-on as it appeared to be on this menu. In fact the entire menu had something ‘Italian’ on it, but didn’t seem to specialise in much of anything.
My Fettuccine con Pollo came out, steam rising. A quarter way through the dish I realised that I had liberally seasoned it with salt twice (this is very rare for me, I’m not a salt person). The chicken, which was too perfectly square to be fresh, was dry and unflavoured. The creamy seeded mustard sauce had no flair to it. It tasted like cream with mustard – and two rounds of the salt shaker. Just a side note here: I think when a low/no salt diner has to heavily season their dish, it’s a sign the chef/restaurant has put little effort into the food’s flavour.
My companion’s meal was the same. The chicken tasted like chicken, rolled in a satay-coloured sauce. Unfortunately the chicken did not taste as if infused with the sauce, nor did it taste as if it suited the sauce. The salad was very green with thick wedges of tomato. The meat balls tasted like meatballs, in tomato sauce. Both dishes lacked flavour; they were just different components served side-by-side.
We agreed the food tasted like take-away and, upon further perusal of the menu, we realised the restaurant did offer take away. Our ever-timely waitress reappeared and asked if we’d like the remainder of our meal packed to take away. This confirmed our suspicions.
While the food provided little entertainment, I found the service quite interesting. The waitress was sweet but lackeing experience and intuition, pre-empting us throughout the meal, offering to take our plates away before asking how were progressing (we were breathing between meatballs), offering to bring the bill as soon as we had finished chewing. I almost felt rushed, except for the fact that she was amicable, obviously meant well and was taking her work seriously.
When promptly offered the bill we promptly accepted, paid and took a lengthy walk around the block, which incidentally included a small uphill climb. After this my spaghetti had moved from the pit of my stomach and I could consider the idea of a consolation coffee – elsewhere!
By Alice B.
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January 16th, 2007 @ 3:19 pm
Haha! What a joke
I think I’ve driven past the place a few times,
with a name like that, I always expected more! thanks for the warning.
March 13th, 2007 @ 1:46 pm
This is very odd as we dined for the first time at this restaurant in January 2007. and we could not have been happier with our meals. We always love to try new Italian restaurants and have eaten at almost everyone in Brisbane and we thought Bella was fantastic and possibly the best meals we have ever had. I had the Bella Notre Scallopini and my husband had the carbonara. The staff was a little odd however we had a great time.
March 13th, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
We have just had lunch at Bella Notte in Rosalie. VERY disappointing food. (The worst lasagna I have ever had, nostly tinned tomatoes) Uncomfortable chairs. A friendly waitress does not make up for poor food… we will not be going back.
March 14th, 2007 @ 7:06 am
Yes something’s slightly off the mark at that place. I’m sure they serve out good experiences to a lot of customers, but i’ve asked friends on their opinions and i’ve received pretty negative feedback.
I just think it’s probably easy to get away with a lot when you’re dominating a place on Park Road. And a lot of people might not prioritise the same things I do when i’m eating at a restaurant.
I hope someone from Bella Notta is reading this, cos I think the place needs feedback!
April 7th, 2007 @ 10:21 pm
I’ve just returned from a quiet Easter Saturday night at Bella Notte in Rosalie with family and we are still raving about the great service, food, Coonawarra red wine and, of course, the ambience - being out on the footpath watching the world go by under a beautiful clear sky and enjoying the cool autumn breeze!
Go and make your own mind up!
I loved my simple yet delicious fettuccine carbonara and the others thoroughly enjoyed the cannelloni and the margarita pizza!
FANTASTIC service from a couple of the waitresses, though they were somewhat young and inexperienced - but, FANTASTIC nonetheless!
Again, go and make your own mind up about this little gem!
We’ll be back for sure!
April 8th, 2007 @ 5:33 pm
Maybe I’m becoming really snobby, thinking this place was pretty average and well, awful. Actually no, I know why I didn’t like this place. They showed no flair nor individuality. But Mick’s right, go there and make your own mind up. But (I can’t help it!) just don’t expect to be blown out of your chair.
April 21st, 2007 @ 6:45 pm
I’ve been there a few times, breakfast and dinner, and found things to be fine. Agreed, nothing to write home about but its inexpensive, the wait staff are friendly and the food is quite tasty. I left with a full stomach and a smile which is more than i can say for alot of places.
April 24th, 2007 @ 8:12 am
I am very disappointed.I do not get to see my son very often and after much persuasion we went to your restaurant last thursday evening. We ordered drinks and my wine was forgotten , we then ordered soup breads and our meals, after about 30 minutes our breads arrived and then our meals about 45 minutes later and then the soup arrived. The waitress took the soup away and we were told they would credit it but I am sure they did not and at the end of the meal which was disappointing we just paid and left. My son is a young 24year old who i am sure will tell his friends and my husband and I were very disappointed as we have eaten there before and enjoyed the meal, however we probably won’t be back.
April 25th, 2007 @ 12:12 am
Aha! Another bad account. This Bella Notte place is getting very mixed reviews people!!!
I wonder if we’ll get a prevailing opinion, or any consesus here. It’ll be interesting to see.
April 26th, 2007 @ 7:00 pm
Hi Alice and other reviewers,
I am also intrigued by the mixed reviews (despite my positive experience) and I’m wondering if anyone has informed the restaurant management / owners of this site. (?)
I’m just thinking that this sort of criticism could potentially be constructive (after some positive and some negative feedback).
If the owners / management knew about this site and these comments, they may be inclined to tighten some reigns (on the wait staff mainly by the sounds of it), and EVERYBODY could have a positive Bella Notte experience.
I would call the restaurant myself, but I’ve had a big day (*sigh*) and I have a bunch of delicious pasta and sauce to cook that I got from the Rosalie Deli (just down the road from Bella Notte) this arvo - YUM! .
Cheers,
Mick
June 9th, 2007 @ 11:57 pm
The worst Italian food in Brisbane! Spaghetti bolognaise was horrible! Son who eats anything couldn’t finish his pasta , it was that bad. Neither could my daughter(who loves pasta). But not the garbage dished out at this place. Entrees came out 1(yes, ONE hour) after ordering. And that was after inquiring as to what had happened to them!!. Mains them came out ONE (yes, one) minute later!. This place is a joke(The Park Road eatery). Would not recommend this place in a fit! Service slack as….
June 10th, 2007 @ 9:48 am
Wow! this is by far becoming the most controversial restuarant on this sit. Someone needs to tell them we’ve got a review and ‘feedback’ for them. Who’s willing to step up to the plate. Think I will!
June 10th, 2007 @ 1:52 pm
I’m a bit of a risk-taker, and so ventured back to Bella Notte - Rosalie about two weeks ago on a Friday evening. I thought I’d test their service again, as the food and wine was great last time, but the service was kinda ordinary - not bad, just ordinary.
This latest visit proved again that the food and wine is great (although I must admit we chose the same dishes and the same wine as last time!), but the service is not so great.
Our waitress said it was only her fourth shift, and it seemed that no other staff member had shown her the ropes (in four shifts? That’s heaps of time really!).
She had trouble answering our questions - fair enough, she’s new. But she also didn’t seem to realise that going back in to the restaurant and asking someone more experienced was quite alright.
She also brought our wine out already opened and proceeded to fill our three glasses, without offering my fiance (who ordered the wine) a taste first. No big deal really - but some people would have complained right then and there!
Next, she brought out our mains and put them in front of the wrong people. Once again, no big deal, but something she should have been shown/trained to do by other, more experienced, staff members.
So … great pasta dishes, pizza and red!
But … ordinary service!
Someone please tell the managers and/or owners of these restaurants so they can make some changes hey?!
Cheers,
Mick
June 17th, 2007 @ 12:10 am
Alice, why should anyone tell this place how terrible it is? Let then find out for themselves. It’s their problem. Would they care if your dining experience was below average? I think not!! I will add to my comment above(June 9)…we booked a week in advance(yes silly i know). We clearly asked for a table of 6 at the FRONT of the restaurant. We made it abundantly clear. When we got there, on the day, our table was available…right at the very BACK of this hopeless place! How could they get this wrong ? But they managed! Everything about our time there was way below par!! There is more but I think I have said enough!
August 8th, 2007 @ 10:54 pm
I recently dined at your “restaurant” with my partner and i hope you “professionals” are reading this because you need to hear it. I myself am a chef my friend and you people are nothing more than fish mongers. I ordered the barramundi and my partner ordered the Scallopini Bella Notte. Who are you people trying to fool! we are not idiots! when will you learn! The fish was no more than Nile perch or some cheap equivelant and the Scallopini! FOR GOD’S SAKE MATE! WHo do you think we are! It was PORK! instead of veal! you cant do this stuff, you are conning us out of your money which is illegal advertising which we can act upon through the judicial system. I hope whoever reads this goes there and sees for themselves. ALSO A SIDE NOTE, STOP USING FROZEN VEGGIES!…pay the extra few bucks and use the real thing my “chef” friend. My retarted brother could run that place better.
August 25th, 2007 @ 10:46 am
WOW!!!
My husband and I eat at Bella Notte at park road very often. We have eaten at many restaurants in Brisbane, from Eagle st Pier to Tenneriffe, Toowong etc. We have found that Bella Notte is a wonderful place to eat. The girls that serve us are always polite and attentive. We absolutely love the chicken kebabs. That is our favourite dish. The wine is great for the price.
If you want a $20 glass of wine, don’t go and order a $6 glass and then complain.I can’t believe how unforgiving the comments have been.
There is constructive criticism and then there is unmittigated snobbery. I am suprised Alice you have ever found a meal that you have found satisfactory.
As to the emptiness of the restaurant, there are times my husband and I have had to wait as the restaurant is fully booked. Though we haven’t minded the wait as it is never too long.
Anyone can have one bad dining experience that does not mean everyone will have a bad dining experience. Don’t be so unforgiving.
September 8th, 2007 @ 1:25 am
Its funny I only just recently came across this review site, and I have been a regular diner in the Park rd Bella Notte for the past 1 1/2 years, I live and work just around the corner, and have found the place fine, they do not boast to be a five star restaurant, the serve tasty affordable meals, my work associates and I have lunch 3-4 times a week, we know they get packed so we pre order, and our meals are always ready when we get there, if we dont we wait 20-25 mins, lets remember guys, theres maybe 40-60 people that come in within 1/2 hour and the chefs still serve delicious food well presented and very affordable, Ive waited that long for breakfast at Mcdonalds, and that was shit, the times Ive gone at night mainly Fri nights have been great, again the wait is long but I dont mind, i go out for dinner to relax, have a lovely meal, and delicious gelati, so I guess Im gonna have to check out this rosalie, see whats so different.
September 11th, 2007 @ 12:15 am
firstly i would like to say thank you for feedback on both rosalie and park road, as i have read on this website people reviews on the restaurants some are negitived feedback o
as i have read many reviews about service and time of the wait period of meal times as we a busy restaurant i am going to give a few notes on why we have waiting times during our busy period
as many of you might be aware we are a al a carte restaurant (everything is being cooked to order)
*as we some times cooking for upto 300 people in just six hours that makes a serving meals on a avarage of 1 to 2 minutes a per meal
*we are a al a carte restaurants( we cook everything to order and everything is freshly cooked that includes our pizza pastas steaks and everything else on our large which includes 184 dishes
* as we do cook our steaks fresh it will take time to cook a well done steak therfore u wont be getting a well done steak in 10/15 minutes
*we cook our sauces fresh to order they arent pre packed we dont mircowave them as some place do so therefore you wont get thwem in 5 minutes
*if u ask waiters to adjusted sauces or pizza to to youe like eg. add to a something extra to your pasta or to make a half /half pizza we can do that as we have to make it fresh for u the order
*we are 1 of 2 restaurants in both rosalie and park rd who make fresh dough
** TO ANYBODY WHO THINKS THAT THEY ARE UPTO A CHALLAGE I PUT $50000 PRIZE IF U CAN GET 100 PEOPLE FEED IN A AL A CARTE RESTAURANT OR FAST FOOD TO ORDER ENTREE MAINS AND DRINK TO RECIEVE EVERYTHING IN 10-2O MINUTES THAT MEANS THE FIRST TO LAST PERSON TO RECIEVE EVERY THING THAT IS ORDER DIRECTLY ( NO PREORDERED MEALS AND DRINKS) U WILL RECIEVE THE PRIZE MONEY .
IF U TAKE ME UP AND U LOSE U HAVE GIVE ME THE SAME PRIZE MONEY
I AM MORE THEN WILLING TO PAY FOR THE WHOLE BILL FOR 100 PEOPLE IS I LOSE THE CHALLAGE IF NOT I THE ORGARGISER OF THE 100 PPL WILL HAVE TO FOOT THE BILL IF I WIN .
thank your very much for our custmers for surpport and repeat of business and thank your for the feedback
November 4th, 2007 @ 8:20 am
Have to agree with the poor reviews.
Here is my experience:
I dined recently at Bella Notte Rosalie for a friend’s birthday on a Saturday night. What a mistake!
Arriving at 7pm, they had no record of our booking made two weeks previously specifically for a table with couches. Of course, there were none available and we were seated outside.
We were there for over two hours and probably had staff attend to us 3 times and they were poorly trained. The restaurant wasn’t that busy! We were there for 30mins before our food orders were taken. Our meals took over an hour to arrive. The drinks order came with an incorrect number of drinks.
The food was incrediblely lack luster and poor value for money. All three of the steaks ordered were over cooked and thin. All meals were small on the serving size except the calzone which was ordered as a large. The roasted potato side dish was very salty and the “seasonal vegetables” were limp broccoli and cauliflower. Two out of the seven meals were of a barely acceptable standard.
When approaching the manager to make our complaints known, she was very defensive, unapologetic and seemed to blame us for all the problems.
March 21st, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
THE worse cafe in Brisbane.
Not only was the service lacking, the chef was younger than my daughter, and Im only 26! The food became somewhat of a game as we tried to push it to corners of the table where we wouldnt have to see it and and smell it.
The seafood was like the inners of fish fingers (yes, the ones you buy at Woolies), and the fries would be more aptly maked the ‘burns’. The salad had tomatos that were fresh last century and the lettuce was about as green as the sun.
I had a fork and knife hit me as it slid off a plate that the wait staff was carrying past.
I think its safe to say - life without Bella Notte will be a good one.
April 13th, 2008 @ 12:29 pm
I agree with most of this negative feedback. I went to te Park Rd Bella Notte for my friends birthday for the first and last time.
The service was terrible, admittedly the girl was very inexperienced. I ordered a bottle of Merlot from the wine list. After waiting 20min or so we enquired into the whereabouts of the wine, the waitress informed me that they were out of that particular brand but would give me a more expensive bottle for the same price. Finally a bottle of chardonnay arrived bearing the same brand name as the alternatve merlot they offered. I told her that we ordered red and after 10min or so she came back wit the bottle that I had ordered in the first place. By this time our unexciting meals had been brought out (an hour after ordering) and had been distributed incorrectly around our admittedly large table.
A very average dining experience.
May 6th, 2008 @ 12:02 pm
Hi,
Firstly I was a bit hesitant at going to Bella Notte after reading all these reviews but I thought I have to give it a go myself. I met two friends there at 7:30pm on Friday 2nd May 2008. I have to say the service was efficient and attentive. After ordering we didn’t have to wait long for our drinks, entree and main meal. The menu has quite a range. My friends and I really enjoyed our meals and because of the service and the local vibe we had a great night all round. I would definitely go to Bella Notta again!
September 8th, 2008 @ 3:18 pm
If you all dislike this place so much and yet you are not willing to tell the owners/management that there are a few problems which they could improve on then why keep complaining… GO SOMEWHERE ELSE… I have been told people who complain alot have very dull lives… I assume that is correct.
November 17th, 2008 @ 2:03 pm
A group of Friends had breakfast here recently. The place had no air/con i.e wasn’t working. There was at least 5 flies buzzing around the dining area and our table and yes we all had showers. We had to ask the the waitress to spray the flies. The big breakfast was okay and service was okay. Dissapointing to have such an establishment at Rosalie that is way below par.
December 18th, 2008 @ 11:02 pm
I used to work there, I´m from Brazil and they used to treat me very well, but I agree that sometimes they lost their minds and the manager I´s not looking for his own buisness.
December 31st, 2008 @ 3:18 pm
If your looking for very poor service, average food and you don’t mind waiting up to an hour an half for your meal to arrive, then this is the place to come.
My recommendation…Eat elsewhere
ps: check the bill we were also overcharged.
January 23rd, 2009 @ 11:55 am
Wow! There are a LOT of negative comments for this restaurant - so much so that I’m tempted to do another review myself and put my own findings up.
On the other hand, with so many great restaurants in Brisbane to try out, why bother?
max - if you eventually come back and read this, I have one thing to say to you: It’s not the people who come back to your restaurant that will help you improve it, it’s the people that don’t.
Most people will just leave without complaining, and simply never come back. The comments above should be treated like gold by you, because you have a rare opportunity to see what people DIDN’T like about your restaurant, to improve upon these things and move forward.
Best of luck,
- Ross
March 24th, 2009 @ 10:42 am
Just a quick note for all considering to dine here - i think they’ve taken on board the feedback. Food was great last time i went and who can argue with the price! Really decent. I’m going for a second time tonight so fingers crossed i have another good experience.
November 18th, 2009 @ 10:19 am
Hi Alice,
I bumped into your blog when I was looking for the address to Bella Notte. I’m going to go against the flow here, but…
It’s fine for you to make your comments, but I wonder…you probably have too much time on your hands to be writing such long and detailed descriptions about your bad dinner experience. You are a good writer, but to use your talent on bad food reviews? If you really care, you should tell management.
By the way, I agree that Bella Notte is not the best restaurant in Brisbane, but it is cheap. So you can’t expect the Hilton or Marriott food and service. I believe it’s good value for your money…you get what you pay for.
November 19th, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
Jan,
You must have a lot of time on your hands to post comments defending a restaurant that you don’t even think is that good
But this is a nightlife & lifestyle review website, so it’s not unexpected to find that our reviewers take time to craft their articles well.