Saturday 13 April 2013

Bella Italia goes vegan

I know its hard to believe but its true! Bella Italia caters for vegans. Hubby loves the pizzas in there so when we went into town last Saturday, to buy my birthday present, I promised him we could go there. A few days before, I frantically searched the online menu to find out if there was anything that remotely looked like it was vegan, but found nothing bar olives and salad. So I decided to email their head office and ask if one of their restaurants would cater for a vegan. I soon received a reply: 
"At Bella Italia we can adapt our menu to cater for vegan options should you wish to dine with us.  All our pasta (except the tagliatelle) is vegan, as are our pizza bases; therefore you can then choose a pomodoro sauce which is vegan and just add vegetables to your pizza or pasta.
I would also recommend advising your waiter or waitress at the time of ordering of your dietary requirements, as they will be able to further advise you on the available options."

I felt more comfortable after receiving the email, and I was actually looking forward to eating out at the restaurant. The lady that served us couldn't have been more helpful, she was delightful, nothing was too much trouble.

I ordered a pizza which was loaded with roasted red and yellow peppers, courgettes, aubergines, mushrooms and instead of cheese I had fresh spinach leaves. This was drizzled with a basil olive oil and a chilli olive oil.

I don't know why cheese was ever put on pizzas after this experience, the flavours of the vegetables were more than enough. I'll definitely be visiting again soon, much to Hubbys delight.

 It was truly delicious, congratulations Bella Italia. 

2 comments:

  1. I recently visited a Bella Italia in Bluewater, Kent, UK. After inspecting the allergy menu with all of the main ingredients listed, I can confirm that almost all the pastas contain egg. Don't get me wrong, the food is brilliant but the pasta isn't vegan friendly at the very least. Also, my friend's mother is very sensitive to garlic and it is used in ALL sauces.
    I also found the "vegetarian onion rings" had "fish" as a listed Ingredient. Although the reply from the above post was probably well intended, I'm pretty sure they are ill informed. I have photos of the menu with allergens if you'd like to e-mail me for proof at decathlon_alex_1985@icloud.com

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  2. Their recent allergen menu shows that the pizza bases are vegan as is the tonato pasta, and two types of the vegetable spaghetti dishes, and they also now have a vegan cake on the dessert menu!

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Thanks for leaving a comment, Jasmine x