Ouch! I don’t always ‘give constructive opinions’ to restaurants because bad reviews may cause them great embarrassment.
But Bella Marino at Straits Quay better take this positively and hope they improve because Penang really lacks good Italian restaurants.
Let’s start with dessert. The tiramisu is a rip off. Ours is part of the dinner set but still, there is no excuse. It tastes like pudding with a heavy coating of cocoa powder. Nothing close to tiramisu.
The asparagus cream soup is what got me off on a bad start. It is sooooo salty, we added our drinking water into it. The chicken cube or whatever artificial flavourings added into their stock is overpowering and there is nothing that smells remotely like asparagus. They use milk and not cream.
The pizza crust is too sourish with strong yeasty smell.
The pasta is something a first year chef student can dish up. Seriously…how hard is it to prepare a plate of decent pasta?
The wagyu beef is tough though I had asked for medium rare. Though blood is oozing, it is still chewy and sinewy. And why oh why they smothered a piece of beef with so much salt and mustard sourish sauce?
The veges are all over cooked. And they slapped a chunk of mashed potatoes under the beef. Doh…
Conclusion – Don’t trust food bloggers anymore. They take nice nice looking photos and then, say this is my meat, this is my soup. And they offer nothing about taste, value for money or anything that says it is their opinions.
I remembered reading one food blogger recommending the tiramisu from Bella Marino. And another one said how nice the pasta are. So, I was fooled.
However, for saving grace, the coffee is good. Their serving staffs are friendly, helpful and speedy. So, give them a chance. And if you are the owner of Bella Marino who have invested heavily in this outlet, do get whoever is cooking out of your kitchen and get better chefs. He definitely doesn’t have the touch. Foods so salty, I am now thirsty.
Oh I forget to mention The dinner set is RM69.90++ and RM39.90++ for the beef and pasta set.
will have to avoid it then! haha.
Wow. What an indictment. I think that you have been too kind in your review. For the money charged and the quality and competency had, this restaurant is most definitely one to avoid. The management should hang their head in shame.
It is very much a case of not knowing the foods prepared and no experience in producing similar.
Good pastas do take skill and I don’t agree with the comment about “how hard is it” but that’s really not the point. It’s a menu item being offered at a price that should show respect for the customers by producing foods at a standard that is expected and achievable, let alone demonstrate a true understanding of the purpose of the dishes.
Chewy and sinewy steak suggests an incompetent chef. Either in the cooking of the steak or the selection of the steak in the first place. This is inexcusable.
“Bella Marino” deserves to be embarrassed for serving this quality of food and does not deserve to be in business and I think that they will disappear quite quickly.
Hi Lilian, I would just like to comment that the statement of not trusting food blogger anymore is a bit too harsh to a certain extent. For simple reasons that food bloggers’ feedback or reviews are subjective and no difference than your review. Readers are advised to exercise their own judgement and discretion when reading the blogs regardless. The bloggers rate eateries based on their experience at that point of time so the quality of food or service may vary if compared to the experiences of other food bloggers. So it is unfair to say that we are fooled by other blogs if our experience turns out to differ. This is just my 2 cents
Hmm.. I was thinking of trying out the place by purchasing the ezivoucher. Now that I hesitated. But then again, the ezivoucher is only RM18.
I think you should purchase it at last day of promo
The are no.1 company we go for quality !!