Bellini’s

Don’t bother. It was next to my hotel so I ate here, but I wish I hadn’t. The service was very slow. The food was gross. Seafood marinara was mussels, one over cooked mushy prawn, a couple of mushy calimari pieces. Not good quality.

Today I had a lunch time meal in the Cardiff central Bellini’s. I received the worst customer service I think I have ever received, what’s more my meal was very disappointing.
I went with my partner and daughter, As soon as we were sat the waiter asked us what we wanted to drink then left, my daughter was not offered an activity pack, we were not welcomed or told anything about the food, after about 10 minutes we were asked to give our order and we had to ask for some colouring in for her to do. We received our food without so much as a smile. my meal was dry and tasteless and i only managed to eat about 5 bites. There was no check back or any interest from the staff as to why I had eaten barely any of my food, they simply took my meal away and asked if my daughter still wanted her free ice-​cream. we received the bill which had the 10% tip already attached, which I think was an insult.

I’ve tried this restaurant twice now and each time found it disappointing.
The first time, despite being nearly empty on a Saturday lunch time, our service was incredibly rushed and we felt hurried out! It certainly wasn’t a relaxing experience. However, we were there with our 14 year old daughters so we decided that maybe they didn’t like children in there. I commented about this as we left and was told that they were expecting a lunch time rush — we left there about 2pm. Also, we had vouchers for 2 for 1 meals — although the bill came to considerably more than we’d thought it would. (The added service charge must have come to about 20% of the bill).
The next time my friend and I tried it, it was because we had a £10 ‘birthday voucher’ — we were asked if we were using a voucher and we wish we’d said no because we feel they again inflated the bill to cover the £10 reduction! Again a service charge was added which was definitely more than 10%!!
Also, when being seated, again it was a near empty restaurant but we were seated in between two couples — the closeness was embarrassing so we asked to be moved so we could talk in private. We felt like we’d been sat at the same table with the other two couples — it was not nice. Again we were told they were expecting a lunch time rush (this was at 1.30pm).
Despite the disappointing service and inflated prices, the food is excellent and the washrooms were spotless. There was a fair bit of dust visible on the lightshades which could be seen from the upstairs tables but i suppose that’s to be expected?
Great location and great food but unfortunately, not good enough for us to want to go back again.

Bellini’s offer decent Italian food at decent prices. This is particularly true with the lunchtime meal deal that is almost always on offer from someone handing out flyers just where Park Place meets Queen Street. If you’re about to pop in, check if there’s someone at that corner first, it’ll save you a few quid.
Just to run through some Italian food for those unsure: Pizza, Pasta, and Ice Cream. These are readily available from the very friendly waiters who I’ve found enjoy a little chat besides taking your order. They try to be quick during the lunch-​time rush as people will generally have less than an hour before they have to head back towards work, and we only found speed to be a problem on getting the bill rather than the food service itself. If you are a guy and you go with a girl from work be prepared for the waiter to assume it is your girlfriend and continually refer to her as such.