Bella Ischia in Basildon

First visit and was very impressed with food and service, large portions nice cozy private booth seating arrangement, food arrived at an easy pace which suited us, by 7. 15pm it was almost full, 3 chefs work hard, and there could be a bit of delay on food when busy as food is cooked fresh, a table of 20 arrived close to end of our meal, glad we booked early. Our starters of breaded mushrooms (huge) & brie bites with cranberry were great My main of carbonara with added chicken which in all honesty didn't need was tasty and big, veal ravioli was also a good size, no room for dessert Only quibble, Wine is a touch expensive

Food was tepid, bruschetta was just chopped tomatoes and garlic on very soggy bread. The fiorentina pizza had no egg on it, just a lot of tasteless rubbery cheese

Excellent staff kitchen food service cost and overall experience. Definitely an Italian gem. Going back for sure

Really enjoyed our family lunch here. The portions for the starter and mains were great and we had to take some home with us there was so much to eat. Highly recommend a visit

Really enjoyed our family lunch here. The portions for the starter and mains were great and we had to take some home with us there was so much to eat. Highly recommend a visit

Friendly warm environment. Beautiful decor, clean & contemporary Italian bistro vibe. Food was really amazing. Took our 2 grandchildren for a birthday treat & they made a fuss of our grandson, which was lovely! We will return & could not recommend this friendly Italian eatery highly enough!

“Excellent choice for a meal between friends” … thanks Vendim

Excellent food, very good service, highly recommend.

First visit and very impressed with food and service,large portions,cozy private booths seating arrangements,food arrived at an easy pace, (think of eating in Mediterranean) Which suited us, We arrived 6pm by 7.15 fully booked,3 chefs worked hard but as cooking fresh food it takes time.our starters of breaded mushrooms (huge) and coated Brie were excellent, our mains of veal ravioli and my carbonara were large,I had added chicken and in all honesty didn’t need it Only quibble is price of wine, most wines start at £30+ House red (Spanish)was ok but still overpriced.

Lovey ambience , authentic Italian food which is really tasty and friendly staff . This is our first visit and we will come again . We are vegetarians and we enjoyed the options in the restaurant . A fab dining experience ! Do try it and you won’t be disappointed !!

When we ordered delivery was showing 17:30. We got it almost 18:30. The order was ready, it is Just Eat issue about arranging a driver.

Lovely restaurant, love the choice of spaces to sit, light and colourful decoration and excellent food. Staff were very friendly and very good service. Look forward to going back.

Nice, family run Italian on Billericay High Street. Lunch menu has great prices during the week!

Excellent, proper wholesome Italian food with friendly staff. Could ask for much else.

What an amazing restaurant, you can tell the food is genuine home made Italian food. Absolutely massive menu choice, hugely generous portions and fast service. One of the best Italian restaurants I've been to.

Really lovely restaurant. Massive food portions. Service was quite slow but staff are friendly

I don’t usually write reviews, but I feel that this time I will.. I’m just going to cut straight to the point and cut the bulls@@t.. Great food, great drinks,kitchen spotless, (I’m a chef) service a little slow, by UK standards, BUT that’s the great thing about it, I don’t want to feel rushed a don’t want my meals banged out in five minutes, If you have been to Italy, this is the way! Here in the UK we have come accustomed to the run of the mill usual chain and microwave ding restaurants which basically all order from the same supplier and turn out the same crap on a different colour plate.. This place cooks from scratch and all fresh. If people can’t appreciate waiting longer for fresh cooked food, then, go to Bella Italia or wildwoods and get it out a microwave bag in 5 minutes.. A charming place that deserves all the recognition. We shall go again..

The atmosphere was very quiet and peaceful there was nice Italian music playing and it was so relaxing

I would definitely give them more stars if allowed, the food is very delicious, made with good quality products, it’s authentic Italian cuisine and generous portions. The atmosphere is very welcoming and charming, and very clean. The staff also very friendly. Wasn’t so busy so we did not had to wait long for our food. The service we received was so amazing and we definitely we will be back. I definitely recommend them.

Very Tasty food, good price and very kind staff 10/10

This restaurant needs to decide if it wants to have in house customers or focus on Deliveroo/Just Eat etc. delivery service. Multiple deliveries were exiting the restaurant while in house customers were waiting an hour/hour and a half for main courses. Not sure if this is a ploy so your drinks run out and you have to order more. In addition the food really wasn’t worth waiting for. Bland and not hot.

Excellent authentic Italian food, very fresh and tasty. Went as a family. Service was a little slow as some have mentioned but not unusually slow. Portions are huge so it gave us the opportunity to take our time

Great Italian, food is amazing 👌

Had a sit down meal here at the weekend, chuffed to see they deliver as well. Beautiful pizza, beats the American plastic rubbish hands down. Will be ordering again without a doubt! Keep up the good work Bella!

We have been here a few times, and each time I have had a pizza as they are the best pizzas in town. There are many other options on the menu, but I just cannot resist the pizzas!

Excellent food friendly staff well worth a visit

The happy friendly attentive waitress, quickly seated us, and gave us the menu's took our drinks orders. She returned quickly with the drinks and asked if we were ready to order wanted a bit more time. Definitely needed more time I'm slow and fussy takes me a while to choose I looked at the many great sounding dishes. When returned she said that the portions were generous we ordered ordered A rosemary flatbread and asked to have it to share as a starter. I then ordered Spaghetti picannti with added chicken and a side to share of zucchini frittas my girlfriend ordered Pasta Siciliana. The Flatbread was fantastic very tasty with a lovely sweet Balsamic vinegar. When the mains came they looked great and large portions big bowl of frittas too, I she checked if we wanted more drinks. The food was really nice well cooked and very tasty although there was a lot of food I can eat 😉 I managed to finish mine and most of the frittas too! It was too good to waste any food 😋. We ordered another drink each and as we'd enjoyed the food so much wanted to taste a dessert so we shared a portion of light Tiramisu it was nice, although I prefer more coffee n masala and some Mascapone in the cream, but I would have struggled to eat my preferred richer n heavier style of Tiramisu. The whole meal drinks and 12% service charge came to £72 I think 🤔 we were very satisfied by the quality and flavour great value too.

Great Pizza and pasta for the price point

Shocking wouldn’t give this food to a stray cat. Make sure you bring your own drinks and a book it’s a long wait.

We’ve been here 3 times in the last 6 months and love it. Chicken saltimbocca was fantastic but the pizza was something else, the best I’ve had in ages. They even let my 3 year old come into the kitchen and make his own, which he still gets excited about 3 weeks on! Well done team, I’m sure we’ll be back soon

Food is flavourful and portion sizes are very generous. We popped in as a couple on way home from work on a Wednesday so it wasn't the busiest or most bustling but the background music helped set a pleasant atmosphere and the staff were attentive throughout. We'll definitely visit again to support the local businesses of our town.

Worst restaurant experience ever. If there was an option to give zero stars I would. Waited 10 minutes at the door to even be acknowledged before being seated while a large queue formed behind us. Waited half an hour before being asked if we wanted a drink so placed food order at the same time. Was then never asked again if we wanted any more drinks for the whole time of being there. Waited over 2 hours for main course to arrive for it to be cold. Took another 10 minutes to get the attention of a waitress when I told her it was cold her reply was ‘well it was brought out quite a few minutes ago’ then said sorry and walked off! I was in shock so managed to call over the waiter told him the situation and he asked if I would like it reheated in which I said no it’s not wise to reheat meat! He then said sorry and that was that off he went. Clearly the staff didn’t care and came across rude and abrupt. Didn’t even offer to replace it. My friends dishes were luke warm and bland too. After sitting with plates of food that hadn’t been taken away we asked for the bill which took another half an hour. We asked a waitress to speak to the manager however she had no interest in coming over so left the waitress to deal with it. She continued to explain they were just busy and they don’t usually get complaints and made it out like it was us! However after the table next to us over heard they told us they found a hair in their food and also waited 2 hours for their dinner and got given the wrong bill! Eventually our waitress took one of the mains off the bill then once we had paid and about to leave at 10.15pm we got offered a pizza to take away. By this time it was too late so politely declined. We understood they were busy being a Saturday night but they were under staffed and extremely rude. The food very bland, cold and mains expensive. Service non existent and staff’s attitude appalling so won’t be recommending or returning in the future.

Lovely food, service was incredibly slow and it took someone 45 minutes just to bring a menu. After we complained they were then very attentive

Awful service …. Orders for delivery … food badly packed… soaked bag… food fell all over carpet. No food. No interst. Appalling.

Wonderful authentic italian cuisine. So nice to have this family run restaurant on our High Street. Highly recommended 👌

Just returned and it was excellent. Both food and service were great and it's independent too. Thoroughly recommended!

Had a really nice atmosphere and quick service. The dough balls were delicious and the pasta was even better!

Very beautiful presentation of the generously supplied plates I recommend

Very slow service - whether that was to order food or drinks or receiving them. When we eventually got our drinks they were wrong and then when our food arrived items were missing. It took us an hour to order our food and eventually had our main courses 2.5 hours later. Food was average. These things to happen when opening a new restaurant but the staff were rude and unapologetic for the delays and errors.

Last night was our 4th visit to Bella Ischia. We found the food to be excellent on every visit; I thoroughly recommend the lemon sea bass - superb! Not cheap, but not over-expensive given the quality.

Plus part of the order was missing (chips)

Fantastic food and especially the pizza, best I've ever had!!!

Went to have a nice Dinner out at the new Italian restaurant down the road. It was a bit busy but services was excellent/friendly,helpful.I would like to recommend the linguine Gamberoni and also the spaghetti bolognaise. 100% coming back

Absolutely would recommend. Delicious, generous portions of authentic food.

This is the first time I have visited this restaurant. The young lady who served us was polite and attentive. I can recommend it

Thoroughly enjoyed the food here. Great choice on the menu. The staff were attentive. Liked the way they did not rush you. Will definitely return to sample more from the fab menu. Well done Bella Ischia.

Fantastic Italian food with unique combinations. (We are vegetarian so can only comment on these dishes) Staff are lovely and freindly however the service was horrifically slow. We were there for 3 hours and was not offered any additional drinks despite having empty glasses. It was impossible to get anyone's attention, maybe because we weren't in the 'main section' of the restaurant. I really hope management take steps in a positive direction to support their staff and vastly improve their quality of service.

Food was excellent and service good. Highly recommend the lobster linguine, absolutely delicious. The decor is exactly the same as brunch and bottle, little bit of a cafeteria feel. An update would definitely put this place on the map, nevertheless I look forward to returning.

I really wanted to like this place, large well lit and clean with a really friendly welcome and great service. Then the food came out, it all spiralled from there really. The squid starter was so tough it was difficult to cut, let alone eat. Complaints were met with ‘the chef says it shouldn't be, it was only just cooked’. Whatever that was supposed to mean. Giving them the benefit of the doubt we continued on, the next course was no better, the shrimp were so over cooked they were almost offensive. At this point we paid hoping that they might offer some kind of gratuity, but alas no, they stuck to it. Everything was great, except the chef choose to cook the granny out of everything. Wouldnt recommend.

Amazing food and service! Would highly recommend 👍

Had a superb lunch. food was excellent, lovely decor, friendly staff. an authentic family ran Italian on the high street, what's not to love? can't wait to go back.

The food was delicious! Very lovely - this was my first visit. The service could have been more attentive, for example pouring the wine when it is empty, bringing the bill over faster etc. however, I believe it’s just a new business that will find their feet! Very nice!

Beautiful food and staff definitely recommend...

Great pasta. Had dinner here (not our first) last weekend and was again impressed with the food and the portion sizes. We'd been to another (now deceased) Italian in Billericay a few months before and I was staggered by the stingy portion size of the pasta but this place has no such concerns - for the second time I was unable to finish my carbonara. Will definitely return. This place is, evidently per this visit, getting the attention it deserves. Very friendly and good service also. Only real downside is the rather slim options as regards drinks, but we'll definitely be back. Great addition to Billericay High Street.

Absolutely delicious food. Relaxing garden area which is a must on a sunny day. We will definitely be back. Highly recommend the afogato which is delicious and you can smell the bombolini on the high street every Saturday.

Great impromptu early supper. Lovely food, portion sizes are huge. Very tasty, nice and laid back. Not rushed at all and good value .

First timers tonight , What a lovely dinning experience, the food was really nice and generous portions, ( photo doesn’t do it justice) lovely customer service. We will be back . Thank you Sarah and Pete x

New Italian restaurant, so had to Try this out. A wonderful array of pizzas, pastas and other Italian grills to choose from. Cocktail menu was a great wide range to choose from and we're delicious. Starters we had the Deep fried brie and breaded mushrooms. Main course: ham and mushroom pizza & calzone classic. Portion sizes are HUGE! the resturant are very generous with the amount of food they give you. Apart from this the food is extremely tasty and very filling. We didn't come away hungry that's for sure! Will he back again to try out more of the menu!

The pizza is very tasty one of the best in Essex

I loved the pizza there and all the delicacies that were offered, not only the pasta carbonara was excellent, but it was perfectly salted. All the food there was amazing, I will make sure to come back soon.

So sad to write this as staff and food are very good. The service is Ssssslllloooooowwwww! Been a couple times now and both time waitress got my order wrong... Can live with that..but cant live with 2 1/4 hours for simple 2 course lunch.. If you can then fill your boots and enjoy. Will give it another go.. Cause i really like the food.. After xmas but i suspect it will have closed by then Shame!!

Food is nice but service is awfully slow… starters came before drinks, then waiting an hour for mains and not offered a single drink in between… wouldn’t come back

Husband brought me here after a tough day at work. Food was excellent, staff were lovely, and the atmosphere and house music were just right. The perfect antidote. Thank you so much to all at Ischia.

Read a review on here, a Google local guide prattling on about how much water and ice were in his wine bucket! Get a life mate and stop harming good honest businesses!! The food and service here was very good, a refreshing change from the sometimes complacent food chains that pop up everywhere. Not a local guide, a resident of Billericay!

I rarely give low reviews. And I hate for it to be a local establishment. This place has not changed decor since the previous 'Brunch and Bottle'. Which makes me think it's just a rebrand... The white wine came in a bucket of a few ice cubes...no water, so the wine sat on ice cubes not cooling, instead of being immersed in ice-cooled water like every establishment I've ever been to. Skill issue perhaps. When I asked the waitress to add water to the bucket she asked if I wanted a glass. She didn't realise I was asking for water to be added to the bucket until I made it clear. She came back with a dash of water in the bucket. The wine still wasn't immersed in ice-cooled water. Still sat on the cubes. The zucchini needed salt. The olives were too salty, I suspect they were canned. My pasta meal, Amatriciana, was too salty. I like salt a lot and use it fairly heavily but the salt was not at all subtle in this dish. The carbonara had bacon,not guanciale, not pancetta. I wouldn't expect to find bacon in a meal costing over £10. It's a cheap choice. Also, onion which isn't traditional but not too big of a deal. I wanted to give an extra star to the staff because they were so good. They moved all seven of us to the other side of the restaurant away from a loud stag group (...who books a restaurant for a stag?? 😅) The affogato was nice, as were the large size of the portions of starters and mains

Went there today with my Grandson for lunch it was delicious

Bella Ischia is a lovely new Italian restaurant that everyone in Billericay should definitely experience. We love the chilled ambiance and friendly staff. Portions are big, so go hungry

First time visiting the restaurant, all the staff were very polite and very helpful. The food was excellent, generous portions, great taste. Will definitely come back.

I recently dined at this restaurant and while the food was fantastic, the service was a bit slow. Fortunately, my dining companions and I weren't in a rush and were able to enjoy the lovely atmosphere. The limited choices for beer and wine were made up for by the quality of what was available - both the beer and wine were quite good! Despite the slow service, I would definitely go back to this restaurant. In fact, some friends of ours visited the following day and raved about how quickly their food arrived. I guess you could say the service improved 'brew-tifully' overnight! All in all, a great experience and I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for delicious food and a pleasant atmosphere.

Food was nice, service was lovely, atmosphere great (sit at the rear if you get a choice). Unfortunately, a little on the pricey side for what it was.

unfortunately our experience wasn’t great ,they forgot to give us olives at the start of the meal but more importantly we had a table at 7 and didn’t get our main courses until 9, to which they forgot my dish and even made me pick it out with a menu , we were not even checked on during this time it’s only when we asked 4 times where our food was!

Very good service excellent quality food and portion sizes. This is a great addition to the high street. We went for lunch and 100% can't wait to come here again. Authentic italian food.

Highly recommend Bella ischia. I can honestly say its lovely to see another independent family run restaurant up the highstreet and i would certainly say i would choose to go there over any of the other Italian chain restaurants in the highstreet. The food was delicious and portion sizes were very generous (which is great if your a foodie like myself) The staff were extremely friendly and i couldn't fault the service at all. Will definitely be back! Thank you bella Ischia.

Delicious food, lovely staff, a really enjoyable evening. We'll definitely return!

Just had a lovely birthday meal at Bella Ischia food was amazing, can highly recommend . Please support Billericay’s newest restaurant and give them the chance to shine .

Food was absolutely lovely. Staff were very friendly. But, unfortunately, they were extremely understaffed for a fairly busy Saturday night and service was very slow. The staff were very aware and apologetic and tried their best. Dealt with frustrated customers with very good grace. Food was so nice, will try again.

Went last night the best Italian in Billericay lovely food and service and great service !

Really nice food, staff very attentive and friendly. Highly recommend!

very beautiful place, friendly staff, very tasty food i would recommend you to visit this beautiful place

This restaurant is new to our High Street and, as we live just 5 mins walk away, and we'd overdosed on traditional Easter food, we thought we'd give it a try. We were very pleased we did as the food was delicious, the service and waiting staff were very attentive and we thought it was reasonably priced too. We'll definitely be back and will recommend to friends and family.

Just had lunch in the new Italian restaurant on the high street. How fantastic, a new independent restaurant, not a chain! The staff are lovely and could not do enough, and the food was beautiful! Had the steak and fries and then the tiramisu. Delicious. Strong recommend. Let’s get supporting these independent businesses!

Nice food Beautiful place Staff is friendly

Big portions at affordable prices. Food is delicious, staff is amazing 👏. I will Definitely return!

Beautiful restaurant and staff were very kind and friendly, food was delicious!!! I recommend this place to all Italians food lovers!!

Beautiful place to enjoy Italian food fresh and delicious 🥰😋🥰

Great food and excellent service with a very nice atmosphere.Highly recommended.