Bella Mamma's in Wirral

...I thought long and hard whether to review at all, but whilst I like good local restaurants, there are certainly better ones than this and at £90 plus for 4 you might be better spending your hard earned elsewhere in this instance... We went over Easter and it did feel a little Fawlty Towers when asking what wine they had to be effectively told they had two types - red & white, and that's it, two bottles of white, one of red. We ordered starters which took about 50 mins to come and they'd nipped out in the meantime to buy the Italian meats I suspect (we did see them go out and come back ten mins later). They also said that the focaccia was fresh but unfortunately it was far from it. The mains were woeful - we all went classic - Chicken Milanese (which used the wrong sauce), meatballs (which were actually Spag Bol), Parma Ham & Mushroom pizza ( the base was so tough you couldn't cut through it) and Carbonara (which to be fair was ok). In the end we laughed and put it down to experience but our friends decided to bring up the meatballs issue - the lady was apparently visibly upset but blamed the chef and didn't try to remedy the situation. They often say you know how good a restaurant is by how they deal with problems, and this one didn't... There's not a lot of alternative in Hoylake, but what there is significantly better than Bella Mamma's.

Unplanned visit to this restaurant and I was very pleasantly surprised. Food was really really good and service was very friendly. Certainly won’t be the last time I eat here......

Been meaning to go ever since they opened, was very much looking forward to a new local Italian restaurant. Unfortunately the experience didn’t match the expectation. We arrived at 7:30 on Valentines night, to be met with a restaurant lit brightly enough to be seen from the moon and only one other table occupied. Not exactly the atmosphere we expected. We were seated by the window (a trick to make restaurants look busier from outside) but unfortunately immediately had to move as the table was so wobbly the wine glasses wouldn’t stand up! The Valentines special menu wasn’t bad, a decent three course selection with a glass of Prosecco for a very reasonable price. For starters, we ordered Bruschetta and Arancini. Very large portions for starters, it’s personal if that’s a good thing. The Arancini was very nice to be fair, but the Bruschetta, not so much. Thin bread with a ricotta cheese spread reminiscent of Primula cheese spread with sun dried tomatoes on basil leaves. It was absolutely SWIMMING with Olive oil, far beyond ‘drizzled’. Totally ruined it. For mains, it was stuffed chicken with new potatoes for me and lasagne for her. The stuffed chicken was certainly tasty, good portion size. The lasagne though, was absolutely huge. It was extremely sloppy to the extent you needed a spoon to eat it. Didn’t taste too bad although there was a sharp quality to it reminiscent of cheap tinned tomatoes. Not only a disappointment, but actually just poor food that wouldn’t have been out of place in a dodgy works canteen in the 70s. For pudding we both ordered waffles with ice cream, one with caramel and one with strawberry sauce. They we found and clearly bought in, somewhere like a CostCo? They were so sweet with the marshmallows sprinkled on you couldn’t really taste anything more than sugar. Again, poor. When it was time to pay, I mentioned the issues with the food to the waiter but he seemed completely disinterested and didn’t even offer a reply. Well, by this time we just wanted out and didn’t push it. For a restaurant we had been looking forward to it, booked as a Valentines night treat, it basically ruined the night. I hope these are just teething troubles and they correct them.

In writing this review I am torn to keep this place a secret all to my self but the service and the food, demand that it has got to be brought to other peoples attention . On entering a small but cosy atmosphere we were greeted by a friendly young lady called Ellan who placed us at our table. The menu was presented and we picked Spaghetti Bolognese ,my wife picked Pasta Al Forno , both meals served with garlic bread . The food was delicious and hot , a.must with Italian food. At the end of the meal the chef Alan came round to inquire of our enjoyment of the meal . I am still unsure if I should tell you of this as we would like to return at a later date so please leave some room for us.

This Italian restaurant is definitely the best Italian I have been to within the north west. I went with my family for my birthday and I cant wait to go back for more of there delicious food. I personally had the pizza and it was unbelievable. All of our party loved the food and we will be going back.

We visited the restaurant once before and we were blown away. Our family decided to come again for my husband's birthday. We had a delicious threw course meal with drinks. We were looked after throughout our visit. We are looking forward to the Valentine's special.

We had a Christmas night out meal here with my job. The food was so delicious and all of us enjoyed it. we would go back any time as this is a little gem of a place for anyone looking for Italian food. I have been back since with my family and once again brilliant. This is a must try.

We went here for our anniversary meal. We had bruschetta for starters and absolutely lovely. Then for main had lasagne and my wife had pizza. The lasagne was that big I couldnt eat it all and very tasty I actually didn't want to leave any but I was to full. My wife's description of her pizza was finally found pizza that actually taste how it tastes in Italy. Even better news is they do takeaway pizzas so no run to the local pizza place will be going straight here. reasonable price and good atmosphere and staff. 5*

A friend of mine highly recommended Bella Mamma's and we had read the two very favourable reviews on TA BUT how disappointed we were on our visit. There was only one other table with people on it but we waited over half an hour for our starter with no apology for any inexplicable delay. The starters were ok but the main courses, when they eventually arrived, were terrible. The pizza was the worst I've tasted and extremely greasy and the Stuffed chicken was overcooked and dry. The 'green vegetables' consisted of nothing more than watery and tasteless green beans. The worst dining out experience in a long time - hope we caught them on a bad night but there was only one other table than ours! Service generally was poor.

Same building as what used to be Meat and Mingle, but a very different cuisine.Fairly relaxed and comfortable family run restaurant offering Italian style food.We started with mussels for me and bruschetta for my wife. Both were fine.Our main courses were rump steak and sea bass. My steak was very good. Pam wasn't so impressed with the sea bass, but both meals perfectly acceptable.Service was pleasant and prices reasonable.We would go again.

So I don't tend to write reviews on one visit to a place and this was my second visit.