A while back Jimmy and I went for a super duper breakfast at Bella Italia on Irving Street just around the corner from Leicester Square. We enjoyed it lots and have been meaning to go back and try the main menu too; we do love a bit of Italian food and it’s such a good option with children!

We were out for the day yesterfday with my good friend Katy from Modern Mummy and it seemed like the perfect time to try it out! Taking four little ones to a restaurant is often hard work and we just wanted something easy. We’ve had a table booked for ages and were all thoroughly looking forward to it as the finale of our Christmas day out.

We had a lovely day dancing in Mahiki for a Netflix event and then walking round London seeing the lights and as we made our way to the restaurant with the two littlest in their buggies asleep I started to wonder if perhaps Jimmy wasn’t just tired but maybe a bit poorly. He’d been super hot when we came out of Mahiki and exhausted. I’d put it down to the fact that the club was very warm and he’d been very busy but… literally as we arrived on the doorstep of Bella Italia he unfortunately gave me a look that said ‘this isn’t going to be good’. I could go into more detail but this IS a restaurant review so perhaps we’d better just skim over what happened in detail…

Katy took Florence inside with her girls while I looked after Jimmy and a few minutes later I went in to join them, I hoped he may be feeling a bit better but either way I needed to go in and make a decision on what to do next because Florence (who was really hungry) was already waiting for her food…

Poor old Jimmy barely made it past the threshold again and for this I apologise to all other diners and have to say a massive thank you to the Bella Italia staff. At that point they had no idea I was part of the review group but were SO kind to us. They found me a seat away from view and brought me cloths and water and even (now this really IS going above and beyond) helped me mop him up… I could have cried…

I then told them I was with my friends and we were there to review and they showed us to our table where Katy and I had a quick pow wow on the best course of action… By this point Jimmy was falling asleep again and Florence needed to eat as it was late so we decided that as we were in a tucked away spot and the restaurant were being so kind that we would stay.

Now I won’t say it was the most easy meal out we have had but that was absolutely was nothing to do with Bella Italia. They went out of their way to bring us what we asked for and more. I obviously said Jimmy wouldn’t be eating but the waiter still brought bread sticks in case he woke up with the waitress adding that dry bread would be just the ticket. We were absolutely the worst customers they could have had I’m sure and with three awake children we dropped drinks and were up and down to the toilet like yoyos. This is a central London restaurant and quite small but they did everything to accommodate us and KEPT asking if they could do any more for poor old sleeping Jimmy.

The food was lovely actually, although hard to enjoy with a two and a half year old asleep on your lap and a 4 year old stealing all the best bits from your plate but lovely it was all the same. After a while the staff made space for my buggy to be brought to me from where it was being kept as the restaurant is a bit small. They really did want to help and with Jimmy in his buggy I managed to enjoy the last part of dinner (a small chocolate torte with a Baileys – well, it is Christmas)!

The children ate loads, Katy and I very much enjoyed the prawns and the garlic bread was divine but most of all the restaurant just proved to me they are such a great choice for dining with children. Faced with what they were faced with and making our evening enjoyable all the same while trying to be as helpful as possible has quite possibly made me think of Bella Italia as the most family friendly restaurant I have been to in central London. Katy and I joked that they must have thought we were sent as some massive test! If we had of been then they’d have passed with flying colours!

I leave you with the deliciousness of Bella Italia, the food!

So super impressed with Bella Italia and even more so that it was in central London, a small restaurant in size and yet they still managed to look after us the way they did. The fact the food was brilliant too was merely the icing on the cake!

We were invited to review Bella Italia on Irving Street.