Bella Donna, Renishaw

[dawndaly]

Haha, unlike you I am not in the habit of promoting my business and ruining the other impartial restaurant reviews on here.

 

wish i had a business!

[dawndaly]

how can a review be impartial...a review is what it is...one's personal take on an experience...good, bad or indifferent. People that read reviews want to know someone else thought of something, really think you have lost the plot with your accusations!

[Jug Ears]

I have just been imformed of a few facts about this place. It should be very good, according to my information.

I can't wait to try it, and I will report back my findings.

[TheRedBaron]

Hopefully off here on Saturday night so will take notes and report back!

[DjGaz.co.uk]

Phone number for Bella Donna : 01246 436969.

We are going for the first time tomorrow.

Went once when it was Gemeli's but didn't stay for food as we were the only people in and it was freezing cold. So hope tomorrow is much better - can't be any worse. Will let you know how we find it.

[GrahamY]

When I went past today, there was a large sign saying RENISHAW. Renishaw Hotel, maybe?

[GrahamY]

New sign The Renishaw

 

From the car park Bella Donna

[proplus]

Been to this place to eat and is very good. Maybe the restaurant is Bella donna and the hotel rooms is the renishaw?

[kinetic]

This restaurant it superb. I've actually left a few days gap between visiting the place and leaving this review, hopefully to avoid hyperbole but also as I thought I might gush with such high praise that the review would appear to be left by someone who could only possibly have some affiliation with the place (I can assure I don't).

 

To give a little background first; I don't rate many restaurants in the South-east corner of Sheffield (where we live) too highly at all. There's definitely a gap in the market for a good quality restaurant in this area (around the Crystal Peaks area) for any of you budding entrepreneurs. There's a couple around here that are okay but I find most of Sheffield's best restaurants seem to located just outside of central Sheffield, especially around the three main roads leading out of the centre; Ecclesall Road, London Road and Abbeydale Road (and maybe one or two dotted around the length of West St and up towards the top of Glossop Road). I know there are plenty of other good places around Sheffield (but they are often isolated), but that area in-particular seems to be where the concentration of proper, good quality restaurant food can be found in my experience, unfortunately that area is quite a distance from where we live.

 

On this occasion we fancied somewhere fairly local, somewhere we hadn't been to before. So I typed our postcode into google maps and searched for "restaurant". It came back with the usual options of gastro-pubs, restaurants in and around Crystal Peaks, a few others close by; most of which we'd been to/none of which we could agree upon. So I widened the search a little bit and found this Italian (my favourite cuisine!) in the middle of nowhere (near Renishaw), but still close enough to travel to by taxi without it costing a fortune.

 

Having never heard of the place I did a quick search on the net and found this thread (which is why I'm posting here) and some stuff on trip advisor. The feedback was mostly positive so we agreed to give it a try. We rang to book and enquired if they catered for children and they couldn't have been more accommodating. They explained that children can have anything off the main menu, half an adult portion for half the price (obviously with some exceptions, such as steak - where you can't really serve half portions), or even specially hand made child sized pizzas. I love restaurants like this; there's nothing worse than tucking into an expensive steak (for example) while your kids have nothing but a choice of frozen chicken nuggets or fish fingers with chips. So, before we'd even set off for the place I felt like we were on to a winner.

 

When we arrived we were warmly welcomed (with particular emphasis placed on the children, they were really made to feel special, throughout our stay) and we were seated at a bay window table with magnificent views over the surrounding hills and farmland (no other buildings in sight from our vantage point). While sitting back and relaxing with a glass of wine in hand admiring the view it was difficult to not feel like you were on holiday (although the occasional passing car or bus brought me crashing back down to earth). From the moment we were seated I so transfixed by the view I failed to notice the interior decoration, which is very pleasant - there's a rustic charm (oak beams, etc) but it's also contemporary whilst not being pretentious. Another plus point was the distance between tables, there's plenty of room (anyone who's dined in an Italian in the city centre will realise why I bring this up - most of them cram the place so full of tables you're almost sat on top of the people at the next table; you move your chair back and inevitably bang into the person sat behind you). The distance here is perfect; not so far away from adjoining tables that you feel isolated, but far enough apart to feel intimate.

 

The food is fantastic. We all had mussels in white wine for starter, with the kids sharing a large dish between them (they have quite mature tastes). At first sight it looked like quite a small dish (even for a starter), but the muscles were absolutely massive. It was also served with bread and the white wine sauce was so amazing it was all mopped up!

 

For main I had Chicken wrapped in Parma ham flambeed in something or another (which was absolutely amazing - I'd volunteer to work there just to learn how it's made ), served separately with Italian roast potatoes (which were so nice we, kids included, were fighting over the last few remaining ones - despite being served a massive portion!) and also some mixed vegetables. I forget what the better half had (from memory I think it was some sort of chicken/pasta dish). The kids both shared an adult portion of Lasagne (served with chips, off menu, but they were perfectly happy to accommodate). We all tried each other's dishes and agreed all three were perfect (although I still maintain mine was the best ), but, having said that, the lasagne was the best I've ever tasted and the kids were fighting me off from "helping" them from finishing their dishes. Once again, clean plates all round (what better compliment can you give? Especially where children are involved!).

 

The desert menu offered a nice selection. We (the adults) chose the home-made tiramisu, which was very nice. We enquired whether it was possible for the children to perhaps have ice-cream, as it wasn't on the menu (apart from as an accompaniment to other dishes). We (kids included) were expecting a couple of scoops in a dish (which would have been fine). When it arrived it resembled something you'd expect from a seaside ice cream parlour; a full on ice cream sundae in a massive sundae glass with various layers of different flavoured ice cream, sauces, fruits, sprinkles and chocolate/fudge pieces. Absolutely amazing! (I realise I've used that phrase before, but I'm running out of superlatives for this place). Clearly a lot of time had been put into the presentation of this. The kids were absolutely chuffed to bits. The portions were massive (I think it was the only thing on the whole menu they didn't finish!). I honestly can't believe they don't have it on the menu (I was actually very jealous and wished I could have revised my order, despite being lactose intolerant!).

 

We arrived quite early and it was all but empty and remained that way for about an hour or so. I was actually commenting on how I couldn't believe such a nice place had so few customers, but then it started to fill up until virtually every table was full (this was mid-week too). So it obviously has quite a few regular customers, considering its location. Service is top notch, not overbearing but at the same time we were never left waiting when wanting to place an order. They've obviously spent a lot of money as well as time and thought on this place, we kept noticing unexpected small things (for instance, there are pull-down baby changing facilities in the men's toilets! How often do you see that? Even in expensive chain restaurants and hotels?).

 

Well, it appears I did end up gushing about the place after all. I honestly think the mix of things (great service, nice location, great view, the extra lengths they went through to accommodate us (as a family) and, of course, the great food), deserves such high praise. I can honestly say it's one of the best restaurants I've ever been too (not just because of the food, but the whole experience).

 

It does, as you would expect, come at a price. Meals, drinks, etc are reasonably expensive (not over the top, we're not talking about Old Vicarage prices here; but you can expect to pay about the same price as you would in a decent city centre Italian restaurant - around the same price range as Nonna's or Piccolinos for example).

 

Anyway, I'd better shut up as I've just realised I've practically written War and Peace (to be honest, I never leave good reviews about places/products and services on the net, I usually only comment when I have something to moan about! - so maybe that's why I got a bit carried away, my little way of balancing up all the bad reviews I've left over the years. Sorry about that, but congratulations on getting to the end!).

[nernard]

Just want to tell everyone that this is the best Italian restaurant that I have ever been too. The staff go more than an extra mile to make you evening special. I would recommend Bella Donna to anyone. The prices are very reasonable and the food is exceptional. We will definitely be going back again.:)