Eating experience: Bella Italia

So today my husband (Mr LFL) and I were out shopping in Reading and decided to have a meal for lunch. As any lactose-free person will know, this is not a decision to be taken lightly as options are often limited by milk or milk derivatives in a restaurant or cafe.

We know of some establishments where it is easy to find what you can or can't eat, and have generally found that there are usually a fair number of options at Italian restaurants, especially well known chains. We opted for Bella Italia today, one we haven't used since lactose-free reared it's lovely head! 

Overall, there were both positives and negatives from our experience.

On the positive side, the staff at the Reading branch were very helpful. As soon as I mentioned needing allergy information they said it would be no problem and did provide me with options. I would have preferred them to give me the information to look at myself, instead of listing the dishes I could eat, but that's a minor point. They were also very good when I mistakenly chose something I couldn't eat at coming back and telling me, helping me make another choice. When I eventually decided, they also suggested I could add chicken to make the meal slightly more interesting (although this was obviously at a surcharge). 

On the negative, and this is a reflection of the whole chain rather than the Reading store, there appears to be very little a lactose free customer can eat at all! Having visited rival Italian chains and found that the majority of tomato based products are fine (meatballs, spaghetti bolognese etc), in Bella Italia only 1 pasta dish does not contain any milk or milk derivatives - and that is the fresh egg tagliatelle with plum tomato sauce (hence the added chicken as mentioned above!). There are very few starters, no pizza's, and only a steak or 2 that do not contain milk or milk derivatives, according to the company's allergy information sheet (which I have since found online to check what the Reading staff told me). 

So, if you fancy a meal out, with a lactose-free friend or relative - Bella Italia may be eager to help but there are definitely limited options for what to eat! 

LFL