I have been a regular visitor to Hackney since the 1990's. But never for the food. There were always rumblings that some of the best Turkish or Vietnamese food was to be had in Hackney and though I had dined couple of times down Church Street in Stoke Newington years ago, before the invasion of media-migrants, the vibe around the rest of the borough had never enticed me enough to try out the local restaurants. Hackney was not a night out destination...back then it was very much strictly locals.
What a difference now. The ever expanding overspill of young working trendies keeps seeping deeper and deeper into the peripheral boroughs of the city and it comes as little surprise that now people will frequent such areas as Dalston or Mare Street for the plethora of restaurants.
And so it was that I found myself in the Broadway Market end having pizza, Italian style..who would have thought it all those years ago. The winos are still here though...the only thing that has changed are the trendy locals....some of whom make such an effort to dress down, that I sometimes could not differentiate the winos from the trendies. Still I was able to work out that the tramp intent on hugging horrified young ladies sitting on the outside tables was not in fact a bearded creative from one of the latest start up firm in Hoxton trying his luck.
So Bellavita was the destination of choice for an supposedly authentic Italian experience. Despite the cliched 'Italian' paraphernalia adorning the walls, there's nothing too authentically Italian about the decor in this place......pizzerias in Italy don't do decor...in my experience, they have always tended to be basic places that just serve flipping good pizza....but who cares, in any case this is London 2012...in fact it's Hackney 2012, so think more Greenwhich village or Little Italy than Napoli.
Young trendy locals filtered in and out and I certainly had to speak a little louder so maybe that equates a good vibe.
The one thing that did strike an Italian pizzerian note was the huge choice on the menu. I have often sat in pizzerias in Italy working my way through the vast lists of pizzas to choose from...literally easily over fifty ...and all it takes is someone to distract you and you have to start again as you forget where you were and so too it was at Bellavita. The choice here is good, ranging from numerous classic and pasta and gnocchi dishes to pizza.
Pizza came promptly which is always pleasing on a busy Saturday night in a busy place. The pizzas were generouly sized so thumbs up there. So far so good. But the proof is in the eating and that first bite was disappointingly under seasoned. My main gripe did not end there. No good having such an amazing long list to choose from if the final result is not matched by use of the topnotch quality ingredients. The olives and artichoke were straight out of the tin, nothing wrong with that some might say but the brine was so strong that the olives tasted nothing like they could and so it was no surprise that the toppings were lacking in flavour.
Our sparkling water was not cold and though we were given ice I could not understand why it was not from the fridge...and as for desserts I'd give them a swerve. The menu looked very similar to a dessert menu that you'd find in a local Chinese restaurant.
Coffee was good. Side note... when is a single a double and a double a quadruple? When an espresso is served in London. A single here would class as a double in Italy. A double espresso would count as coffee for 4 in Italia.
Service I must say was proper good. Saturday night was buzzingly busy yet the young friendly staff were on point from beginning to end. Impressively good.
We were in 6 and the bill came in at the £75 mark so factor in about £15 per head for a dish and a drink. So all in all, as a newbie to the new Hackney, it was a good place to sample a little piece of Broadway market's atmosphere....but I would only visit Bella Vita again for a pizza if I was in that neck of the woods and those Vietnamese restaurants were full.
BELLA VITA
53-55 Broadway Market
London E8 4PH
TEL: 0207 249 4772
Vibe ****
Food ***
Price ££
Service *****
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