Trattoria Bella Venezia in Venice

After reading a reputable restaurant guide to Venice, and seeing Bella Venezia praised as a good restaurant and not a tourist trap, among the many on Lista di Spagna, I decided to give it a try. I didn't even look at a fixed price menu, because I know those are always disappointing.

 

My mantra for dining in Italy is: Your best indication of a good restaurant is to follow your nose. After being seated in what was an entirely empty restaurant, and noticing the absence of not only other patrons, but also the lack of any aromas wafting through from the kitchen, my expectations suffered a bit. Then the bread basket arrived with bread rolls that did not appeal in looks nor taste.

Since they're traditionally used as a vehicle for getting sauce into one's mouth, any criticism would be entirely premature.

We ordered  fritto misto, composed of calamari with shrimp that was ordinary, as well as bland. It didn't include any other fish, like most fritto misto plates do, and was quite small in portion. "Ordinary" is not high praise in Venice.

My fish in porcini sauce was average and in Venice, "average" is not very good either. It had no eye appeal and came with nothing, not even a garnish unless you count the squiggle of balsamic that appeared on 2 of our 3 plates. It was unappetizing to look at and the porcini tasted more like frozen than fresh while the Italian word for frozen (surgelato) was not indicated on the menu.

The service was slow, there was only one waiter, but we were the only table being served. We struck up a conversation and I learned that the owners were not Italian, the waiter was Egyptian, and as I passed the kitchen on my way to the WC, I peeked in to see several microwave ovens and a lone Pakistani, possibly the person who microwaved the sauces and boiled the pasta. There was no indication of cooking on the stove or prep work, even with more  patrons inside the restaurant. This was my only time looking into a professional kitchen where I didn't see at least 3 employees. I regretted having looked.

My niece's lobster was actually decent, but for the price it should have been.

 

I have a belief based on experience, that cuisines often suffer when they are cooked by someone who has not grown up in the culture or has not had daily exposure to the nuances of the food, unless professionally trained.  After this experience and another in Venice, where we were served a Carbonara where the eggs were scrambled by an inexperienced cook, I now ask if the chef is Italian and make a point to eat regional dishes when traveling in Italy.

If a restaurant is using microwaves, chances are they heat a prepared item as it is ordered.  There were also no other patrons, so I could not listen to other patrons talking. The best restaurants are filled with people speaking the local language. Oh, and don't bother with restaurants that look half empty with an employee holding a menu in their hand, outside the front door.