Date Night with the girlfriend last week and it was my choice so we opted for Bella Mia as a friend had recommended this restaurant to us several times. This friend has now been ostracized from our group as having no sense of taste or worth. The whole evening was a calamity of errors and it would have been better off as an american sitcom or greek tragedy
Reservation was lost. The restaurant had 6 diners at 7pm, anyway they eventually found us a table.
Ordered drinks,15 minute wait. Our drinks were a glass of house white and house red.
My Gf ordered the mushroom soup which came out 10 minute after my seafood anti platter. The soup was tepid and to add insult to injury was served with hard bread. The anti platter was ok, tasted fresh but was swimming in olive oil and the prawns that were advertised were more river shrimp, but hey when its drowning in oil who can taste the difference ?
Plates took twenty minutes to clear after we had finished our appitizers (remember 6 diners only in the restaurant). The gfs sea bass came first this time, well over cooked and resembled a mixture of olly baby food with some tasty back bones left in for taste, the seasonal vegetables were undercooked. My four cheese pizza was not bad, it was crispy and loaded with cheese however the creamy mozz the sharp tang of parmesan and and the kick of the monteroy jack were over-powered by the exceedingly strong bleu cheese which overtook every mouthful.
Decided to take the 4 remaining pieces of pizza home and we were given the smallest plastic chinese takeaway box to carry it in so obviously it had to be folded and squeezed in. We eventually gave up and left it with them. No desserts, had two coffee`s, another 15 minute wait.
All in all, there are plenty ...NO !! Too many Italian restaurants in Shanghai now and competition is fierce so my advice to Bella Mia if your reading this, shape up quickly

I went there twice with my husband and don’t think we will go back again.

we went there on Valentine's day for the first time, the set menu is alright but we waited 40 mins between starter and main, then dessert took another half an hour to come. Consider the restaurant was busy, so we decided to go back another time to try the a la carte menu.

Went there again on Monday night, the restaurant was freezing, have to keep my coat on all the time .I ordered clam soup for starter, was really tasty and fresh, but the main ( sea bass)was just ok, sea bass was a bit burned, taste really bitter. My husband ordered pizza for main, it was not even hot, it was a warm pizza sit on a cold plate. The manger came over, asked how about food, we told him that pizza is cold, he said ok, sorry then walked away. Really disappointed with him, what’s the point of asking then...
BTW, they don’t even have a proper pizza box, when we ask for take away the pizza since its cold, the waiter put the whole pizza into a small plastic box…

Anyway, it was an unpleasant experience for us and I will not go back again...

We've been to Bella Mia a few times for their lunch set (which is a very good deal) and returned last night for dinner, walking away impressed.

Delivering a genuinely authentic Italian experience, Bella Mia gets it right by transporting you and giving you food that is like you would get in a neighbourhood trattoria.

Though a little too cold last night (it was pretty chilly out), the space with it's vaulted ceilings and smells from the pizza oven is reminiscent of many places we've been to on our holidays in Italy. It's not glamourous, but it is like a real Italian restaurant.

We shared a seafood salad and plate of salumi to start, both of which were enjoyable enough, though nothing very exciting. We look forward to the day when someone imports genuine artisanal salumi to China on a regular basis - this plate had something of the City Shop China-produced stuff that you have to turn to when you need that fix.

Mains were very solid - this place does a great plate of pasta and our bucatini all' amatriciana was decent. A grilled sea bass was just the right combination of crispy skin and flesh not overcooked and a good value for a whole fish at 150rmb; Saltimbocca skipped, rather than jumped in the mouth, but was still good. Garnish for mains is a utilitarian salad and roast vegetables - personally I'd rather do without these and choose my own sides from the menu; maybe they have these, but we didn't see them. Previous lunch visits have seen a tendency to slight oversalting for my palate (which is also the case in Rome), but last night was fine.

We finished the meal with Amaro Ramazotti and THE BEST coffee we've had since we were in Italy last summer - seriously. We did regret this when we couldn't sleep, but that's our own stupid fault for ordering it.

All this, with two bottles of sparkling water and a pleasant Merlot from Lazio, came to 400 a head, which seems pretty reasonable. When rating prices and value for money online reviewers in Shanghai often seem to benchmark five kuai bowls of noodles and cheap taxis, but given that this would cost around 30 euros a head in Italy and given our distance from there I'd say that prices are pretty much in line.

Service was unobtrusive and the Italian manager/owner was very nice. Unfortunately as it was a Sunday it was a little quiet but that's par for the course on a night as cold as last night. We look forward to our next visit and are happy to have found a proper neighbourhood Italian place.

Me and my husband go regularly to Bella Mia, they have the best pizza in town. Today we tested the Sat & Sun Brunch Menu for 118,-- Kuai. It started with a glass of sparkling wine which was OK and a bread basket. As starter you could choose between a soup and two cold starters, as e.g. bruschetta. Next course was pizza or pasta (both simple ones) or main course (fish of meat) together with a soft drink. Then we could choose between a coffee or dessert (panna cotta or fruit salad). We went for the pizza which was crispy as usual. Sure you have a limited choice and you will not get the fish plate but food and price were really great. We look forward to our next visit!

Great place,
Every week i go there and i love this place simple,true and authentic ,in dining area i know italian manager is nice person ,passionate and professional ,Chef also with a lot experience,i eat there quality price is good ...i feel previous review is useless because is write without any knowledge about italian cuisine and italian humour ,many people in Shanghai ask from Italian food ...caesar salad ,alfredo pasta or other fake Italian american stuff...is ridicolus all that before wrote review think well and take your responsability people work hard ...is because you eat pizza with hands or forks and you feel so sensible or food never meet your expectation you need shoot some stupid sentence..?! I'm will back soon with my friends in Bella Mia anyway because i love to eat pizza with hands and joking with my italian friend manager ...:)

I also checked the place because of the presentation/review found here on the front page. I must agree with the review that their Pizza is near perfection. Have been there a few times now. I've always had the dessert of my choice so no bad things to say about that. So the food is good.

The critic goes towards the service, it's always a bit... flimsy. I have nothing against italians but they have a few italian fellows with very rude manners. Yesterday we ordered 2 pizzas with a friend and decided to share and ate with our hands. 15 mins passed and the italian waiter came and brought us plates and fork+knife and said that he would prefer if we didn't eat with our hands..... what the hell ?... it's not like the place is a 5 star michelin restaurant...and it's JUST A FREAKING PIZZA. The chinese staff were fine though. Loose the italians or hide them in the kitchen or something !

Went there because of the review found on smartshanghai, to what turned out to be the most disappointing experience of all restaurant try outs in Shanghai so far, consequently letting us down from starters over pizza only to be overtopped by the fact that tiramisu and all other desserts were sold out at 8pm.