It takes our attentive server three visits before we finally make our choices.
The decisions are hard ones to make, though – what to choose as starters from the Bella Italia menu!
Eventually, we dive in and place our orders - one Mozzarella Pomodoro (below) for him...one Bruschetta for me, and a Mozzarella and Garlic Bread to share.
A few minutes later and we are busy getting accustomed to our choices.
The Bruschetta is generously sized and loaded, with a decent amount of eating involved. Across the table, the buffalo mozzarella bocconcini and baby plum tomatoes are disappearing quickly.
Our pizza bread is thin-based, perfectly flavoursome and very moreish.
But restraint is necessary – we've just eyed up the main course selection!
More head scratching ensues before we decide to try both sides of this Bella Italia story – with pizza and pasta to share.
A few decades ago, pizza was an exotic rarity on these shores.
Now? Well, it's a menu staple, isn't it? A slice of pizza is like a bag of chips – readily available, but not always done well.
Thankfully, at Bella Italia it is done very, very well.
Our thin, crisp (but not too crispy) create your own ensemble arrives with red onion, chilli and mushroom strewn all over.
We give in to temptation immediately, this is Bella at its best – offering belly filling food finery.
And those calorie counting can indulge too, with the Pizza Vita offering all the great taste you want, but for under 600 calories each.
And if that is still too much for you, Bella can make salads fun too.
Our pasta, the Norma (below), brings together wholewheat rigatoni, roasted aubergines and garlic with a delicate tomato sauce and fresh basil and mozzarella.
It is a delicious combination and a winning one, perfectly portioned and ripe with taste.
While the driver across the table sticks to H20, I am quite partial to the odd cocktail every once in a while.
But which one? Kiss from a Rosato, Verona Colada, Negroni, Appletini...the list goes on, and I am an indecisive sort.
In steps Bella's manager to rescue me from confusion.
“Try the Amaretto Fragola,” he says, explaining the fusion of vodka, amaretto and strawberry puree blended with milk and cream.
As someone not overly keen on amaretto or milk, it doesn't float my boat.
“It sounds odd, but it is really something...” he promises.
And this is a review, right, so we let those with the expertise start blending.
I'm still expecting bad things when I reach for the strawberry and biscuit garnished drink (below).
And I am proven very wrong. The delicate flavour and light sweetness is a total hit.
The glass doesn't stay full for long and I am a confirmed fan.
When we rock up in the early evening in the mid-week, the eatery is relatively quiet, but as the night progresses, Bella comes into its own, more and more tables are occupied and the clink of cutlery and chatter of diners blends with the musical accompaniment being pumped into the restaurant.
It feels nice. Great food is one thing, but a nice vibe is something that can't be cooked up by anyone other than the front of house staff.
And they've done a fabulous job.
We make a magnificent effort to polish off the side portions of chunky chips (done the right way, faultless) and basil mash, although they beat us.
“Would you like the desert menu?” we are asked, and we readjust ourselves in our seats and try to find a little more space for food.
To leave without sampling the sweet stuff would be a terrible rudeness. Wouldn't it?!
Shot Desserts, described in the menu as 'a little sweet treat or for sharing' are decided on.
You buy as a trio, or all five. I go for the lesser number - choosing Mini Pannacotta, Banoffee Pie and Strawberry Cheesecake.
Across the table Nutella Gnocchi (below) is ordered, with a side scoop of bubblegum gelato.
Not a classic duo of foods, granted, but certainly a delicious one.
Gnocchi is a savoury food, an Italian staple, but it's hard to see the dumplings as a sweet delivery.
“They look like mini roast potatoes,” he says, before offering one.
Piping hot, and filled with a plentiful amount of Nutella, it is transformed into a deep friend delicacy!
Naughty, but decidedly nice.
Those shot desserts (above) shape up remarkably well too, although these are generously side shot glasses, let's make that clear.
If, like us, you order thinking one mouthful will be enough to make for an empty glass, you will be wrong.
It is so hard to choose a favourite – the richness of the banoffee with its banana mousse, gloopy caramel and whipped cream is in marked contrast from the cheesecake and its crumbly biscuit, or the light pannacotta, which wows with its sharp morello cherry sauce.
As for the gelato (below)? Everyone remembers chewing bubblegum in the schoolyard.
This is the food that evokes those childhood memories - it brings out the child in you.
And, just like all children when faced with something sweet, when faced with the fabulous Bella Italia menu, we want more!
Total MK visited Bella Italia at 15 Stadium West, Bletchley, MK1 1ST
To book call 01908 372766.
