Café Bello

A nice suburban café for lunch before the movies.

Food

Their food is Italian café fare, and includes your pasta, pizzas, salads, grills and burgers. I chose the Fettuccine con Pollo ($18.90) – marinated chicken strips, roasted capsicum, mushrooms, flamed and tossed in pesto sauce. It was pretty good. The pasta was al-dente, the pesto sauce was subtle, but gave the pasta the required oil it needed. There was a nice ratio of chicken, capsicum and mushrooms to pasta, all cooked nicely.

Slokky ordered from their specials menu. The Braised lamb shanks ($18.90) served on creamy mash potato with a tomato and root vegetable reduction was recommended by one of the waiters, and it was not bad at all. The lamb wasn’t quite as tender as we have it at home, it was soft but still held its shape. The sauce was wonderful and has obviously been reduced. The mash was also well done.

They had a range of very funky shakes and mocktails to try, but Slokky was having a Thailand moment, so ordered the rockmelon smoothie ($5.50). It was made with real smoothie and had ice-cream in it too. It was beautiful, well balanced, and frothy. Surprising what a difference using real fruit makes!

There are some wonderful cakes from Noga's Cuisine on display too! We were too full to try, but this is definitely a place I would come to for coffee and dessert…or breakfast…or Devonshire tea…

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

The café was buzzing on a Saturday lunchtimes. There were families around the big tables, couples and friends around the booths, having a catch up or a reprieve from the shopping.

Yup, they are technically situated in Westfields, but this is different in that the shop front is on Burwood Rd, which means it’s more like another café on the street rather than one in a shopping centre. The full-length window on the street side, allowing the light in and letting you people watch, capture the plus points from al fresco dining, while not giving you the fumes and the noise.

Décor wise, beige timber walls and beige banquette seatings make up the café. They’ve actually packed the tables in a bit, but because of the high ceiling, it doesn’t feel as crowded. There are some colourful prints on the wall to liven up the place, and the display of the magnificent cakes helped too!

Rating - 2

Service

I was so surprised by the service. I guess it’s because you kinda don’t expect good service in Sydney, so when you get it, you’re surprised!

The waiters here are young, but they are attentive. They come to take your order at the right time, brings you water and cutlery without you having to ask. They come and ask if things are ok, and bring sauces as extra. Basically, unobtrusive and attentive, which is a surprise for a casual, non family run café.

Rating - 4

C-factor

It’s probably on the higher end for Burwood, but it’s the norm in the Eastern suburbs and the city. I think it’s worth the money.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 14.5

Info

Shop 172, Westfield Burwood
100 Burwood Road
Burwood
NSW 2134
Phone (02) 9745 1545