A trip to Center Parcs is by no means cheap – so when you do get there, it makes sense to keep additional costs down where you can. For us, that meant self-catering almost every meal at our lodge: our only meal out was lunch on our last day before we headed home.
If you are trying to eat out on a budget at Center Parcs, lunch is your best bet: there are a few restaurants that offer decent value lunch deals. At Center Parcs Elveden, one of these is Bella Italia, where you can enjoy a main (from a small selection) and a soft drink for £13.50 between 11.30am and 4pm.
It’s a large restaurant (it has to be, given the number of guests on-site), but when we visited on changeover day it was pleasantly quiet, making for a relaxed, easy lunch after a morning of swimming.
The set lunch menu gave us four adults plenty of choice, and the seven-year-old ordered from the kids’ menu, which offers options for both larger and smaller appetites. He went for the latter at £7.99 for a starter, main, drink and dessert: exceptional value, especially for Center Parcs! He began with garlic dough bites served with pepper and cucumber sticks – demolished in minutes – followed by a small pizza with two toppings of his choice (chicken and red pepper). It was exactly the right size for a seven-year-old: no leftovers, no waste and a happy child. Dessert was a bowl of ice cream (again, with a choice of sauce and toppings) that was eaten so quickly I didn’t get time for a photo!
Across the table, the gamberoni pasta (£3 supplement) earned rave reviews. The sauce (king prawns, baby plum tomatoes, white wine, garlic, chilli and a red pepper and tomato bisque) was described as “delicious”, and both bowls were scraped clean. For me, though, it had to be a pizza to refuel after all that time in the pool. I chose the chicken, ham and mushroom, and while it won’t be mistaken for something straight out of Naples it hit the spot: plenty of toppings, a decent crust and satisfying without being too heavy.
All in all, Bella Italia offered good food, generous portions and excellent value for money – something not always associated with a Center Parcs break! For a relaxed, family-friendly lunch that won’t break the bank, it’s a dependable choice.