Trattoria Bella - Montage Mountain

The quality team came by last week and graciously offered to take us to dinner at Trattoria Bella just down the street from the office. Having been to Italy, I am a bit of a snob when it comes to Italian food. If anything, Italian should be simple. The fewer and fresher the ingredients the better. Olive Garden is the bane and opposite of what I am describing. Bella had the standard array of both appetizers and entrees, with enough choices that made it hard for me to make up my mind. The night started with a round of appetizers.

Our side of the table ordered stuffed mushrooms, which were filled with crab meat and topped with cheese before being put under a salamander. They were slightly oily, but the cheese and seafood did not clash. Of course we had calamari, and of course it was deep fried. The rings were well coated but not greasy, but the rings themselves were not plump, so all you really tasted was the fried batter. My order was melon wrapped in prosciutto, a favorite of mine. The prosciutto was thicker than usual and had more meatyness to it than I am used to. The melon was honey, but was crunchy, hard, and not yet ripe. The entire dish was drizzled with a balsamic glaze, adding a sweetness to the finish. Finally there was the bruchetta. The bread was well toasted, and the tomato compote was heavily with garlic and onions. Again, the whole dish was drizzled with balsamic glaze, but the bread quickly became soggy as the tomato compote was saucy.

I ordered the special of the evening for my entrée. The shrimp and scallops came with sautéed zucchini, squash, and carrots and a tomato infused rice on the side. For how much I’m sure it cost, I did not receive much seafood. The scallops were slightly gritty, and tasted a little, well, old. The shrimp was tender and soft. Neither of them was heavy in butter or oil. The lasagna was ordered by the person to my left, and was a huge portion. It smelled savory and heavy with pomodoro sauce, the cheese completely melted in between each layer. Rice and pasta dishes were served to others, all of which were large in quantity and looked inundated with cream, butter, and cheese in their sauces. I was tempted by one of the house specials, veal with scallops, but that was ordered by another and regretfully, I was unable to taste it.

Overall, the ambiance and convenience of Bella was nice, especially if you were going to watch a Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees game over a nice dinner. The food was good, but not fantastic, and as I am not yet paid to eat and write about it, something that is not worth it on my budget.

I should comment, as a post script, that the waitresses seemed peeved when we had 23 in our party instead of 28, and the service was certainly not quicker because of it. They were often questioning who ordered what, and some dishes took much longer to come out than others. It seemed like we were bothering them whenever we needed something. Good for them I was not in charge of the tip.