The Guardian
Grace Dent hailed a 20-seat counter venue “tucked away in a quaint West Suffolk market town” and serving a set menu from two “relatively unknown chefs”, married couple Ruben Aquilar Bel and Gabriella Fogarasi, as one of her top five openings of the year.
Notably cosy and homespun for a well-honed tasting-menu outfit, Bellota is financed by Linda Keenan, who has also backed London’s Noble Rot and Clove Club. After only three months it is already getting difficult to book a seat because “there’s something hugely beguiling going on here, and even verging on swaggering”.
Everything Grace ate was “fabulous”, from “hot, crisp, truffled croquetas, better than many I’ve tasted even in Spain”, via “masterful al dente raviolo stuffed with roast sweet red pepper and aubergine with just a touch of sherry vinegar, all dressed in a heavenly manchego sauce”, hake with squid ink, and Creedy Carver duck, to Gabi’s Thai green curry ice-cream with warm pistachio cake and confit apricots. “Yes, you read that right: I did say Thai green curry ice-cream. And, yes, it works. Don’t try this at home, people.”
Grace Dent - 2025-08-24The Daily Telegraph
William Sitwell enjoyed a “historic dinner” served at a vast wooden bar by chef-patron Ruben Aguilar Bel that was “a demonstration of confident and innovative cooking to remind us that Spain produces some of the world’s greatest chefs”.
The no-choice menu was “gutsy, fun and accessible”, with highlights including scallops “glanced by fire” and served with a slice of jamón (“a mighty and clever pairing”); a piece of halibut that “melted in the mouth”; and a plate of delicate, rich wagyu beef cheek from the Scottish Highlands that was “so original in such a fancy place and a reminder that it’s never all about the clichéd cuts”.
A dessert of pistachio cake with green Thai curry ice cream might have been a “foul-sounding alchemical trick”, but “the ice cream was simply a fabulously silken and herby complement to the cake”.
William Sitwell - 2025-09-21
Drinks
Extras
