Delicious Italian at Bella Monica in Raleigh

For the past few months we've been planning to try the pizza at Bella Monica in Raleigh.  One of Colin's major quests in the area has been to find pizza that he can brag about to his New York friends.  Few pizza places have met his expectations so far.

Bella Monica has received lots of great reviews on Yelp.com and was also a "Triangle's Best" in 2012.  I didn't look at the menu before we arrived, so I was surprised when our margherita pizza was actually on flatbread

In addition to the pizza, we also ordered the portobello and sun-dried tomato lasagna entree and split a cannolli for dessert.

The whole meal and atmosphere was wonderful. I had called for reservations, but was told there was only overflow seating available in the wine bar. While we didn't get to sit in the low-lit, intimate seating area of the main restaurant, we had a nice table in a second area of the restaurant.  Shortly after being seated, we were served two very large portions of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The food did not come out very quickly, but we also didn't wait too long. I didn't expect so many people at 6pm on a Monday night, but it was very busy.  While I am a bigger fan of thicker crust pizza, the flatbread margherita was very good. The basil and tomatoes were fresh, but there wasn't very much sauce on the pizza itself. Colin thinks the sauce is the best way to judge a good pizza, so it was difficult to evaluate.  The lasagna was good, but not amazing.  I wasn't a huge fan of the oozing cheese that filled the bowl.  I like simple and fresh ingredients for the most part, and this dish was a bit too full of cheese and oil for my taste.

Unlike the lasagna, the cannoli was amazing! It has been rare to eat a cannoli that is filled just before eating. Most of the ones we buy are already prepared when we order them. This one tasted like it was filled just before it was served to us. The filling was so soft and creamy!  It was almost as good, if not as good, as the Termini Brothers cannoli we had in Philadelphia.

Good, but not amazing, portobello and sun-dried tomato lasagna

Tasty margherita pizza on flatbread (and missing the sauce)

The highlight of the meal - a delicious cannoli

We took most of the pizza home, having filled up on the lasagna, bread, and cannoli. I will add that the leftover pizza remained good for a few days after our dinner.  I ate the pizza leftovers heated up and cold and both were very good.  

I give Bella Monica a thumbs up for good pizza.  It's not NYC pizza, but they make a good flatbread pizza.  The seating is limited, so I suggest reservations or take-out if you don't want to wait.  The overflow seating in the wine room is not as intimate as it is in the rest of the main restaurant, but the service and food seemed to be the same.