Reviews La Bella Managua

Everything on the menu is amazing the soup of the days, the fish of the days and the fact that I can pick the type of plantain I want. I am addicted to this food.

Its an amazing place for lunch and dinner. The ambience makes you feel at home and the food as well has a house cooking feel to it. The food portions are massive and taste heavenly.

It is always busy on the weekends, so make a reservation or go early. Service is a bit spotty.

I really love their rice and deep fried fresh cheese. The fried plantains or plantain chips are great too. They have huge portions except when ordering takeout. We also liked their papaya juice.

I had read several reviews about this place and there seemed to be concerns around their service. However we never had that issue during our visit. In fact the service was extremely attentive, efficient and friendly.
We started off with the pescado ceviche and it was fresh, tangy, and zesty. The warm green crispy plantain chips paired really with the fish. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the dish was. I haven't had a good ceviche experience here in Toronto until I came here.
Our mains arrived and we were blown away by the portions. Come hungry because they pile it high.
The Carne Asada was cooked perfectly, as instructed. We opted for carb-free sides so only veggies were served. The Avocado salad was our favourites. Extremely fresh and creamy.
I ordered the Fried Snapper special. The fish came whole but was easy to fillet as it was pan fried. It paired really well with the rice and avocado salad. It was a great balance of salty, sour, tart, and creamy flavours and textures.
I'll definitely be back to try me dishes on their menu!

Tasty food!. Great food - this was my first time trying Nicaraguan food but I did find it similar to the food that my family eats in Ecuador. I had the Carne Asada dish, which came with a tasty rice/pinto beans combo, sweet plantains, cabbage salad, and avocado. Sooo delicious! But the portion was just too big and I had to take some home. My husband ended up eating that food and really liked it too. I will go back for sure.

Steak!. Best carne asada! And the ceviches are amazing. They come with delicious, thin, plantain chips.

Good food. Big portions.

The food is very good and truely authentic. I was actually in Managua two weeks prior to visiting this restaurant- and I have to this place is on par or better. If you want to try something different, I would suggest a drink called cacao. You won't find this anywhere else and if you do, it won't be as good.

The restaurant had a few other customers hanging out while finishing their meals. There’s definitely a cozy, homey vibe to the place. The feel definitely already fit the ‘home-cooked meals’ aspect of the restaurant. La Bella Managua closes at 11pm on Fridays, and a tired-looking waitress informed us the kitchen would be closing soon so we hurried to place our orders...

...overall the food was fresh and well prepared and great value (our most expensive dish being $13.95), and we missed several things on the menu that looked really good such as the Nacatamales and the Carne Asada. It seemed to present a good overview of Nicaraguan cuisine but as La Bella Managua is the sole curator of this subject matter

Having won many awards for his Ceviche, chef Jesus Morales brings in tradition and authenticity to a rather over-rated dish in this city with its many variations of Ceviche. When I tasted this Ceviche, I felt like I was back home, eating at a beach-front joint, enjoying my fresh cold fish on a hot sunny afternoon.

I love Hispanic food so much, I have been trying to like La Bella Managua, a restaurant in downtown Toronto that "specializes" in food from Nicaragua. But as much as I want to like this restaurant, I just don't.

BUT............

My family likes this place. Sigh. So after three attempts to like it too, I am finally writing this review and letting the world know (or the three people who read this blog-hi mom!), that I don't like this place!

Yes, there are positives....

The portions are good

Prices are decent-most dishes are under $15

They have a good-sized menu

Most of the dishes we eat in Managua are sold here

The staff speaks Spanish

They take reservations over e-mail

The food "looks" delicious

....and that it where the good ends

Here are my issues with it:

Service is sneaky

The last time I was here the friends I was with had a lot of questions. Some questions had to do with portion sizes and whether it would be too much if they ordered certain appetizers with certain mains. Our "very cute" waitress, who I termed the "con artist" flirted her way into getting most of the guests (guys) to order a bunch of appetizers and mains that they could not finish. Not because they eat like rabbits, but because this chick wanted the sale! I eat out all the time, and honest restaurants and staff have literally stopped me and my guests from ordering extra items until AFTER we received the first. One example: At Under the Table one of my friends wanted to order a side of eggs and potatoes with his main. The waitress made a note of telling my friend that the main he ordered is quite large, and that she thought he should wait for his main first, and that if he still wanted the eggs and potatoes, she would put the order in right away. Turns out that the main was in fact large, and there was no way in hell that he could have eaten the eggs and potatoes on top of that!

Flavors are not clean

I asked for no onions on my steak, and the waitress said, "the chef uses onion powder. Is that okay?" Onion powder? Can I just have my steak with pepper and salt and let the meat speak for itself? I had never eaten a single dish back home with any type of powder, period! But then again, there are a lot of people out there that believe that NOTHING tastes good without onions-so why not fake it? And my beans....well, I learned that although I hate "real onions," I actually hate the fake powder crap more! My beans and beef were coated in that shit!

Chewy meat. Do I need to explain this one?

Disorganized service

If you have a note pad, and you give each person a number-as in a metal fixture to put in front of your plate to track orders (we were given a metal fixture with a number and asked to place it in front of us for the duration of the meal)-how can you mix the orders up! For example, one of my guests got cheese on his plate, and ate it not thinking anything. Then was charged an extra $2.50 for it because apparently cheese is extra. They fucked up the orders and made him pay for it! Even AFTER he explained that he did not order the cheese and thought it came with his meal! On top of that, the dishes were served in a staggered manner, and 2 of my guests were served their main around the same time that other guests were getting their desserts-they all placed their main orders at the same time! What a mess!

To be fair, most of my guests thought that the food was fine. Not great, but not bad either. Yet we all agreed on one thing-the service was a disaster!

From this point forward, if I am craving food from home I will either go to Kensington Market, my grandmother's, or cook it myself.

Toronto is known for being one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Yet with all its variety, some of us have trouble finding true, authentic Latin spots that bring us back to our roots and remind us of how good our food is. 

Having previously visited and discovered places like El Trompo, El Plebeyo and Antojitos; I was certainly happy to find La Bella Managua and delighted to add this cute little Nicaraguan restaurant to Foodies Inc. Best Latin spots section! Definitely one spot to hit if you want to experience Latin American cuisine at its best.

As you enter La Bella Managua (translates to beautiful Managua, which is the capital city of Nicaragua), you are quickly taken away by the sounds of music, the welcoming staff and the smell of fried plantain. The smell is not ‘greasyish’ or dense, you do not come out smelling like it either. Instead is subtle, aromatic and appetite-opening. Plantains are not only part of Nicaragua’s everyday meals, but also a staple in some South American countries. What is it paired with? Everything!

Starting with the Ceviche, plantains are used as a spoon to scoop out all that delicious goodness of marinated seafood in lime flavours. Having won many awards for his Ceviche, chef Jesus Morales brings in tradition and authenticity to a rather over-rated dish in this city with its many variations of Ceviche. When I tasted this Ceviche, I felt like I was back home, eating at a beach-front joint, enjoying my fresh cold fish on a hot sunny afternoon.From cold to hot, I slowly moved to the fish of the day the Fried Snapper.

Accompanied with yet another way of making plantains (mashed, then fried), the fish was succulent, toasty and well seasoned. Best part yet, it was the whole fish! Rarely do I find restaurants that serve it this way. The presentation, just like the Ceviche, was flawless and cute. Paired with an avocado and tomato salad and white rice, this dish was yet another win in my books…or blog!

Coming into last course (OK I lie, I was sharing it with someone else), we ventured into the infamous Carne Asada. The Carne Asada is a grilled boneless beef steak served with gallo pinto (rice and beans), avocado, deep fried plantains (surprised?) and cabbage salad. The very soft and scrumptious bean rice, served with the Carne Asada was quite good. But what I liked the most was the fact that I got plantains two ways! One as fried plantain chips, and the other using sweet plantains that are both pan fried and deep fried.

Tip for Foodies, grab a piece of the soft sweet plantain and dip it in the rice. Let the rice and beans stick to the sweet candy-like coating, then eat it! Do this after you’ve taken a bite at your Carne Asada, and you have now learned how to indulge in something so simple as plantains!

Authentic Nicaraguan. The ceviche is really fresh as is the fish. Chicken was cooked over charcoal and was so good. Large portions for the price. Super nice staff. Only con is the rice is a little bland and the avocado salad was too salty but still very good. Definitely would suggest.

Nicaraguan place. Had great rating and a wall full of awards. The ambiance is traditional - not trying to be upscale, more homely. Although the service was fast and generally observant. The food was good. Didn't know this but the Tacos had a flour tortilla and fried in it. Delicious though. The ceviche was very flavourful. The fish of the day was fried sea bass - great crispy skin. Also had the mojinica - good refreshing mojito. Had a great experience. Prices are very reasonable for the portion sizes. Highly recommended

I've eaten here for over 10 years and never disappointed. The cocktails are so refreshing. The ceviche is a must have and I insisted my friends order their own as I didn't want to share. It's that good! The special of the day was whole roasted seabass. Crispy skin and tender moist fish was accompanied by rice and beans (instead of white rice for extra charge) and the most delicious avocado salad and tasty tostones. We barely had room for dessert but ordered one coconut leche flan so we could each have something a little sweet after dinner. The service is friendly & efficient and the portions are large and great value.

This was my first time trying Nicaraguan food, and La Bella Managua on Bloor West did not disappoint! I got the rack of lamb ($22), and the meat was well-cooked and super tender. Portions were fair. I also highly recommend you try their in-house three milk/tres leches cake ($6.25) for dessert. I loved the subtle sweetness and the moistness of the cake.