This was a nice meal, a little fancier than the rest of the places we visited throughout Italy, but affordable enough. The place was very beautifully designed...bright, light and airy. There was tons of outdoor and indoor seating and the place was packed wall to wall. Luckily, even without a reservation, they were able to accommodate us. Our server was very friendly, as well.
Starter: orecchiete with shrimp in pistachio sauce
Entrees: mixed grilled fish / grilled monkfish
Desserts: cheesecake / berry tart
Big bread basket with an even bigger mound of fresh burrata to start the meal was a nice touch.
The entrees were good, but not great, and a bit under-portioned. I can't remember what was in my BF's mixed grilled fish entree, but I do recall octopus that he liked very much. The other fish on the platter were decent he said, but nothing memorable, and there were no sides like rice or salad. My grilled fish was good, but a little tough. They did give me the option to order it grilled or baked, so perhaps I should have went with baked for a more delicate fish like that. It was definitely fresh, just again, not memorable.
I will say, however, that one of my favorite single dishes in our entire trip was that orecchiete. Swimming in an addicting buttery pistachio sauce and topped with little shrimp, it was perfectly al dente and an absolutely impeccable bite. It is an infamous staple of the region and, IMHO, a must-eat when visiting Bari. You can tell it was fresh, most likely a product of the old nonnas painstakingly thumbprinting each individual piece of pasta on a little wooden table outside their homes.
My cheesecake was good, but actually still not as good as the one I had years back at Le Virtu in Philly. My BF's berry tart was great, though. It tasted like a dessert cereal bar.
The meal felt a little hectic because we sat just outside the service station (our own fault for not making reservations), so there was a lot of shouting and running food and servers whisking in and out rapidly. They turned off all the lights twice to sing happy birthday to two separate parties, which was cute.
Overall, I'm not sure it would be one of those "must returns" but that orecchiete was very redeeming. read more