Beautiful restaurant with stone arches and ceilings…read more We did the tasting menu. Which was excellent. The tuna tartare was so fresh. The rice and mussels were tasty, however the mussels were tiny. We shared 3 pasta dishes, I really liked the pasta and prawns. We all had the fish special which is cooked with olive oil, zucchini and potatoes and olives. Yumm We were so full that we took dessert home. The service is very good. I highly recommend this restaurant.

We are staying at the Grotta Palazzese, which is the highest end hotel of the region with two…read morereputedly fabulous restaurants. However, other than our breakfasts at the hotel, which we paid to have included with our rooms, we are not likely having dinners here. While their menus will astound many, as well as the views of the caves, which is why many come to dine and visit, we have been seeking less extravagant dinners while here, given our suite is over $1,500 a night at the present Euro conversion. So we consulted YELP for the best rated restaurants in town and that led us here. It was all 4 and 5 ratings, save for a single rating of 1, which was based on a disgruntled patron who never even ate here. They just were declined at the door - due to no reservations, which are recommended - in a manner they deemed obnoxious. It's easy to see why so many though rated this a 5. However, we felt it fell just short in some respects that brought it down to a 4. That said, we are sure many will enjoy a 5 experience. We had a few glasses of local primovito by the glass, which like most places we've dined in Puglia was absurdly reasonable by our local NYC metro area standards. These were poured after complimentary glasses of Prosecco and a lovely small potato soup. We ordered the house special antipasto, which were 5 different small seafood dishes (baked scallops, fried cod, mussels with rice, potatoes, and tomatoes, octopus salad, and yellowfin tuna tartare). This is a must have introduction to any meal. My wife then had one of the catches of the day offerings and I the half lobster with tagliatelle. It's an all seafood restaurant, so if you are looking for something other than that, you'll need to look elsewhere. However, if seafood is your thing, of which there is quite a lot in this town, this restaurant deserves your patronage.

I went here because I have heard terrible things about the Grotta Palazzese food and price. This…read moreplace is toward the east of there and is quite understated from the front. I had a seat upstairs where there was plenty of seating area, plus 2 other floors below. There were fantastic views from the upstairs balcony, but a little windy. Unfortunately the food isn't as good as the views. While not bad, I would rate the food as about average. Service was below average. I was eating my appetizer and had to remind him that I ordered wine. Very unlike an Italian restaurant not to serve you the wine first! I think he was upset that I didn't order water. The only size they had was .75L and it was in a glass bottle, meaning I couldn't take it with me if I didn't finish it. No thank you. Anyway, the calamita was ok and the rest of the experience was about average.

This was a lovely find when looking for a place with a view not far from the masseria we stayed at…read morein Monopoli. It seems nondescript and in an average neighborhood - i.e. not a tourist in site- except for the fact that you have a front row seat on the balcony to the Adriatic. Very low key, all locals, perfect. Great seafood, loved the orecchiette in squid ink with mussels, clams, and squid, and the zucchini flan appetizer was so good we had it twice. Serene evening on the water, great to also watch the sunset in the summer.

One of my favorite meals in Italy! Excellent service, delicious food (octopus appetizer, seafood…read morepasta, and tiramisu) finished with a selection of chocolates. Loved seeing the fresh fish options, and they have several olive oils to choose from to go with the amazing bread basket (they also sell the olive oils) . I felt so welcomed there, like they were really glad to have me as a patron that evening. I chatted with the manager and the server, and was delighted to be gifted bottle of oil at the end of the meal. Thank you for a wonderful evening!

What an absolute gem of a place! Phenomenal service, amazing food, fantastic wine! Truly, this…read moreplace is impeccable!

pasta with shrimp as amazing, it looked plain but tasted next level delish with so many flavors…read morebursting and textures of creamy pasta cooked perfectly. Both seabass with vegetables crusted was cooked to perfection (not over done) moist and fresh. The mackerel was equally satisfying but bigger flakier cut. Highly recommend all of items. service was on point .

Ate here twice in a week, and each meal was wonderfully prepared. I particularly recommend the…read moreseafood dishes. We ate at several places in Polignano, bd none matched this little place for fresh and imaginative cuisine.

Excellent food and service. We had fresh catch of the day with spaghetti. Everything was good. They…read moreeven brought a plate of fresh carrots and cucumbers and great great with olive oil.

My wife orders spaghetti with clams any time she sees it on a menu, and she said this was maybe her…read morefavorite of all time. The raw shellfish tasting was amazing but we probably should've done one instead of two.

If you cannot enjoy a relaxing meal at Da Tuccino, then you (a) can't relax, (b) don't know good…read morefood, (c) don't like seafood (d) all of the above. Perfect setting, amazing seafood and pastas, wonderful service and you're in Italy. Not cheap, but given how good it is Da Tuccino is worth every Euro. Mangia!!

Simply fantastic! We had amazing 'primi' (orichiette ao sugo for my 3 year old, seafood pasta and…read morezucchini with gamberi (shrimp) pasta for the grown ups). We were amazed at the quality of the dishes and the very reasonable portion sizes. Prices were also competitive ($10-13 euros each). Lots of shrimp and seafood. I was amazed my kid ate 90% of her adult portioned pasta after stuffing herself with all the olives she could put her hands on! For 'secondi' we had the fritto misto - octopus, shrimp, tuna and squid. The house white wine was fantastic! All together came down to $60 euro. Service is a bit slow but it's the Italian way. Oh, and since they only had room outside (we didn't have a reservation) they brought us blankets because it was a bit chilly. Win-win!

This is my first time visiting Donna Gina. In all honesty we did not choose to go here, we had…read morereservations at their sister restaurant Grotta Palazzese (the cave restaurant) but there was an online error for a our reservation so we were bumped to Donna Gina... that said, the food was delicious and even tho the menu was "set" we could order whatever we wanted. My only concern was we had a fruit fly in one of our wines and the waiter didn't replace the wine... a little weird... hence my four stars and not five, on a whole excellent restaurant, beautiful location and attentive service.

Donna Gina's was terrible and ruined the last few days of our Italy trip. The three people who ate…read moreseafood got food poisoning and were violently ill with vomiting and the other stuff. When I told the restaurant their response was "you can't prove this was because of our food" - even after I explained that this is the only meal that the three of us ate the same food (it was a forced tasting menu and three of us got the seafood meal and three others got the vegetarian meal - these three didn't get sick) Even before we got sick, we were upset that the food was not good and service was even worse. Ironically, the manager came over to the table and said that the muscles give him gas after eating them after already ordering and having them presented at the table!!? Additionally, we informed the staff that we needed to leave at 11pm and we had not been given our main course or dessert after two hours of sitting at the table. The restaurant was not busy and half of our table sat without food for 45min., while the other half of the table was served multiple dishes. It was very strange. So basically we paid $900 euros for half of our meal. They even ordered us to wait at the front while they went back to our table to check if we signed the receipt, as if we were trying to avoid finalizing the bill. Save yourself from a terrible experience and never ever come to Donna Gina. They poison people and don't take responsibility

An unfortunately dissapointing experience. This restaurant is absolutely stunning. Situated in a…read morecave in Monopoli, it truly is a site to see. Unfortunately the food really falls flat in comparison. The food is extremely expensive, at about 200 euro minimum per person. They're also incredibly strict about their reservation policy so make sure you read up on that. The service was okay and the host was rude. I am solely giving this place three stars for the beauty of the restaurant.

You go for the bucket list fine dining experience and forget about the cost. Its menu is limited to…read moreprix fixe choices or ala carte, which we did. The menu consists of fish, veal, spinach, some vegan options, desserts. The wine list is impressive representing many Italian regions. I enjoyed the spaghetti and veal, but this isn't the place for Michelin star food. I loved the large wine glasses, the meticulous service, and only hope we could have been blessed with a sunset. The sax player crooning us was a nice touch. Note: you need to walk down many steps to get there and there's no elevator.