Bari – seafood and pasta

July 26th, 2018 | Landgänge

Raw fish and seafood – everyone immediately thinks of Japan. Sushi, clear. Or of Peru. Ceviche, too. But what about Italy? In Puglia – and especially in the region around Bari – raw fish and raw seafood are indispensable to the restaurant menus. As indispensable as the orecchiette pasta in the streets of Bari.

When we go ashore in Bari we revel in the sight of the fish displays of “Al Pescatore”. And of course we don’t only look at the displays. The “Al Pescatore da Onofrio” in the Piazza Federico II of Svevia in Bari, opposite the old fort, is worth a visit – definitely. How often we have been there and we were satisfied with each visit. No, not only satisfied, but happy about the excellent quality and freshness of the food.

Ears noodles or Orecchiette on the street

We usually start our little shore leave in Bari with a walk through the old town, which is about 10-15 minutes’ walk from the harbor. Under the Arco Basso you can watch the Italian women making pasta by hand drying them in the sun on large bars. They call this special pasta “orecchiette” because the look like little ears. In front of every second house you find these dry grates. It is fantastic to see how the women cut off pasta dough from a roll at a breathtaking speed and use their thumbs to form earlobe noodles over the knife.

The aperitif is served in the Pasticceria Rex, a mixture of pastry shop, café and bar. Here you can try a crodino (bitter without alcohol) with a little prosecco and a few olives. They sell quite interesting herbal liqueurs, such as laurel or basil liqueur in small 250 ml or 500 ml bottles – a nice souvenir.

Al Pescatore

As the name Al Pescatore (fisherman) suggests, this is a pure seafood restaurant. And the fish and seafood are excellent. Really excellent. A reservation is always worthwhile. On our first visit there – without a reservation – the waiter growled at us a bit: “We serve only fish!” We said: “Wonderful, that’s exactly why we are here.” The waiters became more and more relaxed with each course we ordered.

As starters we can highly recommend the mixed raw (crudo) and cooked (cotto) seafood. As “crudo” there are various types of mussels, calamari (tagliatella di calamaro crudo), salmon, red shrimp, oysters, and depending on the daily offer also Norway lobster and sea urchin on the plate. The cooked version offers various dishes including octopus salad, vegetables with prawns, Norway lobster, fried fish balls, fried squid strips and, depending on the daily offer, small fried fish. Then there is burrata and ricotta with the best olive oil and a little salt – just wonderful.

In the main course we have sometimes ordered pasta or the fish soup. Mostly, however, it has remained with the extensive appetizers. A pity that you cannot try everything. A small glass of sorbet and a coffee perfectly complete the meal. A heavenly break from the ship and a paradise for seafood lovers…

After the very successful renovation of the restaurant, the ambience is modern and fresh. In the tunnel vaults the colours turquoise, white and grey prevail. You just feel comfortable. In summer you can sit on the glassed-in terrace.

Bed & Breakfast

Affiliated to El Pescatore is a bed and breakfast that opened less than a year ago. Unfortunately we failed to look at the rooms. However, the photos on the internet show bright rooms with a white-grey colour concept and a clear, very modern design. We have this B & B on our list when we finally come to Italy privately. Then Bari and Al Pescatore will definitely be a stopover – and then an extended dinner.