9/10

During a short trip to Bari, on the recommendation of a local, we booked at La Tana del Polpo, a traditional seafood restaurant located in Bari Vecchia, the Old City. We arrived a bit early for our 7.30 p.m. booking, only to be told to return at our booking time. When we came back we found a queue of people waiting outside, after which the owner of the restaurant came out and called out the names of those who had booked. We were the first to enter in a small room, seating no more than 20 people at a time, decorated in a nautical team and for sure had a very rustic feel.

We were given a menu, however someone who presumably was the son of the owner, was going round table by table to give an overview of what’s on offer and propose the specials of the day, with photos to demonstrate on his tablet. We asked for some time to think about it, after which he came to take our order. 

As a starter we opted for the plate of crudi, given that we had some previous excellent experiences with crudi in other parts of Italy. He suggested that we add the tartare of salmon, tuna and a white fish, and we gladly obliged. We paired this with a nice verdeca wine – Alice from Manduria – a rather rare variety of grape from Puglia, which proved to be a perfect accompaniment to the food. A fruity light wine, slightly minerally and rather citrusy.

After a short wait, no longer than 15 mins the food started arriving at our table, with the tartare and crudi served simultaneously. When the crudi arrived we were in shock with the size of the dish that could easily feed 4 people and we were already thinking about how we were going to be able to eat the main dish. It was apparent in the taste of the tartare and Crudi that the fish was extremely fresh and that they used high quality cuts to produce the dishes. The crudi was served in a huge shell shaped bowl and consisted of  oysters, mussels, clams, cockles, squid, cuttlefish, prawns and langoustine. 

The main consisted of a mix grill – again huge. In fact the server had given us a clue of its size when he warned us that this is by weight and that it averages 30 – 35 euro a head as a cost, yet our enthusiasm pushed us to go forward with it, adding also some roast potatoes as contorni or side dish. The plate consisted of two large tuna steaks, twelve king prawns, a whole octopus as well as calamari, all grilled on a griddle giving a nice char. While happily enjoying our meal, the owner’s son came to us and told us that the grilled calamari was now getting cold and whether we would like to have it slightly grilled again. We said yes and after five minutes or so, he came back with an enhanced version of our calamari – this time in oil, lots of garlic and tomatoes.  

As much as we would have liked to finish off with a dessert, we were literally stuffed, and instead opted for a Fernet Branca to help set our stomach, after which we were offered a second one on the house. Well we need to return again to try out the desserts. The total bill, while not cheap, was very good value for what we ate, satisfying our criteria of going only where the quality price ratio is sensible.