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This lovely restaurant set near the grounds of Castel Del Monte is truly a must visit.
Upon arrival, the restaurant was already busy with large Italian families sitting and chatting. The ambience was family friendly; which was perfect for our family of 5.
We sat and waited for the menu. Francesco approached us and asked us "what would you like!" We replied we would like to see the menu. (Now there is a story behind this which I will tell you so please bear with me on this!) so Francesco went and grabbed us the menu - which was all in Italian anyway which we did not understand!
We sat there using google to translate the menu.
After some time, Francesco returned and asked us what would we like. We still had not fully deciphered the menu! So he explained what was on the menu and some foods which he recommended.
We went along with the foods he recommended which were local specialities along with pizzas and beef for our order.
What first arrived was focaccia, this was our first time having focaccia in Puglia, I can only describe as divine. I am a bread lover anyway, so this was right up my street. It was light and fluffy in the inside, yet crispy in the outside, seasoned well with little bits of sweet tomatoes in between bites.
Next along came roasted courgettes covered in crispy cheese, tomato and basil which was delightful! We also had slices of roasted aubergine drizzled in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My children who dislike aubergines tried and enjoyed it which is always a bonus.
The pizzas which arrived were one of the best we have had in Puglia, the dough was fluffy and there was ample mozzarella cheese and topping.
Finally, the beef arrived and it was the highlight of the evening. Cooked to perfection. Slices of tender, juicy and succulent beef, covered with slices of cheese and simply seasoned with salt and olive oil was superb.
After the meal, we ordered ice cream desserts. I asked for cheesecake but sadly they were sold out.
After paying the bill, Francesco asked us whether we would like to see the wood fire oven. We replied yes. He walked us over to meet Giuseppe who was the head chef.
Giuseppe explained to us that all his foods are prepared in the wood fire oven! That explained why the focaccia, courgettes, pizzas and beef tasted so delicious! The wood he uses in his fire oven are wood from the olive trees!! What a bonus! Giuseppe explained that the restaurant does not have a set menu. The menu is by word of mouth from the waiting staff. Only the freshest ingredients are sourced and bought locally and made into dishes of the day to be served to his customers. And whatever is not on the menu can be requested and prepared providing the ingredients are there.
(That explained why Francesco asked us "what would we like" without handing us the menu!) when we first arrived at the restaurant!
Giuseppe then explained to us that his restaurant also has a grape vine! It was planted and arranged beautifully around the restaurant which we had not even noticed! It was in season, organically grown with no pesticides. He very kindly cut us a few bunches to try and take home to eat!
They were the best grapes I have ever tasted. Big sweet, juicy, crispy grapes with a crunch.
We were so impressed with the food and service that we returned the following day for lunch and had ear shaped pasta (which is a favourite in Puglia) with local sausages cooked in a 5 hour brewed beef stock. It was rich in beef flavour and every last morsel was eaten from our plates. Perfect bowl of pasta.
We returned for another dinner and lunch sessions during our stay in Puglia! We were served horse meat which is a local delight, cooked beautifully in the wood fire oven, a must try if you are adventurous in the meat department.
La Locanda dei duchi is a beautiful restaurant in a homely setting which overlooks the Castle Del Monte, serving anti pasta, pasta, pizzas, meat, starters, and fluffy focaccias, what is there...
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Focaccia???
Have you heard of it, have you tried it? If you think you have tasted the best, then I challenge you to try the focaccia at “La Locanda dei Duchi”.
The restaurant is about 7-10 mins drive from the renowned Castel Del Monte Park. Here the focaccia is soft as a pillow and always rises back up when you try to squash it. The small little tomatoes give the bread a delicate balance of sweetness. My family and I had 9 different varieties whilst in Pulgia, we did not eat any as good as ‘La Locanda dei Duchi’
The starters were also very impressive, their flavor was so intense and very generous but their pizzas were the ‘coup de foudre’ for me. I have never eaten such a soft and chewy pizza base and yet the top was crispy. The toppings were also fresh and plentiful. I am told the secret of a good pizza lies in the treatment of the dough, cooked in a wood fired oven, fresh and high-quality sourced toppings. “La Locanda dei Duchi” had it all.
‘La Locanda dei Duchi’ uses olive wood to fire its wood fired oven. Giuseppe, the owner and head chef of the restaurant told me: the olive wood burns more hotter, longer and more consistent than other woods he has used. Like all good chefs, they will tell you, precision and total control of the heat/temperature of your cooker is 50% of cooking. Seeing Giuseppe working in his kitchen juggling all of his pizzas and other food in and out of the oven was a grand sight. Simply put, a maestro at work.
The beef we had were amazingly tender, flavorsome and juicy. I have three kids, two of them are 15 and 18 year old boys. They literally ate like wild lions when presented the beef. They quickly devoured the two portions and we had to quickly order another portion!!
The service we received was extremely friendly, informative and without speaking any Italian (apologies for being lazy tourists) we received the best meals in Puglia. We even met our favourite waiter, Francesco, coincidentally in another town in a Gelato shop and guess what?? Francesco helped us order what we wanted from the Gelato shop. Francesco, I salute you!!
I cannot comment on their wine list as we not drink, but what we lose on alcohol, we make up two folds in food. We actually went back to ‘La Locanda dei Duchi’ three times after our first visit. We would of went more times but it was sadly time to return back to London.
To the savy eaters out there, the great things at ‘La Locanda dei Duchi’ are the portions and the price. If Giuseppe decided to increase his prices by 15%, I would still happily come as the price difference is easily worth the quality of food, the portion size and the service we received.
Now back in London, I still think of ‘La Locanda dei Duchi’ as my little piece of...
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cosi fate una scarsa pubblicità
qualche giorno fa decidiamo con parenti di cenare in questo posto bene arrivati nel locale veniamo accolti da una cameriera e gli chiediamo subito se possiamo accomodarci all'interno del locale (completamente vuoto e parecchio grande) vista la temperatura parecchio gredda che c'era quella sera la stessa ci risponde che non fosse possibile "avrebbe dovuto dircelo x telefono al momento della prenotazione fatta quanche giorno prima visto che il locale si trova in una zona conosciuta bene x la sua freacura che con una temperatura normale del mese di luglio era anche piacevole va bene andiamo al mangiare chiediamo diversi assaggi di antipasti e due famigliari x 12 persone più 3 beby x i bambini uno ci sbagliano il gusto di una beby e ci facciamo rifare la pizza starnamente la prima volta in vita mia sbaglia il pizzaiolo ci rifà la pizza e ci fanno pagare anche la pizza sbagliata ASSURDO poi andiamo a noi 2 euro di coperto forse un po'troppi 6 birre e 2 d'acqua piu una fanta piccola 32 euro carissimo 12 antipasti misti 96 euro anche questi mi sembrano un poco esagerati x non parlare del dolce 5 desser precisamente 4 semifreddi al pistacchio della grandezza max del fondo di un bicchiere medio (per noi tutti senza sapore quasi immangiabili e non mi dite a me il sapore del pistacchio perché vivo in sicilia terra del pistacchio) e 1 tarrufo per la modica cifra di 23 euro esagerato per non dire altro. lunica cosa buona ad un prezzo giusto e stata la focaccia anche se io l'avrei compresa con l'antipasto vista l'assenza del pane. bene la conclusione e questa che io non ci metterò più piede in più farò cattiva pubblicità perche cosi non si trattano le persone due dei vostri ospiti si sono raffredati x il freddo fatto...
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