La Uascezze — Restaurant in Bari

We liked the location and the way they treated us; they were polite and helpful. The menu only contains a few sentences in English, I was lucky that my girlfriend could translate. And about the most important: the food. Both of us ordered the 20 EUR tasting menu ( as - for an unknown reason - it was not possible to order just one, we both had to order it), which was basically an antipasti plus two dishes (be noted that they were like 1/4 portion of the normal ones). The grains with pesto was mediocre, the selection of the cured meat (coppa and prosciutto di cinghiale) and cheese (ricotta, burrata e caciocavallo) were good. Alas, the portion of the parmigiana and patate riso e cozze was miserable (as I already told). And that was the best part of it. Parmigiana was maximum 2 out of 5, but the other one was horrible. I really felt that each and every ingredient were from last week and they just mingled and microwaved everything together just to call it "patate riso e cozze". Actually, for 15 EUR you can skip the horrible part, but the amount of food they provide does not align with the prize. What they bought (cheese and salumi) and simply put on the plate was good. But what they actually cooked was inedible. If you made this far, probably you don't want to eat here, but in case you are an adventurous type or just simply want to prove me wrong, I suggest you to book a table in advance.

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My biggest gripe with the place was that we had to wait more than 30 minutes to get served water and we had to ask multiple staff members to get it delivered. Then the food took upwards of 40 minutes by which time we were starving and had to ask for some bread just so that we don’t pass out (it didn’t come with the table as you would come to expect around here). That said, If you’re not in a rush to eat or drink, the place is great and probably a must-try in Bari. Food was great. We had the tasting menu for two which consisted of some very interesting local dishes combining proper quality ingredients into dishes you may not have tried before. I know I hadn’t and was pleasantly surprised. Overall you could tell the quality of the food was the main reason people came here. The location is hard to find if you didn’t know the place, but being hard to come by did not mean there was no waiting to get seated or to get anything to drink or eat at all. It appears to be a very popular place with the locals, so you would want to reserve a table in advance but you may still need to wait in line to get your table. Overall, the great food balanced out the otherwise terrible...

We had a lovely stay here of 4 nights in the upstairs studio with kitchen. We heard that the place was rather hard to find, so when we encountered a little boy in the streets near the spot of the B&B, I asked: "dove e La Uascezze?" and he asked "dormire.." and made the gesture of 'sleeping'- 2 hands to his tilted head. I said "si" and he took us through some alleys, right up to Maurizio, the owner of La Uascezze. Good thing, otherwise we would have been searching for quite some time! It is well hidden in the old city, but a true gem! Maurizio was very hospitable. The room was not large, but very nice and the kitchen offered everything we needed. A third bed was placed for our 11 year old daughter. The downstairs room was also rented out, but we did not hear anything from the guests there. We had 2 windows that could be opened, there is also an airco. We use earplugs, so we did not hear the noise of the restaurant in front. The old city of Bari is marvellous, we saw everything from a wedding in church, women making orichietti (pasta of the region) to a hardrock band in café Miramar. We had a great time and we recommend B&B La Uascezze...