Il Giullare - Conversano — Restaurant in Conversano

First, I recommend this place for food and drinks and dessert. They serve lunch till very late (some local eateries might have closed their kitchen by then) and I assume their pastas are the best option. It is kid friendly with a neat seating area outside suitable to small and big groups, and I think most people also prefer to sit outside. They have good beer and deserts, and if they don't have a drink specifically they may be able to fetch it for you (I ordered apperoll). It can be noisy inside but it's people and their celebrations and all the chatter, it still feels socially intimate and cool I would say. The lamb stripes and mushrooms are not the most delicious we have had but nothing low quality either. I just think they specialize more in pasta and sea food.

And now, something about nagging tourists with their fragile spirit here; I see people in reviews complaining about children, the crowd, mistake in their orders, their allergies etc. at this place. You are in Conversano, the city is super hyped and vibrant, people have kids, and dogs, many of them, they eat out often and they also let their kids have their own tables, order their own food and roam around freely because guess what? That's how they grow and learn. The restaurant has a paragraph of allergy warning on the back of its menu, so you basically have traces of nuts in every dish and in case you thought you could skip that by ordering something that seemed allergy friendly you just didn't pay attention. This is a very busy restaurant with staff that are kind and accommodating. They are on the run and yes they might make a mistake in your order, may be use your phone and translate what you want in Italian. They do have an English menu too!!!! With all that said if you expect a calm and romantic evening there and it is not as chic as you wanted it to be, it is you who didn't pay attention to your surrounding. They cannot change the vibe of a city or a restaurant because you came here thinking this was a high-end cruise ride!!!! People complaining about local workers not understanding English are simply obnoxious tyrants in little carriages - use the internet and speak 1 or 2 sentences in a another language and save...

I was going to give two stars but changed it to one after writing this.

Whilst the location of the restaurant is beautiful with the castle walls towering over the terrace, the food and service were nowhere near as special. Here follows a series of unfortunate events.

For starters we ordered a mozzarella stuffed with tomato and rucola and a portion of orange marinated prawns. The mozzarella we got was stuffed with meat and pistachios. This was kinda unfortunate as I’m allergic to nuts. When telling this to the waiter, he informed us that this must be because the waiter who took our order doesn’t speak English very well. Again unfortunate as I ordered in Italian. Instead of what looked like a nice dish, I now got some bland mozzarella instead and fast forward half an hour to see the table next to us get my rejected dish. I know this because they make it a point to cut the stuffed mozzarella at the table and this was already cut.

For mains we got a salmon pasta and a meat one. While both pastas were undercooked, at least the salmon one was actually delicious with nice pieces of salmon and q good sauce. The meat one however had an overal burnt taste that was not typical for the type of meat used.

Now to be fair, we could have known what was coming by the people who frequent this establishment with screaming children all around accompanied by careless parents. The expectations were not high. However, with the amount of couples looking for a romantic dinner spot surrounding them, we kind of expected the staff to at least care and politely ask the parents to take their kids to the nearby playground to scream their lungs out rather than disturb their other paying customers. For clarification, this wasn’t a child in pain, nor normal behavior for a family restaurant (which this doesn’t advertise as either), this...

A total nightmare. I was really angry. Worst food and service ever not only for Italy, but in general. 10 minute wait because receptionist on the phone. Only downhill from there. The bread was hard as stone. Even if you had squeezed all the fluid from the few tomatoes on top, still not possible to chew that. No ice in the coke. Waitress for some reason was avoiding our table. The starter with cheese, salami and some salad most loveless starter I had ever seen. Just slapped on the plate and totally no joy to be had there. Main dishes not any better. The place prides itself for self made pasta. I am a foodie. I like food and normally always happy. Not a difficult client at all. But this place got me really upset. I paid inside after waiting another 10 min for someone to show up at the table with a card reader. Will never forget this one. Worst...