Coccaro Beach Club — Restaurant in Fasano

My review only concerns the restaurant, and not the beach. We visited on a Friday evening in June; a party of 19, celebrating my birthday. We were welcomed by a large terrace overlooking the sea, with tables mostly empty, and by a gentle warm breeze. We ordered a selection of appetizers, including the raw fish plateau. Surprisingly, the plateau included the adult specimen of an octopus, and a large squid; both raw. As we were unable to cut them, we asked our waiter to slice the octopus. He obliged, took the octopus away, and came back within a few minutes with the sliced octopus. Despite this help from the kitchen, the octopus turned out to be quite hard to chew, and swallow. And the squid, after a timid and futile attempt to eat it from the part of two of my friends, ended up mostly untouched. As I shared my disappointment with the Maître D’, he started patiently lecturing me about the local culinary traditions, and how the raw octopus makes up a cornerstone of the Pugliese cuisine. Too bad that, in my 16 years of visiting Puglia, I had never been served a raw octopus older than a week or two (baby octopuses can and are indeed served raw, although rarely as they are tasteless). My guests were embarrassed, and tried to eat everything in order to please me; but later admitted that it had been an awkward experience. Some of us ordered a first or second course and, truth be told, they weren’t bad. I ended up eating only a homemade ice cream, which turned out to be delicious. Given the pretty high average rating of this place, I can’t but assume that our experience was just a slippage in good faith; however, make sure to ask what you’ll be served when you’ll order your food, in order to avoid any confusion and possible...

SNAPSHOT = Details below - Bring your wallet. Dig all the fish on offer. Enjoy the outside ocean view. Leave happy!

This review is for the restaurant. While my family and I walked around the property a bit, we were waiting the 10 minutes or so until we could be seated.

Staff was very professional and friendly. Very good English spoken among staff so don't let langage keep you away. Nice to see tables with considérable spacing among them. This makes the beautiful ocean view that much more enjoyable. As far as atmosphere goes, there was a maritime theme to decor which was nice, tasteful and not overdone.

Wait staff did an excellent job guaging our late lunch party. There were 5 adults and 1 child. The child is very adventerous trying new foods. They took the time to consult when needed or asked but also stepped back allowing to really enjoy a leisurely meal.

Tons of fish on the menu but also other dishes as well. Fish tank in the entryway to the main dining area holds the catch(es) of the day.

Tuna and salmon tartars stood out in a region where these dishes are staples at many area restaurants.

While the menu sports pasta and other-non fish dishes, there is a lot of fish to try. Should be a variety of options for those who don't love raw and cooked fish. This menu is built for hungry fish-lovers who are inclined to eat other stuff too. Portions were mostly generous. Portions on tartars were a bit smaller than other area restaurants. Just order seconds.

The bill for 5 adults and 1 child was around 400 euros. A lot for a weekday lunch but a good value considering quality, creative specials, portions and...

Finally found a beach club worth a return visit. Coccaro Beach Club has a pleasant sand beach located within an alcove with the clearest of seas. Bathing is a pleasure and the facilities are clean and complemented by attentive staff. Lunch on the waters edge was accompanied by a pleasant sea breeze, some bubbles and fresh fish. Perfect ingredients for a slow lunch. Menu obviously favours fish but somewhat limiting for the carnivores amongst us. The club is child friendly and quite secure. A good time was had by all.

Returned two days later only to have missed an irritating feature that unfortunately downgrades the establishment to just another Italian disappointment. I noticed a €16 discrepancy between two exact bottles of bubbly, one ordered on the beach and the other ordered in the dining area. When queried, I was proudly informed that there is a surcharge for ordering on the beach! The beach and the dining area is equidistant from the bar! I walked it! It is so typically petty and very disappointing from such an establishment to be penny pinching. As if the waiters would not be tipped! Given the mentality I would not be surprised if the surcharge is not shared with the waiters. Italians have a habit of capping the hospitality experience with unnecessarily annoying but with obvious avariciousness. So few establishments are able to break through this barrier. They comfortably fool themselves that nobody will notice. We all do!...