MATRE Ristorante — Restaurant in Gallipoli

We arrived on a hot afternoon at 2pm, and decided to enter this restaurant. We were extremely surprised!

The restaurant is called matre, which means mother, helmed by husband and wife duo of 24 years - Peter and Anna.

Peter was the front of house staff, he was ever so welcoming and he really challenges himself to speak in English with us.

Peter is an avid supporter of his wife, Anna’s, cooking - Anna was the masterchef of all our dishes. IN SUMMARY, THIS WAS MOTHERS HOME COOKING with FLAIR!!!

We had some amazing appetisers for which we did not take any pictures! (a sign that tells you how good a meal is). We loved the fried breaded anchovies and the Pastella zucchini flowers (Peter even explained the difference between Pastella and Tempura- it was more chewy whereas tempura was light- he knew his craft!)

We also had the aubergine meatballs- it had the most amazing passata/ tomato sauce. The tuna tartare was also very fresh, light, refreshing paired tomatoes. (Not pictured cause it smelled too good!!)

For primis, we had the octopus pasta (pictured), cooked Al dente 👌🏼. But the outstanding dish for us was the the langoustine pasta (not pictured - cause it smelt too good).

We highly recommend Gallipoli purple prawns- native to the area, it tasted of the sea in our mouth… we wanted more! The Zucchini was a lovely touch to balance out the intense flavour from the prawns. The Roe in the prawn was massive, Peter tells us they do an amazing tomato and prawn roe pasta- which we did not manage to try but will be something to look forward to in the future!!!!

We also had the most amazing handmade tiramisu by Anna- Peter was really proud of it. It had a good balance of all components, the mascarpone was the right texture.

Peter also gave us a little tour of his back garden, filled with things he grows himself - orange tree and a lemon tree, with lemons size of my palm!!!! Lots of herbs as well- they were extremely aromatic.

In conclusion; this was a very good lunch. Enjoyable one as well. Hospitality from Peter was top notch and Anna’s cooking with incomparable. We hope to see them...

Fantastic dining experience. The place is cosy and elegant and the owners are lovely. I went several times for dinner while in my holidays and they always recommended me what dishes & wine to try, as well as they told me a lot of things about the territory and the local products they use. I was amazed to see how many vegetarians options they have. The quality of the food is amazing, fresh and local, and so is the taste, traditional and creative at the same time, so many flavours to try! I enjoyed a lot the Pinse (a new pizza made with rice & soya flour) , the soup of the day, as well as the traditional fave e foglie. Also my partner enjoyed a lot the fish dishes, particularly the crudite and gamberi viola. Desserts are great too. We would definitely come back and...

I don't leave many reviews nowadays but felt we had to following our visit to this restaurant. Delicious home cooked food with lots of specials on the menu. We received a warm welcome and asked to sit in the cute outside area at the back of the restaurant.

We were greeted there by the exceptionally kind waiter called Eduardo who made our visit extra special with his attentive service , explanations of the menu options and just a generally lovely personality. We had a nice chat with him - he's a real credit to the restaurant. We travel a lot and Eduardo's kind nature meant that we just had to leave a review for this restaurant that served such fantastic, home cooked Italian food.

Amongst the restaurants in Gallipoli, this WAS the...