Ristorante Alle Fornaci — Restaurant in Matera

What a shame, this is a restaurant of tourist trap, if you are not local, please AVOID. My daughter has done restaurant research before we arrived in Matera and this restaurant was among a few top restaurants in Matera. On the day of arrival, we decided to give us a treat so we went to this restaurant for dinner. We ordered octopus for starter and a whole piece of fish and four shrimps to grill for our main dish. When the fish and shrimps were brought to our table, a waiter was preparing the fish behind our table before serving. I could clearly see that he separated the fish into two halves, and served us with only one half and the bones, leaving another half in a plate behind us. I thought there was a second service, so I didn't ask. After we finished our plates, I was very surprised to find out that the plate with the second half of fish was gone. I called the waiter and asked why, he pretended that he didn't understand English and a lady waiter came to explain us that the second half of fish, according to her very words, is something that can not be eaten, this is the way how the restaurant "cleaned" the fish to serve. Ironically, the neighboring table also ordered a whole piece of fish and I witnessed the process of how that piece of fish was prepared: the same waiter also separated the fish into two halves and he served both parts in one service and took the bone away. I raised the question again to the lady waiter why we were treated differently, and I was given the answer that another table ordered a different kind of fish! This is outrageous, we come from Asia and it was clear that we were tourists in Matera by our physical appearance, we received completely different service than locals. What is more disgusting is that the restaurant charged us 65 Euros for half of fish and four shrimps! This is the worst dining experience in my life, you don't get what you ordered and you feel like a fool being trapped. If you are looking for a fine food restaurant with excellent services in Matera, please go to Quarry Lounge Terrace - Restaurant Garden In. We had our dinner the next day in this restaurant with beautiful view over Matera, we were pleasantly surprised by the view, the delicious seafood and very attentive services, which made the whole experience...

This has been the best dinner experience thus far, two weeks into our Italian vacation! Our walking guide Alle Fornaci and we’re so glad he did. It’s not in the tourist part of Matera so we were the only non-locals dining. The staff was so kind and generous and their lovely manner - along with the outstanding food - made for a very memorable evening. The complimentary focaccia was the best we’ve had. The salted cod/creamed pea and tuna tartare starters were amazing and their presentation beautiful. Same with our main courses of pasta seafood and ravioli with mushroom, cheese and shrimp. The chocolate mousse dessert was gorgeous. After dinner they brought us a homemade sweet wine that we had to resist refilling our glasses too much! When a nearby table with a large group was having a special dessert prepared —(looked like gelato stirred rapidly with liqueurs added in) the waiter brought us a portion! Really, just an outstanding experience at this lovely family-run restaurant....

On a very short notice, i e-mailed them about availibility and without giving them enough time to respond I walked into the restaurant as we were staying in Matera for one night on our trip to Puglia.

This is the place you want to eat. We compared the quality of food and the amount we paid for the food with all the restaurants we dined though out our trip. Ristorante Alle Fornaci was the bar we compared it to.

Every single dish was delicious. Everything was fresh. Portions were amazing. Service was stunning. I mean - i really don't exaggerate and I am pretty sure this is a local place.

On our last day in Bari, we even talked among us if we should drive to Matera for another meal just for the food. It was divine -- the foccacia they served warm at the restaurant was the best we had too.

The octopus was the best I ever had in my life and the pasta with the raw purple shrimps...