Ruz • Cucina Confidenziale — Restaurant in Polignano a Mare

Came for lunch upon our arrival. Was lovely meal it was the end of lunch so they kindly served us and service was good because of this. So much so we wanted to come for our final dinner here. Booked a table outside at 9pm. Arrived on time I was gestured to table outside. We took a seat. The placemat had a QR code so we scanned it . We waited and waited and waited. Not one waiter came over. Lots passing by and the owner. We weren’t offered water a drink or anything not even a menu. After 20 mins we asked if we could order. As we started to order there was some confusion as we hadn’t been given a menu . An item in the QR code wasn’t available. We ordered our drinks too which came shortly after. We waited over an he for our food . Tables that came after us had their food prior to ours and we hadn’t ordered anything that would be lengthy to make. After our starters we only received one main course. We told the waiter we ordered some chicken as my husband doesn’t eat beef. He said they don’t have chicken but again was from the QR menu as we never got an actual menu. Anyway long story short we couldn’t wait to leave by this point. When my husband mentioned to the owner after he asked how was everything that we waited for over an hr for our food the owner has the audacity to say it’s not a tourist restaurant!!! The problem is the owner wants to seat the guests, take the orders, clear tables, organise customers waiting etc….he can’t do it all ! Honestly I found that comment so insulting . An hour wait for food is not acceptable especially after waiting 20 mins to order and being ignored. Shame as the food was lovely….a simple I’m sorry we didn’t give you the service we should of would of meant a...

Had a sadly disappointing meal at RUZ Cucina Confidenziale. It started out well - we got a great table outside, perfect for people watching and enjoying the summer evening. Service was friendly if a little rushed- for example we ordered drinks and explained we wanted to finished those before our food came - but the food came really quickly before we’d finished the drinks -‘ah well. The food - not good. Started with spaghetti with capers and tomatoes, which had one flavour note (salt). Pasta Powell cooked but just a really flavourless (except for the salt) sauce. How do you make Italian tomatoes taste like they’re from Britain? Ask the RUZ chef. I had for my secondi the amberjack in a “tomato and basil soup with crispy potatoes”. What came was a huuge slab of over cooked fish in a (again) salty and flavour free tomato sauce (and not much of that). No crispy potatoes appeared so I asked the waiter who returned to confirm the “crispy potatoes” were actually buried in the sauce. He helped me identify them - three tiny squares of matter, possibly potato but definitely not crispy. See photo. My uneaten food was taken away without question. The kicker - I went up to pay - the manager asked how everything was - I replied honestly - he then shrugged and took my €90 and I left feeling like I’d just been mugged. Do avoid this place, the food is average at best and the management could not be less interested in customer...

We came because of the good reviews, but were disappointed. The wait staff was very disorganized and inattentive. It took a long while for them to take our order while they seemed to wonder around aimlessly, slam doors in a nearby building and chat up the owners of a nearby shop. Our drinks arrived long after our appetizers and only after we asked about them. The drinks were mostly ice and not much substance and appetizers were disappointing as well (the well reviewed cheese balls were lukewarm and did not seem to be freshly prepared). The waiters also carelessly slammed dishes and glasses on the table, reaching over and throwing napkins and passing items instead of walking around the table and carefully placing the them. Another note is that they only have two sittings for dinner, at 7:30pm and at 9:00pm. We arrived at 7:20 and were asked to wait 15 minutes to be seated. The main dishes arrived only at 8:40pm, leaving us only 20 minutes before we had to vacate the table. Right on cue, the waitress came by at 8:57pm, asking if we were finished and if everything was ok. We didn’t quite know how to answer. The octopus was too coarse and chewy, the potato puree was reduced to the point of being sticky, the shrimp that came with the pasta did not seem fresh. Would recommend the nearby Il Grottino restaurant instead. Much better food and by far...