| Ambiance: |  (4 / 5) |
| Service: | (4.5 / 5) |
| Value for money: | (5 / 5) |
| Pizza: | (3 / 5) |
Lucy and I spent our first evening together roaming the streets of Bari in search of an authentic trattoria to eat at. An hour later, having found ‘niente’ (nothing) we loosened our requirements to ‘restaurant’. When it got to new levels of ridiculousness in only having found one restaurant, we decided to call it a day and cook in the apartment instead. So, the next day we asked a local for recommendations and they suggested Il Rustica.
Initial impressions not great, hey?!
Il Rustica is in a pretty central location and easy to find. On initial, outside impressions, it didn’t look too tempting. With its graffiti like décor and workshop like design, it’d be the kind of place we would have walked past on our search and dismissed or not even have realised it was a restaurant. But, it had the right name and apparently a good reputation, so we stepped inside. Immediately it was evident that it was a popular place as it was packed with locals and we had to share a table to get a table for 2.
Lucy with our drinks and bread
Luckily I’d read the reviews and worked out that for ten euros you get everything, bar a menu – from the drink, to the antipasti buffet, pizza, sorbet and limoncello. If I hadn’t have read this, I know Lucy and I would have been mentally totting up how much everything was costing and our main conversation would have been ‘how much is this going to cost us’?! As the food was never ending! Starting with the obligatory bread and half litre of red wine for Lucy and large Peroni for me. This was quickly followed by small plates of grilled aubergine, zucchini, roasted potatoes, focaccia, frittata and coleslaw, I felt a little put out as I’d warned the waiter that Lucy was vegetarian so I thought because of this, I’d got the ‘no meat’ short end of the straw.
Our first round of the feast…
It just kept on coming…
Yummy close up – bruschetta con pomodoro
Boy was I wrong – the food just didn’t stop coming! Plates of olives, panzarotta (folded pizza, in this case with goats cheese and tomato), cheese and 3 types of ham appeared in front of us. There was more food than I, and the table knew what to do with, and I knew pizza was to come! I started stacking up the plates, half in an attempt to create space and to imply that I wanted pizza before we overdid it on the antipasti. My tactic worked as soon enough, a man came over and asked what we’d like on our pizzas. Lucy asked for artichokes, capers and courgettes, I opted for ‘meat’ (such a man) and artichokes (can’t get enough of them). As we were so close to the kitchen, we could watch our pizzas being made freshly in front of our eyes. This is the most similar idea to MYO that I’ve found since starting my research, in that it allows you to fully customise your pizza, and lets you watch the magic happen.
Me with my Italian meat feast
Ten minutes later, and one antipasti plate down, the pizzas arrived, looking pretty delicious. Possibly because I was so full and pizza’d out from my trip so far, I didn’t honestly think much of the pizza. The ham piled high on top seemed fairly cheap in quality, and the dough was a little nondescript in that it didn’t have much taste or texture. It tasted almost like a savoury soft sponge, if that passes as a description?! Anyway, somehow Lucy made it through her entire pizza and I only managed a quarter.
Limoncello e sorbetti
We finished our meal with some refreshing, yet tangy lemon sorbet and my Dad’s all-time favourite (BIG sarcasm here) limoncello. For those that don’t know, limoncello is an Italian favourite – vodka soaked in lemons and mixed with sugar, it results in having a similar taste to an alcoholic sherbet lemon. And, I love sherbet lemons, but in a shot – no, thanks. Luckily, being me, I spilt mine over anyway so I ended up getting out of having to drink it, although I still forced first-timer Lucy to ;).
Ah, and here’s a video of Lucy giving her ratings on the pizza!
We left Il Rustica two hours later, with full tummies and still reasonably full pockets, oh and a big pizza bag full of our left-overs! The queue outside was growing in numbers, proving that Il Rustica definitely is one of Bari’s top destinations amongst locals, and for only ten euros, I can see why.
Recommendation
For value for money, Il Rustica cannot be beaten. It also allows you to embrace the Italian culture through its disorganisation, hasty service and authenticity, I’d definitely recommend this as a place to go – if you can get past the outside appearance!
Extra Information:
Address: Via Quintino Sella,95, Bari, Italy
Website: No website
NTK: You’ll need to relax and take a back seat during your visit as there’s no explanation of what’s going on. Understand that it’ll ONLY cost you ten euros, and just say yes to everything you’re given – you don’t have to eat it all!
