Puglia: Dinner at the famous Grotta Palazzese
As I made the list of what we were going to do on our vacation in Puglia, having dinner at Grotta Palazzese was way up on the list. I’d made reservations at this famous cave restaurant in Polignano a Mare weeks before we left.
I had visions of how romantic it was going to be to eat in this world-renowned, amazing cave next to the water with the sound of waves crashing on the side of the limestone cliffs. And it was absolutely gorgeous and romantic – set in the cave under the cliffs of the city with an open view of the sea.
I timed our reservation so that we arrived before sunset so we could experience the ambiance in the light, but also enjoy the sunset, and see it in the dark. It was the perfect plan as we got to see all of that! And you couldn’t ask for a more beautiful place to dine!
I’d also read that the setting was way better than the food - so I went in with realistic expectations of the full experience – and had decided this was about the setting more than the food.
What I’d read online was true. The food was fine but not outstanding or Michelin star level. We elected to order ala carte so we could create our own menu vs going with one of the set tasting menus:
All meals included a starter of gazpacho and a yummy bready thing (not exactly sure what it was). Both were tasty.
As I almost always do when it’s available, I ordered caviar and selected the ossetra. The caviar was good quality and the blinis and crème fraiche were tasty. But it didn’t come with the usual accompaniments like hard-boiled egg, onion, etc. It did come with salted butter, which was new to me with caviar.
For the next course, I ordered seared scallops with yuzu, burrata and green sauce and Mike ordered the poached egg with asparagus, pecorino cheese and onion.
For our third course, I ordered the Pacchero pasta with scorpionfish and eggplant and Mike ordered the Ravioli with braised beef ragù, burrata and celery.
Our main courses were sea bass with baby spinach and smoked mayo for me and beef fillet with green sauce and potato for Mike. (didn’t get a photo of these)
We finished off our time here with dessert – lemon tart for me and a two-chocolate mousse with coffee whipped ganache for Mike.
I have to say that the food was beautifully presented and was good, just not as good as I’d have expected at a restaurant this beautiful and for the price we paid.
We also ordered the wine pairings with dinner which were fine but not outstanding.
Summary – Having dinner at Grotta Palazzese is an amazing once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience! You can’t beat the time spent in this stunning, romantic setting inside a natural sea cave. We definitely enjoyed our time there and would do it again if we had to plan our first trip to Puglia over. But keep food expectations realistic and don’t go expecting amazing Michelin star food. The food is fine, but not the best for the price (expect it to start around $200/person without drinks). But I’d say to definitely go have the experience and enjoy it! Just know you are paying more for that (experience) than the food.
Return to the Puglia overview blog: Puglia, Italy: What Dreams Are Made Of.
