Bari Restaurant Tips by johngayton

Restaurant Name: La Cecchina

With a whole day in Bari before catching the ferry for the overnight journey to Patras I decided to treat myself to a proper Italian lunch and a particular restaurant on the Piazza Mercantile had caught my eye the evening before. Firstly, the restaurant was busy (but then so were all the others), secondly the menu was written up on a blackboard entirely in Italian, and thirdly, unlike all the surrounding restaurants, there was no “Antipasto, Pizza, Fruitta for 10 Euros” special board - sounded good to me.

Arriving for lunch about 12.30 I secured a prime position overlooking the drinking water fountain and between the waiter’s English and my own culinary Italian we managed to decipher the menu with its antipasto to start, a choice of 4 primeri and 4 secondi.

Choices made: a half carafe of excellent, fruity, local white wine arrives with a basket of bread including the local speciality whose name temporarily escapes me (salata?) which are salty, biscuity, pretzel-type things. The sun is directly overhead, giving the square a stark bleached look, but the restaurant itself is well shaded and seems to catch whatever slight breeze there is giving it an amber airiness as the sun filters through the canopies.

The water fountain is a constant hive of activity: black-robed priests, orange-overalled workmen, some colorful pretty girls, the swarthy young boy with the family’s jerry can all contribute to this vignette of local life.

Favorite Dish: My lunch starts to arrive, but instead of the expected prosciutto, salami etc antipasto I seem to have been “fast-tracked” straight on to my choice of primeri which is a mussels and clams cooked with barley(?) in a tasty olive oil, garlic and herb broth. This is good but I am vaguely disappointed that the antipasto has been missed. As the waiter clears my plate I mention the antipasto which he genuinely seems aghast at having missed and offers to have one made up now. I decline and decide to proceed to my second course, the day's fish special, which neither of us could translate either way, but turns out to be an excellent pair of John Dory fillets gratinated with thinly-sliced potato, parmesan and herbs. The fish itself is delicious but the accompanying salad of arugula, raddichio and romaine is obviously left over from the weekend and the accompanying bowl of crudities has the same lack of freshness. Which is a pity because the fish really is tasty.

For dessert I opt for cheese which is an selection of hard cheeses and a blue cheese with a couple of honeyed dips served on a wooden platter. This is good, then coffee and grappa round off my lunch.

This was a pleasant way to spend lunch here in Bari but a little more attention to detail would have made for a superb lunch. The bill for my 3-courses including the wine, water, coffee and grappa was less than 30 Euros, which for a relaxing 2 hour lunch is pretty good value. Next time I’ll try towards the end of the week when the vegetables are fresh!

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Phone: 080 521 4147
Address: Piazza Mercantile, 31
Directions: On the square by the water fountain.