Where to eat in Brindisi

Italy

Brindisi actually has three or four very good restaurants... that will cost you upwards of €50 a head.

For picnic supplies (or to stock up on snacks for the ferry ride), there are some good little alimentari along Via C. Colombo, one of your first lefts upon leaving the train station.

The cheapest—and perhaps the best—of the lot is Pantagruele, reviewed below, but some may prefer the more refined atmosphere (and rarified prices) of garden-like La Lanterna (0831-564-026), a fish restaurant in an old palazzo at Via G. Tarantini 14 near the Piazza del Duomo (closed Sun); or Marco Aurelio (0831-521-773), another seafood specialist off Piazza Ciaroli at Via Masaniello 8.

Otherwise, the best advice I can give is to avoid the glut of miserable trattorie and disgusting pizza joints that infest the streets leading to and surrounding the port.

$ La Pergola. This is one of the only decent spots lining the road to the port. There are some tables set outside and--bless them on a hot summer afternoon--air-conditioning inside, where a TV locked into the day's sporting event keeps local patrons (and sometimes your waiter) enthralled. The food's not much to write home about, but it's ample and it's good. At least the pizza doesn't suffer the same tasteless fate as at neighboring dives, and the primi list is full of such reliable standbys as orecchiette brindisiana (Apulia's famed "little ears" yarmulke-shaped pastas served under tomato, hard ricotta, and basil), penne all'arrabbiata (quill pasta in a spicy tomato sauce), and spaghetti alle cozze (with mussels). For seafood stick to the daily fresh fish grilled. Otherwise it's a grigliata mista (mixed meat grill), polpette e involtini (meatballs and stuffed veal), or petto di pollo arrosto (roast chicken breast).
Via Pergola 3 (at Corso Garibaldi). +39-0831-222-207. Closed Tues.

$$ Pantagruele. The best of Brindisi's pricier restaurants--happily still at the low end of moderate—is hidden in the honeycomb of the port area's back streets. The simple whitewashed rooms of wide-spaced tables enjoy a clientele of local cognoscenti and visiting foodies that fills them with intellectual chatter while Armando glides amidst the tables, taking orders and suggesting wines. Ernesto is in charge of the kitchen, turning out intriguing riffs on Apulian faves, including trucioli con anelli di calamari (homemade pasta in a cream sauce with squid rings, mussels, basil, and avocado), strossapreti con porcini, spek, e crema (a hearty noodle dish with porcini mushrooms in a cream sauce with ham), or good old orecchiette al pomodoro (little pasta yarmulkas with fresh tomatoes, basil, and ricotta dura). If you're missing home, order their famous grilled Texas beefsteak for secondo, or go local with tagliata di seppia (cuttlefish fillets), adventurous with fileto di struzzo alla miscela di pepe vari (tender ostrich fillet in a sauce studded with peppercorns, sided with lightly fried potato slices), or traditional with the catch of the day. The excellent desserts are all made in house.
Via Salita di Ripalta 1-3 (near the port; turn left off Corso Garibaldi onto Via Amena, just past Adriatica's office). 0831-560-605. Closed Mon, Sun dinner (except Jul-Aug: closed Sat lunch, Sun), and Aug 7-31.

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