La Locanda dei Duchi

Very lovely place to eat! Family restaurant that knows how to treat their customers right. We found this place after visiting the castle. There was only 1 menu, after every round we were asked if we wanted the next round. Ended eating all rounds ofcourse. Very tasteful, stone oven made food, nice local wine and very relaxed atmosphere. Low prices for the menu including drinks. Could definitely recommend this place!

Hoenstly the best Italien food I have ever had. The focaccia was insanely delicious. It’s a family business where everything is homemade the focaccia the wine the cheese. The service was so great. They were so wonderful and kind, they gave us tons of suggestions of places to visit. The son speaks good English and is able to communicate with tourists very well. Just the best food! So yummy and really is a traditional Italien restaurant like everyone should visit when they come to Italy

Wonderful local and casual restaurant that looks family owned. We had amazingly tasty 'antipasti' starters (in my photos) and the house wine which was surprisingly good. The service was also very nice. Portions are huge! We shared one daily menu, the two of us, and could not fit any desert (even though we would have loved to try it!). We were very happy to have found this place. Everything is definitely home-made, a lady was slicing fresh produce in our sight.

This lovely restaurant set near the grounds of Castel Del Monte is truly a must visit. Upon arrival, the restaurant was already busy with large Italian families sitting and chatting. The ambience was family friendly; which was perfect for our family of 5. We sat and waited for the menu. Francesco approached us and asked us "what would you like!" We replied we would like to see the menu. (Now there is a story behind this which I will tell you so please bear with me on this!) so Francesco went and grabbed us the menu - which was all in Italian anyway which we did not understand! We sat there using google to translate the menu. After some time, Francesco returned and asked us what would we like. We still had not fully deciphered the menu! So he explained what was on the menu and some foods which he recommended. We went along with the foods he recommended which were local specialities along with pizzas and beef for our order. What first arrived was focaccia, this was our first time having focaccia in Puglia, I can only describe as divine. I am a bread lover anyway, so this was right up my street. It was light and fluffy in the inside, yet crispy in the outside, seasoned well with little bits of sweet tomatoes in between bites. Next along came roasted courgettes covered in crispy cheese, tomato and basil which was delightful! We also had slices of roasted aubergine drizzled in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My children who dislike aubergines tried and enjoyed it which is always a bonus. The pizzas which arrived were one of the best we have had in Puglia, the dough was fluffy and there was ample mozzarella cheese and topping. Finally, the beef arrived and it was the highlight of the evening. Cooked to perfection. Slices of tender, juicy and succulent beef, covered with slices of cheese and simply seasoned with salt and olive oil was superb. After the meal, we ordered ice cream desserts. I asked for cheesecake but sadly they were sold out. After paying the bill, Francesco asked us whether we would like to see the wood fire oven. We replied yes. He walked us over to meet Giuseppe who was the head chef. Giuseppe explained to us that all his foods are prepared in the wood fire oven! That explained why the focaccia, courgettes, pizzas and beef tasted so delicious! The wood he uses in his fire oven are wood from the olive trees!! What a bonus! Giuseppe explained that the restaurant does not have a set menu. The menu is by word of mouth from the waiting staff. Only the freshest ingredients are sourced and bought locally and made into dishes of the day to be served to his customers. And whatever is not on the menu can be requested and prepared providing the ingredients are there. (That explained why Francesco asked us "what would we like" without handing us the menu!) when we first arrived at the restaurant! Giuseppe then explained to us that his restaurant also has a grape vine! It was planted and arranged beautifully around the restaurant which we had not even noticed! It was in season, organically grown with no pesticides. He very kindly cut us a few bunches to try and take home to eat! They were the best grapes I have ever tasted. Big sweet, juicy, crispy grapes with a crunch. We were so impressed with the food and service that we returned the following day for lunch and had ear shaped pasta (which is a favourite in Puglia) with local sausages cooked in a 5 hour brewed beef stock. It was rich in beef flavour and every last morsel was eaten from our plates. Perfect bowl of pasta. We returned for another dinner and lunch sessions during our stay in Puglia! We were served horse meat which is a local delight, cooked beautifully in the wood fire oven, a must try if you are adventurous in the meat department. La Locanda dei duchi is a beautiful restaurant in a homely setting which overlooks the Castle Del Monte, serving anti pasta, pasta, pizzas, meat, starters, and fluffy focaccias, what is there not to love!!

Focaccia??? Have you heard of it, have you tried it? If you think you have tasted the best, then I challenge you to try the focaccia at “La Locanda dei Duchi”. The restaurant is about 7-10 mins drive from the renowned Castel Del Monte Park. Here the focaccia is soft as a pillow and always rises back up when you try to squash it. The small little tomatoes give the bread a delicate balance of sweetness. My family and I had 9 different varieties whilst in Pulgia, we did not eat any as good as ‘La Locanda dei Duchi’ The starters were also very impressive, their flavor was so intense and very generous but their pizzas were the ‘coup de foudre’ for me. I have never eaten such a soft and chewy pizza base and yet the top was crispy. The toppings were also fresh and plentiful. I am told the secret of a good pizza lies in the treatment of the dough, cooked in a wood fired oven, fresh and high-quality sourced toppings. “La Locanda dei Duchi” had it all. ‘La Locanda dei Duchi’ uses olive wood to fire its wood fired oven. Giuseppe, the owner and head chef of the restaurant told me: the olive wood burns more hotter, longer and more consistent than other woods he has used. Like all good chefs, they will tell you, precision and total control of the heat/temperature of your cooker is 50% of cooking. Seeing Giuseppe working in his kitchen juggling all of his pizzas and other food in and out of the oven was a grand sight. Simply put, a maestro at work. The beef we had were amazingly tender, flavorsome and juicy. I have three kids, two of them are 15 and 18 year old boys. They literally ate like wild lions when presented the beef. They quickly devoured the two portions and we had to quickly order another portion!! The service we received was extremely friendly, informative and without speaking any Italian (apologies for being lazy tourists) we received the best meals in Puglia. We even met our favourite waiter, Francesco, coincidentally in another town in a Gelato shop and guess what?? Francesco helped us order what we wanted from the Gelato shop. *Francesco*, I salute you!! I cannot comment on their wine list as we not drink, but what we lose on alcohol, we make up two folds in food. We actually went back to ‘La Locanda dei Duchi’ three times after our first visit. We would of went more times but it was sadly time to return back to London. To the savy eaters out there, the great things at ‘La Locanda dei Duchi’ are the portions and the price. If Giuseppe decided to increase his prices by 15%, I would still happily come as the price difference is easily worth the quality of food, the portion size and the service we received. Now back in London, I still think of ‘La Locanda dei Duchi’ as my little piece of Italy and Puglia.