Where to eat and drink in Trani, Puglia

Heading to Trani in Puglia and looking for the best spots for aperitivo or great restaurants for lunch or dinner? Look no further. Here’s where to eat and drink in Trani.

And if you’re looking for the best things to do in Trani, I’ve got you covered.

Best places to drink in Trani

Aperitivo is an Italian tradition, which is not to be missed when on holiday in Italy. It consists of a drink, usually served with snacks or light bites, and is enjoyed before dinner as a way to stimulate your appetite. Interestingly in Trani, everywhere we went for aperitivo they didn’t just automatically give you something to eat – you had to order it. Most places offered a choice of olives, crisps and taralli (traditional Puglian savoury snacks) or something more substantial if you wanted it.

The rooftop bar at Hotel Ognissanti

Ognissanti is a luxury hotel situated right on the marina. It has a fabulous rooftop bar with stunning views over the port. We visited twice without a reservation and didn’t have an issue getting a table, however I would recommend booking – especially if you’re a group.

Despite it being a fancy hotel, the drinks weren’t actually that much more than anywhere else we went for aperitivo. The one thing that was fairly pricey were the crisps, at €5 – however they were posh crisps in a can! The vibe and the view at Ognissanti is fab, plus their Aperol Spritz was perfect.

Portulaca

If you’re looking for a fantastic Aperol Spritz and a buzzing atmosphere, head to Portulaca which is right on the port.

As well as having one the best Aperol Spritzes of the holiday, they also had the best olives at just €2! Their taralli were also delicious. Note that there’s a great view of the port, however it’s also a road that cars can drive through.

If you’re looking for somewhere to head to after dinner, then Portulaca is definitely the place. It was super busy late at night and buzzing with people and music.

Barbayanne

Located along Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo (a long stretch of beach in Trani) is Barbayanne, which is a bar and restaurant. They have about three different areas that you can sit, but if you want to be closer to the sea then I recommend choosing the lower deck. What a view!

Cantina Wine & Luxury Food

If you’re after a more sophisticated setting, head to Cantina Wine & Luxury Food. It’s also located on the port and has Champagne on the menu. I didn’t take the best photo of it but trust me, it’s a lovely setting – especially when it gets dark. It’s also really nice inside too with very modern decor and a fancy wine cellar.

The crisps they serve at Cantina are the same brand as the ones at Ognissanti except the ones at Ognissanti were potato sticks that came in a can. The drinks at Cantina were more on the pricey side than other places we went to for aperitivo but they were worth it. We had two glasses of Franciacorta with crisps for €25.

Where to eat in Trani

I have to say, I was very impressed with the choice of restaurants in Trani! There are even six restaurants that feature on the Michelin Guide, two of which we went to. Here’s the restaurants I recommend in Trani.

Peschef

Peschef specilaises in seafood – as the name suggests. It’s a play on words of Pesce (fish in Italian) and chef. They have two locations in Trani – one by the port and one by the sea, along Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo. We went for lunch at the one by the sea on our first day. Actually, it’s the only lunch we had in Trani as we had lunch at Bisceglie, Molfetta and Andria on the other days.

Peschef has nice looking restaurants but they are quite basic in that you order and pay for your food upfront and then it’s brought to you table when it’s ready. Obviously if you wanted to order anything else, you’d need to get up and order and pay again!

We ordered an Aperol Spritz, which was really good, along with the mixed seafood bruschetta, Bombette di Pescatrice (Monkfish bites with guanciale) and fried calamari. The food was really good and all of that came to about €44 (including drinks).

Mānima

Mānima is a family-run osteria in Piazza Quercia, overlooking the port. And when I say ‘family-run’ – I mean it! The night we went for dinner, the son, daughter and father were all working.

The setting at Mānima is lovely, especially if you go at dusk as you can watch the sun set. At night though the lighting is really good, with just stylish table lamps giving off light.

Whenever we’re in Puglia we look forward to cozze gratin so we were delighted to see it on the menu at Mānima. Weirdly, it was the only restaurant we went to in Trani that served it! I think the presentation could’ve been better but they were absolutely delicious.

For his pasta, my husband ordered the Linguine al riccio, which was beautifully presented and tasted delicious. They were also pretty generous with the riccio (sea urchin).

I really wanted the riso, patate e cozze (rice, potato and mussels) but they only have it on the menu on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and we went on a Wednesday night but lucky for me it was available! And it was very yummy.

After the meal I headed to the kitchen to thank the chefs, who were only too happy to pose for a photo when I asked! And above the kitchen is a photo of the family who own Mānima.

We had a fantastic meal at Mānima. The food was delicious, the service was great and there was just a lovely ambiance. I highly recommend it.

Le Lampare al Fortino

Le Lampare al Fortino is an old-school Italian restaurant that’s listed in the Michelin Guide. It has an absolutely stunning view of the Cathedral but we noticed that only bigger tables were seated on that side. The view was still lovely though from where we were sat.

I say ‘old school’ because the servers wear black trousers and white shirts and only two of them are allowed to take food orders. As the restaurant was busy, it took 20 minutes before they took our food order – thankfully we had wine and bread! This is also the kind of place that gives you a complimentary glass of sparkling wine when you arrive, as well as little dishes, compliments of the chef (however that only arrived about a minute before our starter…)

The food and service was really good, but it was slow. I don’t know if we just got unlucky but as I said, it took 20 minutes just to order some food and then there was at least a 30 – 40 minute wait between our starter and our pasta course.

The food, as you can see, is beautifully presented and it was very good. The wine we ordered, which was actually the wine they gave us when we arrived, was lovely. It was a French Rosé Crémant, which was reasonably priced at €35 a bottle.

The pasta courses were both delicious and we would’ve liked to have ordered some fish to share but it was a bit too late as it had taken quite a long time from sitting down to finishing our pasta.

Le Lampare al Fortino is a lovely restaurant that’s more on the fine dining side. I really recommend it, however they do call themselves a ‘slow’ restaurant so be prepared to have a leisurely meal!

Terradimare

Terradimare features on the Michelin Guide – and for good reason. We had booked an outside table but it was quite windy that night so we were moved inside. The inside is really nicely decorated and I loved how you could see the chefs in the kitchen but it was a bit bright for our liking.

Terradimare is the kind of restaurant where you get some snacks from the chef, before your meal. They were very modern and refined and the focaccia Barese was divine.

For starters we had the raw fish with acqua pazza (‘crazy water’), cucumber and almonds. It was very tasty and refreshing. But the roasted cuttlefish starter with Jerusalem artichoke foam was the star of the show. It tasted like it had been cooked on a BBQ! Absolutely gorgeous.

For our pasta course, I chose the spaghetti with a herb and seaweed pesto with a clam reduction and topped with raw prawns. My husband had the handmade fusilli with mantèca butter, anchovies, lemon and pulp from sea urchins (riccio). This was my husband’s favourite pasta of the holiday but he felt it was a bit on the small side and could’ve had twice the portion! My portion was fine for me. And apparently the pasta is weighed out and they were the same (we asked!) although mine did look bigger.

For once the timings were perfect so we were able to order fish too. We just went for the fish of the day to share, which was very simple but delicious.

We had a wonderful meal at Terradimare. The service by Deborah and Anna was excellent and the food was fabulous. Hats off to the chefs! I’d highly recommend booking a table here – you won’t regret it.

Corteinfiore

Corteinfiore was opened in 2000 and is located in a 16th building on the site of a former Jewish ghetto. The concept is a garden that can be used in both summer and winter. To be honest, when we booked it we were expecting outside tables in a garden but actually it’s all indoors. Or at least, if there are tables outside, we didn’t see them.

Personally, I didn’t really love the decor of the restaurant but the lighting was good and there was a nice ambiance.

There are some starters you can order on their own, such as a fish carpaccio but their specialty is the chef chooses four dishes that are based on seasonality and what’s at the market that day. To be honest, I can’t remember exactly all four dishes we had but they were all really good. One though was a baccala (cod) potato cake with sundried tomatoes on the top and it was really yummy! And the tempura prawn was fabulous too.

Even though my husband doesn’t really like prawns, we were recommended the prawns and I’m so glad we ordered them because they were insanely good!

Now… I have a funny story. We had ordered our pasta course when we ordered the starters and they served two of the four starters, then the other two and then the prawns after that. At some point, I thought the pasta seemed to be taking a while but we were having a good time and chatting away so didn’t think too much of it. Until they arrived and I looked at my watch and it was 11pm… two hours after we’d sat down!

Luckily for the them, the pasta worth the wait, otherwise I probably would’ve been fairly annoyed at waiting so long. We did mention it and they apologised and said they didn’t know what had happened. The restaurant was really busy when we arrived but by that point there weren’t that many tables. Anyway, they did take some money off the bill so all was forgiven.

So, we had a lovely meal at Cortinfiore but my advice is to say something if you think it’s taking a while, rather than say nothing and wait an hour between the starter and pasta!

Locanda Trani

Our last night in Trani was a Sunday and let me tell you… if you want to eat at any of the restaurants I’ve mentioned above – most of them are not open on a Sunday night! And, on Locanda Trani’s website they say they are only open on a Sunday night if you have a booking. So, on Saturday night before we went for dinner we popped in to ask if they were open on Sunday night and to make a booking. Thankfully they were!

They have both outdoor and indoor seating, although outdoor is partially outdoor as they have like sliding windows. Locanda Trani is located on a fairly busy pedestrianized street just off the port and it was quite nice having people walking past. We sat outside but the inside was actually really lovely. It’s a bit like a cave inside.

The menu is seasonal and they also offer a tasting menu of seven courses for €50, which is extremely good value. We opted for À la carte. The menu at Locanda Trani is definitely one of the more innovative we experienced. For example, for our starters we had the savoury cannolo with ricotta foam and a pink prawn tartare, the red tuna tartare with citrus pieces, toasted almonds and berries and the fried salted cod with cream of zucchini.

I have to say, when the tuna tartare arrived with the pink sorbet, I was not convinced! Also, because it didn’t actually say there was sorbet but let me tell you… wow! It was absolutely gorgeous. The flavours worked so well together and the toasted almonds gave it the crunch it needed.

As I’d had so much fish and seafood during our holiday, for my pasta I went for the tortello with braised beef in red wine with confit cherry tomatoes and ricotta. My husband ordered the Linguine ai riccio (sea urchin). I kept wondering if maybe I’d made a mistake not ordering seafood but reader… I did not! My pasta was soooo delicious. In fact, my husband preferred mine over his. It looked beautiful too.

After our pasta, we ordered the fish of the day with tomatoes and olives. If I remember correctly, it was orata, which is sea bream – one of my favourites. It was filleted at the table for us and was perfectly cooked.

Our meal at Locanda Trani was definitely one of my favourites of the holiday. The setting and decor is lovely, the service was excellent and the food was fantastic. I had to go in and thank the chefs, Margherita and Carlo for a wonderful meal and they were happy to pose for a photo with our lovely server, Anna.

So if you’re heading to Trani on holiday, you’re in for a treat when it comes to the food. There are so many fantastic restaurants and I hope this blog post has inspired you to book some – or all – of them!

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