La Bella Idrusa

People have spoken about how amazing Italian food can be well I have to start by saying you will 100% experience an extraordinary dining experience at La Bella Idrusa, Otranto Italy. La Bella Idrusa one of if not the best places I have ever been blessed to dine at. The food is not churned out for the numbers you will see waiting to access this fine dining experience. The food is defiantly made from the heart and the attention to detail head chef Mario goes to, to ensure guests receive the best quality local produce is second to none. Every dish Mario and his team prepares shows how passionate and committed they are producing exceptional food, which I have to say made every dish truly remarkable. La Bella Idrusa is the most welcoming restaurant I’ve been to, the hospitality is exemplary and the team do all they can to ensure you receive an exceptional dinning experience. Yes they are busy and at times, especially at weekends when there will be a huge queue outside the restaurant, you just have to ask yourself why? Just trust when I say it’s worth the wait. If you have a special function in mind and want a dedicated team to provide unbelievable food don’t be afraid to ask the team if they can accommodate your special occasion. I hope my pictures do the food justice. Thank you, Mario, Franco, Nadia, Marco, and the entire team at La Bella Idrisa. I will continue to share what a beautiful place Otranto and restaurant La Bella Idrusa are to visit.

Passed by on a Sunday evening long lines of people waiting to get in. Always a good sign. We asked for a table of 2 expecting to be told a long waiting time but were seated right away. Food was good. Tomato and Mozzarella salad Insalata Mista Margarita Pizza ( extremely good) Seafood Pasta tasty.

in short: little taste for a lot of money! unfortunately the food quality was much below the stunning atmosphere. each dish we had (parmigiana, la bella idrusa, pizza balsamica) was lacking in taste & complexity. e.g. i've never had dried tomatoes or capers with as little flavor as here. the staff was friendly but too rushed to clean plates off our table in 30 mins.

There is a reason why there is always a line to get a table here! The food is really good and it is worth the wait. It’s really hard to make a pizza that stands out amongst so many other restaurants that make pizza. I think that La Bella Idrusa is able to stand out amongst the competition with a very light crust and a bold pizza sauce. I’ve eaten so much pizza this week and this is the only one that I will remember.

Delicious pizza (pugliese), salad and their bread too! Very nice place, both outside and inside. You should know that you can't smoke, even on the outer tables. The staff was typical, but kind. The prices were good.

Great food, price, service and location (nice view sitting in the external patio). We've been to 2 other restaurants also in the old town, but they were average. This was the best of them. We ordered the octopus, orechiette (local pasta), German weiss beer and tiramisu for dessert. They also brought couvert (Italian bread with olive oil).

Delicious pizza, very nice staff and long queue but it worth the wait in my opinion. Owner and staff are doing their best from what I saw, it’s just too many people to serve. We waited for 1 hour but the pizza was worth it :)

It was a rainy windy evening but the staff made the experience very warm. Lovely break from entirely seafood pasta menu. Had casarecce with mussels, Fagioli and pecorino and it was delicious. Also recommend the tris of bruschetta di mare.