Ristorante Porta Nova

Like many, we were passing through Ostuni. But we craved something nice. As a tourist it is easy to eat street food, or tavola calda, or osteria, and that can be good, but sometimes you need to slow down and enjoy it all. Porta Nova is one of the places you eat to savor the experience. It is fine dining from beginning to end. We were greeted warmly, seated and well served. Bread selection is wonderful. The amuse bouche was veloute of pumpkin with chestnuts and mushrooms. Amazing! I had the local fish crudo (pictured) was delicate thinly fileted local fish with red pepper corn. Delicious! My wife enjoyed the mussels which were perfectly prepared. I had roasted full body local fish which came with vegetables (pictured). My wife had the orcchietti with rape. Such execution is noteworthy. A local white wine was the perfect partner for everything. Plus you have the incredible views (pictured) and my poor photos don't do it justice. Overall a wonderful experience!

The food was outstanding, the ambiance is nice, the view as well. Most importantly Donato was exceptional, what an amazing service! 10/10 Highly recommended in Ostuni

Hands down the best meal I had in Italy. The portions were huge, and each dish was so flavourful. Wholesome, fresh, from a real chef 🧑‍🍳. We ordered from the “extra menu” directly with the chef. Donato was very knowledgeable with all the ways to prepare each fish. We ordered a fish, a lobster pasta and another kind of fish (I don’t know the names of the dish, so here are the pictures!). We paid good money, but well worth it.

Absolutely amazing food! Staff were kind and helpful. House wine is 100% local and worth trying. They give you two amuse bouche to start (two first photos) and their very own taralli and bread with local olive oil. The mains were scrumptious and dessert was exquisite.

Beer ribs excellent until we ordered a second plate. Shrimps, seafood pasta, Codfish.. yummy! Excellent viewpoint of the White City. Downside? Expensive.

Overall the atmosphere was really nice. The service was good and the food wasn’t bad. But for a simple lunch we got scammed out of allot of money. I’ve had a beer and a local fish. The thing is the fish costs 20. Fair price. Although the beer was 15 when I saw the bill after. Also the coperto is 5 per person (including a baby of 1 year old), water was 15 euros. With 8 people of which were 2 babies turned into a 300 euro lunch while it was quite basic and simple. You don’t see the prices of those things in advance and they don’t tell you. Quite the surprise.

The meal was the best we have had in a long time. Everything was perfection and made with love. But the service and the warmth of the family staff is unmatched and beyond outstanding. Don’t miss this gem of a dining experience. You won’t regret it. The beef dish and the pasta are well known and incredible as was everything.

100% Scam!!!!!! They didn’t give us any non-wine menu. They said they didn’t have any beverage menu. They didn’t show us any aperitivo menu at all. We asked for 1 glass of wine and 1 non-alcoholic beverage. The bill came out as 25 euro per person. We thought the olive and bread were offered to us for free. The bread was black, totally overheated. Such a scam place! Totally losing face for Southern Italian people.

Let me start by saying that I am a diehard foodie and have eaten at Michelin star restaurants around the world. Porta Nova was a stumbled upon gold mine. Let us start with the wonderful little baked goods that exploded with flavor in your mouth. Followed by the BEST olive oil we have in 7 weeks in Italy (Ciacciolio) green, rich buttery utterly amazing. The tomatoe cream soup, which was a chef gift was delicate and rich with buffalo mozzarella. The Crocker filet with vegetables were to die for and my pasta with shrimp had a sauce that I used bread to wipe my plate clean. And then came our aperitif, vanilla, hazelnut liquor. We felt like we had died and gone to heaven. I can not comprehend that this restaurant does not have a 4.5 or 5 star rating. If you are in Ostuni you have to eat here.