U' Sirr - MARTINA FRANCA

Only on very rare occasions do you find an unassuming local small village eatery that surpasses your expectations completely. U 'sirr is one of these. We had been told that we should go past the look of the place as a kebab takeaway, and the fact that it is called a Pizzeria, and we were delighted that we did. It is very small with only about 4 tables, and hardly an elegant looking establishment, but the food was on par with the more upmarket restaurants we have visited in the area, at about 1/4 their price. Giuseppe, the host, is a truffle hunter and is incredibly generous with his serves. He said that he loves to see his customers smile, and he must have been pleased with us as we never stopped grinning. The antipasti were excellent and a tast treat ...tripe, cabbage with ragout, mozzarella with capicola, crumbed peppers, fritata, melanzane, soused marzuolo mushrooms, fried olives and fried onions ... all really good. First plate was fettucine with a large amount of at-table freshly shaved white truffle ... unbelievably great. Main course was rare beef with mascapone and truffle ... Brilliant !! Finished with coffee and a wonderful slice of homemade fruit shortbread tart. All cooked by Giuseppe 's mother out the back. This is a not to miss and without doubt my number 1 recommendation in the area. We have been eating our way through Puglia, so have tried many that are in the Michelin and other tourist guides, and this inexpensive, unpretentious little restaurant ranks with the best. We will go back many times before we head home, as the menu is very extensive, and there is much more that I would love to try.

We visited U 'Sirr on the recommendation of our host, who 's advice 'don 't be put off by the look of the restaurant ' stood us in good stead. Just opposite the church in San Paulo, U 'Sirr resembles a chip shop inside, with heated counter/kebab spike and just 3 'rustic ' tables which have seen better days, although everything was spotlessly clean. There did however appear to be a more conventional restaurant type area too our table had been booked for us and perhaps we were treated to the more authentic experience as a result. Owner Guiseppe 's English is far better than our Italian, and he has gone to the trouble of producing a clear English menu. Dishes with mushrooms/truffles are the speciality of the house it appears, with produce freshly picked by Guiseppe himself, and his mum heading up the kitchen. On realising that 2 of us only really had appetite to have a pasta starter as our main course, he cheerfully produced a mixed plate of antipasti.....delicious breadcrumb coated meatballs, breadcrumbed peppers and red onions, local prosciutto, mozzarella and local delicacy, tripe. I can say that all were super, but can 't comment on the tripe! Homemade tagliatelle and ravioli followed with accompaniments of shaved truffle and fresh mushrooms respectively. Deceptively simple food which was absolutely delicious, all agreed it more than matched up to some of the 'swankier ' places visited earlier in the week. To finish we were presented with pieces of homemade sponge cake containing pieces of green cherry and sparing mixed peel, on the house no less. Great value, fabulous rustic quality, and a cheerful owner keen to please and showcase the local specialities all make U 'Sirr well worth a visit.

This small restaurant has only 4 tables inside, however the food is tasty and of good quality. The pizza was very good, with a light but crispy base (frequently pizzas are soggy and doughy), mine was covered in mushrooms delicious. My wife who has a cheese intolerance had a pizza base with a ham and tuna salad which she thought was 'very tasty '. Unfortunately there was only pizza based food on offer at the time but we enjoyed what we had .