A Winter Weekend Away in Noci, Pulgia

Last winter we were lucky enough to have the grandparents babysit for one night while we hit off for a romantic night away. We stuck to Puglia as we had to be back to Monopoli for our son’s rugby match the next morning. We had heard that Noci is quite the foodie place and there were two places that we really wanted to try in Noci - The Japanese restaurant, Yuki, and Ama’s Petit Bistrot - both did not disappoint. 

Where to stay in Noci, Puglia

I found this amazing bed and breakfast with a full sauna in the room - what a treat! As the weather was dull and rainy this was the perfect way to relax https://www.murrluxuryrooms.it/ 

Murr Luxury Rooms is a converted townhouse within walking distance that has 5 rooms all with a different health centre feature e.g. a turkish bath, a sauna, a jacuzzi and there is a separate massage room that you can organise a masseuse to visit for private treatments. When the owner gave us a tour I thought this place would be perfect for a girl’s pamper weekend if you booked the whole place out you could move between rooms and they also have a rooftop terrace where they can organise yoga or just sip aperitivo before you go for your foodie experience. 

Where to eat in Noci, Puglia

Yuki - An authentic Japanese restaurant in the middle of Puglia

Anyway - back to the food! You might be wondering why we wanted to eat at a Japanese restaurant in the middle of Puglia - and in fact what a place like that was even doing in Noci in the first place…

However, let me explain. Living in Puglia, there are very few authentic ethnic restaurants. And after living in Sydney for 12 years with all sorts of variety of food, we miss a good curry or different flavours other than Italian.

Thankfully there are a few gems of ethnic restaurants popping up in Puglia and I’ll do a seperate Blog on that soon. 

There are plenty of ‘sushi’ restaurants in Puglia but Yuki is the real deal for Japanese food:

Chef Andrea Fontana, along with Maurizio, students of Hirohiko Shoda, offer washoku cuisine, a key aesthetic and traditional concept in Japanese culture. The chef personally selects the ingredients for his dishes, adhering to the criteria of seasonality, quality, and freshness. Yuki offers a different menu for each season, with the utmost care also in selecting wines and sake. By interpreting guests' wishes and requests, the maître d' advises them on the most authentic way to explore authentic Japanese cuisine.

Since March 2019, Yuki has also had the JETRO certification code J000-039-058, which attests to the quality of raw materials from Japan and the authenticity of true Japanese cuisine.

Despite being a fine dining restaurant (in terms of the food) the atmosphere is very relaxed and didn’t feel stuffy. It is quite intimate with low lighting but still feels casual and comfortable. There was a family eating with their kids and a group of friends along with a few tables of couples.

We opted for the Omakase 6 tasting menu for 70 euro each and you can pair it with wines for additional. The food was exquisite and each plate was thoughtfully prepared. Serena, who used to work in the kitchen, had great knowledge of the ingredients and gave us an enthusiastic rundown of each dish.

Omakase 6 

• Entree: hijiki teriyaki and Pink grapefruit. Hijiki are Japanese brown seaweed similar to tea with scalp strengthening properties cooked in a pan with teriyaki sauce, carrots and pink grapefruit

• Special miso soup with Turnip tops and enoki mushrooms

  
  

• Tako wasabi: Octopus cooked at low temperature, seasoned with a sauce made with the steam of wasabi, marinated Japanese radish and intini olivastra oil 

  
  

• Hamachi, Japanese amberjack marinated in shio koji and seared, served with yuzu sauce, and black garlic, herb oil and sesame

  
  

• Sashimi tasting. Tasting dish, maki/nigiri 

  
  

• Gyoza 

  
  

I would absolutely recommend this restaurant and I feel anything you order would be of the highest quality. 

Ama's Bistrot, Noci - Traditional yet excellent Apulian fine dining

Another delicious place we visited for lunch in Noci was Ama’s Petit Bistrot. This is a husband and wife team and we were the only ones in here for lunch on a rainy Saturday. Despite this, we didn’t feel rushed and had a lovely relaxing and delicious meal. A highlight was the mouth watering appetizer: 65* egg with Parmesan fondue and crispy bacon. 

A typical Apuglian long lunch in Noci

If you are looking for typical long lunch which is a great tradition in Puglia (think endless courses and a long that lasts hours) L'Antica Locanda is worth checking out. It is a very popular spot so you will need to book ahead for a Sunday lunch booking.

What else is there to do on a winter's weekend in Noci?

A great thing to do during a Sunday in Puglia in the winter is visit one of the antique markets (read my blog post of the Martina Franca antique market and you will get the idea and a list of where each market takes place.)