Dal Cavaliere - FRANCAVILLA AL MARE

Not stylish and not on the sea-front but couldn't be better value. Very generous portions of good fresh sea-food and real down-to-earth family service. A pity it's not near home.

This 'rustica ' traditional Italian restaurant is on the south side of Francavilla al Mare, two blocks from the beach in a less congested area than further north. Nice family-run place, with a 'to-go ' business as well, large tins of food being picked up from the entry as we went to our seats. (Good to Know! We had 15E price-fix menu: Pasta alla ghitarra (fresh spaghetti hand-made on a guitar-style cutter with extremely generous amounts of vongole (mussels and (scoglie clams. An order for 2 fed 4 with a to-go box afterwards! Next fresh gnocche with shrimp: the dish including sauce was excellent. Next lightly fried octopus (calamari , fish (sardellini , and shrimp (scampi . Just the right amount of salt and seasoning. Each dish was too much for us to finish. Wine, water, coffees... we were too full for dessert. 1E cover for bread, which is usual in many places. Total bill 60E, or 15E each. Excellent value. The appetizers going by looked great, with generous proportions and wide variety.