Agriturismo Calamate

Calamate felt charming and lovingly cared for during our two nights in June 2023. The rooms and houses each have names like Mint and Oregano, and the trees add to the feeling of the place. It can be noisy because it’s close to a highway, but with the room window closed it becomes completely quiet, and we slept well.

Lovely setting.

The Salento countryside setting was beautiful, quiet, and surrounded by greenery. The tuna was tender and plentiful, and the fried fish was delicious. Still, I left lunch with my family disappointed. I’d contacted the manager beforehand and knew the menu would differ from the high-season one. We ordered paccheri with seafood after one fried appetizer, and waited about half an hour. The pasta looked different from the dish I’d had there in August. It wasn’t homemade, though it tasted good. The seafood was the problem: it was completely empty, the mussels were tiny as fingernails, and the clams were like lupini clams, with several still closed. Worse, right after my first bite I found two hairs on my plate and took it back. They should have told us the seafood was empty this season so we could choose another place. They should also be more careful and wear hairnets.

There were four of us, plus our large dog, on a pleasant evening in August. The waiter was very attentive and kindly brought our dog fresh water several times. We had generous, delicious traditional Salento food, and the price felt fair for the amount. The quiet location, surrounded by the greenery of the Salento countryside, was lovely. We’ll definitely return.