Lu Stazzu - Arzachena

Quite authentic place that feels like a farm dining. The food was very simple but good. Presentation and service could be better. Wort a visit for a different experience.

Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean and you can find great seafood here. But the Sardo culture is meat and cheese driven. I thank our hotel concierge for recommending this family-owned restaurant located at the end of a very long driveway in the countryside. The address is cryptic, and we even got lost using Google maps and my GPS. Fortunately, a kindly Italian woman gave me better instructions from her driveway. We dined under the attractive lights illuminating the olive trees on the large patio of Ristorante Lu Stazzu on a warm summer night. The kitchen and main dining room is located in a large building, but the star of the show is the small roasting house. Look inside and you will see the chief tending a large wood fire surrounded by piglets being roasted on long skewers. Cooking doesn't get more authentic or traditional than this. Get the roast suckling pig. And the slow cooked lamb. And the potatoes roasted in the ashes of the fire. And don't miss the exceptional small fava beans smothered in pork fat and pancetta. We drank a bottle of a delicious and inexpensive local Vermentino recommended by the owner. One caution is that most of the staff speaks little or no English. So, brush up on your menu Italian if you plan on eating here.

As soon as I landed at Olbia, this was the first place I was recommended to visit by the car hire guy. He said: “Lu Stazzu is the most genuine and authentic place to taste traditional Sardinian cuisine”. Thank God I listened to him... Tucked away among olive trees and junipers in the land of Arzachena (the least touristic spot in the area), it is really hard to find it, if you don’t know it exists. “Lu Stazzu” is the small stonewall house, ex-shepherds’ cabin, in the middle of the yard, which they turned into a big wood oven where they roast meat and fish. Get a sneak peek inside when you approach the desk to ask for a table. The menu offers some of the best meat dishes that you won’t find easily on the seaside: Musteba (pork loin bresaola) With Rocket, Sheep Ham and Sausage served with Pecorino. For main, you can’t come here and not try the “Porcetto Sardo”, the most typical local specialty: pork roasted for hours on a spit and cooked with salt and mirto leaves only. It literally melts in your mouth. You’ll probably need a good digestif after this, like a smooth Mirto Sorbet, but after all, Porcetto is the reason why you are here . Tasting Sardinian specialties in a bucolic scenario like this, away from the noise and crowd typical of this part of the island, is just an unbelievable dining experience. Absolutely unmissable.

An adorable courtyard to taste an amazingly crispy and tender suckling pig. Just perfect. A nice hostess made the experience even more pleasant.

Posizione 10 cena 7 costosa sia il coperto 3€ a persona, e il porcetto 20€ 350g che erano principalmente buone ossa i armadietti al Campidoglio, pappardelle eccellenti al ragù cinghiale dell'asinara. buono anche il seadas (5€ il grande, 4€ il miniseadas.) personale gentile e cortese.