From Porto Rotondo to Cagliari, discover six restaurants in Sardinia with amazing views and intriguing menus perfect for exploring this summer.
In Sardinia, the sunny summer season is underway with restaurants opening terraces and patios, and hotels turning their gardens into lounges under the stars. Whether it’s a lunch break in the greenery, an aperitif overlooking the sea, or dinner by the pool, there is no shortage of opportunities to enjoy the warm weather and try some of the island’s most popular cuisines. Here are six suggestions on where to eat outdoors in Sardinia.
Outdoor Dining in Sardinia: Frades La Terrazza – Costa Smeralda
On the terrace with the most beautiful view of the entire coast, Executive Chef Roberto Paddeu offers his idea of non-traditional Sardinian cuisine. The menu is never the same, instead, it changes according to the timing of the season and what is available fresh at the market.
Before dinner, with the sun dipping down behind the sea, visitors can enjoy the ever-present Frades aperitif, which offers the great classics such as Roasted Culurgiones with camone tomato gazpacho or Bread lentu Tacos accompanied by a selection of cocktails with a strong island spirit such as Spitz Frades with Vermouth, Bitter and Sardinian bubbles or Frisku, created with Vernaccia Riserva di Oristano and citron.
In the evening, yachts light up the bay while at the table guests savor signature dishes made from the local catch such as Crudo di gambero, mango, green apple and cucumber, or Fregula al brodetto di scorfano, stracciatella and licorice. The kitchen is accompanied by the fresh pasta workshop, charcuterie counter, and store where selected regional products can be purchased.
Outdoor Dining in Sardinia: Pasigà Restaurant by Claudio Melis – Porto Rotondo
It is in its second season the fine dining restaurant led by Michelin star chef Claudio Melis, part of the boutique hotel Sulià House Porto Rotondo – an open-air restaurant that has an innovative soul and modern design,with a terrace that provides a unique dining experience and unique views of the Gulf of Cugnana.
Here the chef proposes an ethical-sustainable cuisine that puts local products at the center of everything. Essential dishes, zero waste, made with a few ingredients highlighted by his creativity, such as Culurgiones, potatoes, saffron and clams, Lamb in Barbagia, myrtle, egg and berries, or San Gavino saffron risotto and stewed bocconcini. Two tasting or a la carte menus for a dinner with a view, anticipated by the resort’s excellent signature cocktails to sip at sunset are available.
Pasigà Restaurant by Claudio Melis
Outdoor Dining in Sardinia: La Terrazza del Mirto – San Pantaleo
La Terrazza del Mirto is the top gourmet rooftop at Petra Segreta Resort & Spa in the hills of San Pantaleo, just at the back of the Costa Smeralda.
The terrace boasts an amazing view of the La Maddalena archipelago: an exclusive lounge to enjoy the magic of summer evenings. The menu, which changes weekly, offers a selection of the dishes that have made chef and proprietor Luigi Bergeretto’s cuisine famous to share in a relaxed and informal setting.
Completing the resort’s gastronomic offerings are Osteria del Mirto and Il Fuoco Sacro, the Michelin-starred restaurant whose menu is a collaboration between Bergeretto’s chefs and the award-winning Enrico Bartolini. Starting this year, for the first time, all of Petra Segreta’s restaurants are also open to outside guests.
Outdoor Dining in Sardinia: Capogiro Restaurant – Baja Sardinia
The fine dining restaurant at 7 Pines Resort Sardinia, the new five-star restaurant that is part of Destination by Hyatt in Baja Sardinia, just minutes from the Costa Smeralda, is a panoramic terrace in front of the sun setting over the sea.
The menu, created by Executive Chef Pasquale D’Ambrosio, recounts a Mediterranean cuisine woven with the fragrances of the island’s gastronomic tradition, in which the use of local raw materials and cooking techniques that preserve their freshness, taste, and quality prevail.
Red mullet, filindeu, eggplant and almond pesto, lentisk mayonnaise, sea grass powder; artisanal spaghetti, clams, Piennolo tomatoes, smoked almond oil; and Maialino tonnato, annurca apple, smoked lemon, caper leaves, and flowers are some of the dishes he has developed for the season.
The wine cellar contains a fine assortment of local, Italian, and international labels of which many of the best vintages are represented. The service, which in the style of the resort is attentive but never intrusive, contributes to the informal atmosphere typical of seaside vacations.
Outdoor Dining in Sardinia: The Garden of Casa Clàt – Cagliari
The garden of Casa Clàt, a suite hotel with an eclectic soul, is the green living room in the heart of Cagliari to be enjoyed all year round. Guests enter from the entrance on central Viale Regina Margherita and reach the garden where aromatic plants, olive trees, and pools of water distinguish the different areas.
The lounge area on the lawn, with its large sofas and armchairs, invites guests to take a break with an aperitif accompanied by raw fish and the local catch to be chosen directly at the counter.
Just above, the restaurant terrace offers a menu where Mediterranean and Oriental flavors meet the scents of the island: Red shrimp ceviche; kimchi octopus, toasted panko and citrus mayonnaise; risotto fregula, Nieddittas, spicy tomato and tomato powder; and grilled sea bream fillet, sun-dried tomato cream, olives and thyme are among the dishes that Executive Chef Filippo Monaco has designed exclusively for the garden.
Outdoor Dining in Sardinia: Il Salotto del Re in Gallicantu – Luogosanto
It is in the shade of the centuries-old olive tree that at Gallicantu, a retreat in the heart of Gallura, aperitifs are also served to outside guests. In this always-fresh garden, you can taste platters of local products accompanied by the estate’s honey and a wide selection of labels from all over the island.
From the kitchen come traditional dishes such as handmade chiusoni served with cherry tomatoes and basil from the garden or freshly baked panadas. Starting at the end of June, every Thursday evening, Jazz under the Trees, a live concert series that continues throughout the summer, restarts.