Il Tempio di Iside

Great food, great wines, great service. I went there with my Italian family and the owner was trying to be funny and he was also making jokes about Americans, and I did not enjoy that at all! Poor dude must have some self confidence issues! I hope his restaurant does well for a long time, as a comedian he would not go far!

First of all, I have to disagree with the reviewer who said that this restaurant is for American foodie tourists. During our meal, we were surrounded by many tables of Italians, some larger groups and some tables of 2. There were not only Italians present, but definitely enough that I didn’t feel as though we’d wandered into a tourist trap.
The food is expensive for Roman standards (about on par if you live in a large city as we do, however), but it was all really good. It is all seafood, so do not come thinking that there will be a dish or two on the menu to cater to those who aren’t seafood fans.
We started with the fish carpaccio, which was really nicely executed and was playfully presented. We then went on to do the shared hot appetizer which we loved. Basically, each course includes a small portion for each person. Our dishes included: bruschetta with tomatoes and clams, fish cheeks in butter sauce, spinach purse with squid, branzino stuffed with flavored bread crumbs, and a very thin, fried, tuna fillet. Everything was really good except for the tuna, which we found very meh.
Afterwards, we each chose a different pasta, one with clams and one with swordfish. Both were really good and the pasta itself was interesting and very well cooked.
While the food was delicious, the meal kind of went awry in terms of service, mainly towards the end. We were pretty full but as it was our anniversary dinner, wanted to go for dessert anyway. However, just after ordering, we were given biscotti and a small portion of sweet wine. Had we known that was coming, we would have been happy to leave it at that. Then we asked about an amaro list, which they said they couldn’t provide. When we asked if there was someone on staff who could give guidance to help us select one, we were told no one on staff drinks at all and couldn’t help us. However, at the beginning of the meal, one of our servers was happy to suggest wines to us, so we were pretty confused.
Overall, a really nice meal which was followed by a very pleasant walk to the Colosseum, but the service left us with a slightly bad taste in our mouth.

Great fresh seafood, perfectly matched wines, entertaining atmosphere, helpful service. Our Roman friends were surprised when we told them of our visit, great surprise and how did we hear about it? The Guardian website told us to try. We did and found the best seafood place in Rome. Do as we did, try it.

Very mixed experience. Expensive. Great food. Bad service. Slightly unpleasant meal for us, despite the fact that the food is terrific, which almost never happens because we’re not sticklers on service.
This review is for foodie tourists, in particular American foodie touists. The most important things to know about this place are:
1) The food is fantastic. It really is. This is a strict seafood place that only serves a handful of things, so don’t deviate too much from what everyone else is having.
2) It’s huge and popular late at night, so the seating can vary from the nice romantic topside tables to the tourist dungeon in the basement.
3) In order to really enjoy this place, you have to know what you are doing. Which is not that easy if you don’t speak Italian, speak really bad Italian, or your waiter doesn’t help you out. Which is likely to happen because the service here is bad for the price you pay. If you don’t order properly you can get really screwed.
This is an expensive place, and we overordered by a longshot. The hot antipasti is a good deal, almost enough for a meal in itself, and it comes out 1 item at a time as soon as the kitchen knocks it out. Which would be fine, except we also ordered pasta, and everything came out so fast we didn’t have time to eat it before the pasta came out. So there were about 5 different dishes on the table at once when the pasta arrived. The antipasti we had included fried squash blossoms, prawns with artichokes, and I forget what else but it was all very tasty. The ravioli was really good. The spaghetti with squid, not so much. The flavors were nice, but the squid was overcooked and the spaghetti was undercooked, even by Italian standards. Al dente is one thing, outright crunchy is another. We wanted to order some fish, and after an unhelpful exchange with our waiter, ended up getting a whole turbot at 7.50 Euro per 100 grams, which is, that’s right, a $ 100 fish. It was roasted whole, so that the fins turned crispy. Tasted amazing — super fresh, cooked perfectly, but a whole 1kg turbot for 2 people that were already stuffed from improper ordering is a lot to ask.
Everyone else around us (i.e. the locals) were almost all in big tables of about 5 – 8 people, and all ordered shared family-​style platters of prawns over potatoes and tomatoes. It looked awesome. The group of loud Asian businessmen next to us had what seems to be one whole lobster per person, plus plenty of wine. It was pretty loud and boisterous. Had we been able to have just the antipasti and a scaled-​down version of the prawns, it would’ve been a better experience.
So my advice is to try this place if you’re into seafood, but try and order what everyone else is ordering. And if you don’t have a big group, see if the waiter can scale your meal to a proper size.

I really enjoyed my two dinners at this upscale restaurant not far from the Colosseum. The night of my first which was a Monday, the vaulted brick interior space with its contemporary furnishings was populated with what seemed only business men in small groups, except for one very gregarious and pink British couple lustily tucking into their meals and their wine. The second night I was there there were more Italian couples, a few I am sure Ducati racers (the owner is one) and their stunning dates. But enough of the mis en scene – on to the food! The restaurant specializes in fish and if you just stick to their hot and cold antipasti you will be sated on that alone. Depending on what was good in the market you can get great anchovies served with a side of tiny mozzerella bits in a sauce, fried baby octopus tentacles, scallops, seared tuna, and it goes on and on. I also tried their langoustine and prawn catalan style, which came on a bed of sliced potatoes, tomatoes, and onions in olive oil. The wines are great but not inexpensive and it’s just far enough outside the centro storico (a longish walk or short taxi ride from the Piazza Venezia) to discourage those who do not know how good it is. Booking is a very good idea.