Il Tempio Del Gusto

Had a wonderful experience at this restaurant. The ambience, food and service were all excellent and a real pleasure. Had several special requests and dietary restrictions which were all addressed and accepted without a problem. Was a great and imaginative menu and I was quite satisfied with the experience. Will definately return and recommend to others!!!

Walked in for lunch without reservations, had the Umbrian Chefs multi course lunch full of local flavors, well prepared dishes and excellent service-even one dish served by the Chef-and of course wine 🍷. Thanks to the team for a great experience! Ladies, note the shelved table at the end of the dining table, is for your purse!

Having walked a little around town we circled back to this fabulous little restaurant. The Umbrian menu was superb; prepared with real creativity and flair, and served by the most attentive staff. All in all, this was a superb experience. Our best meal in Umbria over the six days we've been here.

Creative cuisine filled with flavor. Definetly one if the most delicious experiences in our entire trip. Service and wine were also on top!

We had a truly spectacular meal here. Everything was memorable from the service, the atmosphere and most importantly the food. Incredible presentation and everything was absolutely delicious. The cigar tiramisu was excellent and the most creative dessert I’ve ever had. Don’t miss it when in Spoleto.

What an absolutely wonderful little restaurant. We opted for the outside tables on the small patio out back. Kind of wish we had selected inside instead since the small areas inside are so intimate and cool looking. Either way, it is the food we were here for and it did not disappoint in any way. I hate to admit, that since this was a long lunch to celebrate our friend’s anniversary, I forgot to take a photo of the menu and now can not find the receipt to know exactly what we had or what the photos are all of. The one pasta with the small egg yoke in the middle is a pasta carbonara, and it was amazing. As you stir the pasta the egg cooks, giving a unique freshness. Of course the red tomato pasta is a traditional pasta, but the flavor was outstanding. Appetizers were a savory cannoli that just burst with flavor. The most unique item was a cheese stuffed squash blossom. Everything that passed our lips was unique and bursting with flavors. Servings are not American huge, instead they are Italian tasteful. Plenty to eat and still feel good. The restaurant also has an excellent wine cellar with local selections. We had a bottle of local white that was perfect for the meal and not too expensive at all. This is a perfect special occasion restaurant and not to be missed when visiting Spoleto.

Friendly staff and good food, certainly recommended place! We were a large group and the staff handled all personal requests very fluently.

Delicious food and beautiful presentation. The service is perfect and the staff kind and caring. A real must is the risotto with red prawn tartare and scallops with truffles

I just came back from an 18-day, whirlwind eating tour through Tuscany and Umbria. I ate A LOT, and most of it was amazing. Needless to say, Il Tempio del Gusto was the standout of the entire trip. I am still drooling over it. Let me get this out of the way, my parents and I are huge eaters. My 140 pound father can put it away with the best of them, and I am no slouch either. During a majority of the trip we ate 3-4 course meals for both lunch and dinner, so we got a good sense of Tuscan and Umbrian cuisine. We came here on Friday for lunch. We were able to stop by the restaurant in the morning and put our name down, so it isn't too difficult to get a table. We saw people throughout the afternoon stopping in to put in a reservation for dinner, and they too were able to get a spot. The decor is very cute and hip - white chandeliers, fun chairs, see-through glass on part of the floor where you can see into the wine cellar. Overall an inviting atmosphere. While scanning the menu, we were brought out a basket of the best bread I ate in Italy, and some delicious olive oil soaked crostini. We went with a bottle of Montefalco Sagrantino wine, which is a purple wine, and I highly recommend. That is when the fun happened. My parents each went with an appetizer - smoked salmon for my mom, mushrooms for my dad. They were kind enough to bring me a mini-plate of mushrooms as well, so I wouldn't feel left out. Nice touch. Both were incredible, and we were oohing and ahhing. Next, for the pasta course, I ordered Carbonara, which had been on my list all trip. My mother got polenta with fish, and my father ordered risotto with scallops. They were all amazing, but the winner went to my dad, because on top of the risotto was a huge prawn, head on. The chef then proceeded to come out with a enormous truffle in hand, and started shaving away on top of their dishes. While waiting for our 2nd courses, the server brought us each out a ravioli, which again was amazing. At this point I started to get extremely full, but there was still more! I got seared tuna, which was great. Also, too much food. Do yourself a favor, don't order too much, hard as that may be. 3 hours later, the check arrives (complete with a bowl of biscotti, as if we really needed to eat more). The price was barely any higher than most places we ate, despite the service being on an entirely different level. This place was truly incredible, I highly recommend. P.S. as we were heading out the door, the hostess (and part-owner, her husband is the chef) gave us some homemade chocolate with sea salt and rosemary. Stop feeding me!!! But really, it was excellent and a week later I am still paying the price.

Can I give this place 10 stars? There are not enough words to describe it! First off all, you must make a reservation. My husband and I went there mid-Sept on a Monday. We made reservations before going to Italy so had no problems once we got there. There were two other couples waiting with us for the restaurant to open, and they were turned down because all the tables were booked. Also, note that the restaurant does not open until 8pm. We were greeted by a nice, friendly hostess who took us up the stairs. Had a nice small corner table. The service was top notch! From the entrance to the waitress, to the servers, everybody was very courteous and friendly. They speak English! Big plus for us since our Italian is very poor. Before everything else, they gave us free sample dishes, nicely presented and delicious! The chef came out and asked us if we liked it. A very nice personal touch! For our appetizer, we wanted to share the Pigeon - big plate dish. They brought it out already split into two servings and nicely presented on each plate which was very very delicious! The best pigeon we've tried. For my first course, I got the pasta with tomato sauce. I didn't like it, but everything else was super so I didn't care. My husband got the ravioli in some cream sauce. It was soooo good. Wonderful tastes. For my main course, I got the stuffed guinea fowl, which was one of the most delicious food I ever tasted. I'm not exaggerating! My husband got the duck breast which was also delicious! For dessert we shared the chocolate soufflé. It had a nice rich texture to it but was different then usual soufflés we had in the past. Our waitress also brought box of cookies for my husband's cappuccino. If we ever return to Italy we will for sure to make our way to Spoleto just to go to this restaurant. In fact, my husband is thinking to stop by there between our travels to different European countries just so we can have another amazing dinner! It's an unforgettable experience with delicious and nicely presented dishes. Also, we didn't pay more than we would pay for a nice dinner here in the States. All plus a bottle of sparkling Rose I think we paid 130 Euros. Go ahead and try!

We are more than halfway through our 40 tour of Bavaria and Tuscany/Umbria. We have dined at some great restaurants including the Four Seasons in Florence. I must say, our dinner here was the absolute best we have had anywhere and for an amazingly low price. If you don't eat dinner here, you will have missed one of the best culinary events you could have in Italy.

I really wanted to love this place. But the food didn't warrant it. The service at first was poor, but then the main servers started working for the girl that began my order and they did a very good job. I arrived on time for my reservation at 7:30 and they clearly weren't ready at 7:30. Fans had to be turned on, music turned on. No asking if I wanted a cocktail while I waited. Music was American soft rock Musak covers. I was handed an amuse bouche of roast beef w ricotta but had no knife with which to eat it with (it was rather large for an amuse bouche) and had to ask for a knife twice. I also had to specify I only wanted a glass of wine because the first server tried to get me to order a bottle because she knew my Italian was pathetic. No where on the wine menu did it offer any English translation, which the food menu did. To be fair, I ordered three dinner dishes. The stuffed squash flowers with ricotta, prosciutto and crackers, the penne w pigeon, and the grilled Guinea hen with truffle sauce, plus a dark chocolate fondue for dessert. The first, the squash flowers, the presentation was beautiful but the dish really needed salt, the ricotta was beautifully fresh but was lacking any seasoning. They drizzled balsamic and olive oil on the plate, but there wasn't enough on the plate to actually wipe your food in. Which made the dish very dry w zero flavor. The second dish, the pigeon w pasta was definitely the best. The pasta was al dente and the seasoning was perfect, dark, smoky, with a great sauce w a touch of red wine and cheese under the pasta. I could have eaten that all day. The Guinea hen however was horrible, two rollettes, not roasted as it I thought was written on the menu. Instead it was maybe sautéed, but each had a layer of gelatinous fat on the outside and the hen itself inside, rolled with a piece of carrot and zucchini, was rare- not sure if that is supposed to be like that or not, but it was fatty, chewy and in my opinion, inedible. To their credit, they removed the hen from the bill, and I didn't ask them to because I wasn't sure if maybe that was how it was served in the area and I just was unaware, so I felt that it wasn't my place to ask for it off the bill if it was my ignorance. They asked if I wanted something instead but by that point I was just ready to give up, grab something chocolate and go home. The fondue, eh, the fruit was basic, sliced, (bananas, pineapple, apple and blackberries, served on a piece of slate, presentation was definitely lacking and it was ok, but I could have gotten that anywhere. I really wished it were better.