Steph C.
Yelp
We went to Il Tempio di Iside after a morning of sightseeing as it was a reasonable walk from the Colosseum. We had a 1:30 reservation but could probably have walked in. The place was busy but not packed on a Friday afternoon, though it's probably worth noting we were there in low season.
The restaurant was attractive, with a fancier atmosphere than most of the places we dined at in Rome. Nice brick, repeating arches, white tablecloths. Cute, corny folded napkins festooned with paper bowties. Service was perfunctory but fine. We got everything we needed when we needed it, starting with a couple glasses of house white wine, crisp and lovely with our food.
Tempio di Iside is an Italian seafood joint, and it was nice to break up our pasta week with some light crudos and fish. The food was delicious, starting with a good bread basket, which included soft and crusty breads and some very tasty anise breadsticks.
We ordered a robust spread of appetizers: the crudo for one, plus sea urchin, shrimp carpaccio, and scallops. The crudo platter came with tuna tartare, cuttlefish, and fish carpaccio, drizzled with olive oil and served with diced red onion and a wedge of lemon. The tartare was great, served over some cold potato, and I loved both the slippery noodles of cuttlefish and the firm fish, which was snapper or something else like it. The cuttlefish and snapper were sprinkled with bright pops of pink peppercorn. The sea urchin was a treat, served in its shell over ice. The shrimp carpaccio was excellent, the raw shrimp sweet and fresh, finished with olive oil, black pepper, and lemon. The scallops were cooked in their shells with crispy breadcrumbs.
We did get one pasta, and it was outstanding: nubby cavatelli with little sweet shrimp, cherry tomatoes, and pecorino, in a delightfully shrimpy sauce. We also had the tuna entrée, four thin tuna steaks with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and balsamic. Cooked more than I typically expect of tuna, but quite good, meaty and not dry.
If you're visiting Rome and want an elegant seafood meal, I'd highly recommend Tempio di Iside. It had a different vibe and menu from the other restaurants we went to on our trip, and we were really happy with everything we ordered.