If you’re looking for the best seafood restaurants in Rome, you’ve come to the right place. This brand new list for 2022 combines some of the best old and new fish restaurants in Rome. Whether you’re looking for the finest tartares and oysters, you love spaghetti with clams, or prefer oven-baked whole fish, there’s something for everyone here.
Fisherman Burger in Piazza Bologna
Fisherman Burger, a cheerful sea-shack in the heart of the piazza Bologna district, is a modern and affordable seafood restaurant in Rome. While its net-strewn ceilings and oil lamps recall the coastline, it’s the colours and fragrances of its freshly caught fish that really inspire.
Expect a range of delights, from fresh raw prawns and tuna, salmon and cuttlefish tartares, to rich pasta dishes with lobster or fresh seafood risottos; plus roast octopus and tranches of tuna for the main course.
Another deeply satisfying dish is Fisherman Burger’s lobster roll, topped with crispy bacon in a soft brioche bun.
Colour and creativity is the order of the day, and a good wine list makes this a fun choice, for a long relaxing lunch or a convivial dinner with friends.
Fisherman Burger Via Ravenna 34, Rome Tel 0039 0669411684
Giano Bistrot in Monteverde
Giano Bistrot is much more than just a hotel restaurant. This charming seafood bistrot towards the west of Rome’s centre welcomes hotel and outside guests to pause for a cocktail or glass of bubbly in its colourful bar (accompanied by a spread of seafood nibbles) in the early evening.
While the aperitivo is great, you should really plan on staying for dinner. The menu offers a taste of the sea, from sumptuous raw dishes, including fresh oysters, to fish-egg blinis and fried fish treats.
Stay too for handsome pasta courses, including linguine with Mediterranean lobster, spaghetti with clams and much more.
The desserts are delightful and the wine list is good. For a little extra fun, ask for cocktail pairings with dinner and you won’t be disappointed!
Giano Bistrot Circonvallazione Gianicolense 224, Rome Tel 0039 3391127392
Trattoria La Rosetta near the Pantheon
While Trattoria La Rosetta near the Pantheon is one of Rome’s oldest and most famous seafood restaurants, its latest invention, Rosetta Café, is a fun and informal way to get your fresh fish fix in the centre of Rome.
Serving up a tantalising mix of sushi, ceviche and Italian raw antipasti at lunchtimes, Rosetta Café is the modern and fun little sister of this grande dame of Rome fish restaurants.
In the evening, Trattoria La Rosetta comes into its own with a rich and imaginative menu encapsulating the best European seafood, immortalised in fine, Italian dining. If you love trying a wide variety of oysters, Trattoria La Rosetta really is one of the best seafood restaurants in Rome. The restaurant temporarily closed for refurbishments in January 2022.
Trattoria La Rosetta via della Rosetta 8, Rome Tel 0039 066861002
Properzio Osteria di Mare in Prati
Properzio – Osteria di Mare offers incredibly presented and affordable seafood and fish near the Vatican in Rome.
There isn’t a great deal of choice if you’re looking for seafood near the Vatican, so bookmark this place if you’re looking to eat at an affordable fish restaurant in Rome.
Chef Daniele Faia brings considerable experience, having previously worked at some of the best Rome fish restaurants, Il Porticciolo in Fiumicino and Livello 1 in EUR.
However, Faia has made the menu at Properzio – Osteria di Mare all his own. The restaurant’s tasteful ambience, a refined shabby chic, and the delicate hand thrown earthenware plates beautifully set off the jewel-like dishes.
I recommend you try a tasting menu and trust Faia’s creativity to get the best out of this experience. There are also some amazing, cheap seafood lunch deals, such as a two-course meal priced at €16. Full review here.
Properzio – Osteria di Mare Via Properzio 20, Rome Tel 0039 06 6830 8471
Pesciolino near the Spanish Steps
Pesciolino is an upmarket yet youthful spot with a dozen tables under a duck-egg blue ceiling, printed with darting fish.
This bijoux seafood restaurant in the heart of old Rome serves fresh and raw fish with a modern, Mediterranean twist.
Pesciolino sources its raw fish with care from the French coast, including some of the best oysters you’ll find in the city.
Look out too for fresh cuttlefish and raw prawns, plus delightful pasta dishes.
On my visit, I treid delicious cappelletti pasta shapes, filled with cream of scampi, smoked ricotta and hazelnuts.
This dish combined deep aromas of the sea with tart and fresh flavours, matching smoked anchovy with spaghetti and olive powder, onion, capers, garlic, lemon and parsley.
Ambitious second course dishes featuring whole fish make this worth your while. Full review here.
Pesciolino Restaurant Via Belsiana 30, Rome Tel 0039 06 6979 7843
Rinaldi al Quirinale – Rome centre
This glamourous restaurant with one of the best wine cellars in Rome attracts VIPs from all over the globe.
Showy canopies of raw fish starters aside, this is an excellent restaurant serving some of the best seafood in Rome.
On entering this elegant restaurant, the first thing that catches your eye is the fresh fish counter, crammed with the catch of the day from the Lazio coastlines. Purchased daily at auctions from Gaeta in the south to porto Santo Stefano in the North, this selection inspires the kitchens and varying menu with a mesmerising taste of the sea.
If raw crustaceans and fish tartare is your thing, don’t miss the fabulous mixed plates including raw tuna, sea-bass, langoustine and red prawn. And did I mention the truly incomparable wine cellar?
While the pasta dishes include some classics from Roman cuisine, you should really try the fish pasta courses – unusual and exquisite. I recommend the fresh egg tagliolini were served with aromatic sea urchins and sea anemone. Full review of one of the best seafood restaurants in Rome here.
Rinaldi Al Quirinale Via Parma 11A, Rome Tel +390647825171
Peppo al Cosimato in Trastevere
Peppo al Cosimato is a rare combination of pizzeria and downhome seafood eatery.
This Trastevere institution digs deep into local traditions to serve a range of affordable fish dishes, as well as firing up a pizza oven to provide excellent, deep-crust Neapolitan-style pizzas, home-baked bread and fried goodies.
The antipasti or starter menu at Peppo al Cosimato has lots of fun fish options at good prices. Order a selection of fritti – including fried rice balls and potato croquettes – for around €5.
Try the bruschette topped with marinated anchovies, curly lettuce and stracciatella. Seafood and tomato sauce versions, plus mackerel with red onion and tomatoes are also really tasty!
Don’t miss the fisherman’s sandwich, seafood lasagne, or pasta with butter and anchovies. One of the most affordable seafood restaurants in Rome Full review here.
Peppo al Cosimato Via Natale del Grande 9, Rome Tel 0039 06 581 2048
Fish & Fries in Monteverde, Rome
Conveniently situated right in front of the number 8 tram stop on the Gianicolense, Fish & Fries in Rome is perhaps the perfect pit stop for seafood street food. Chef Emanuele Giuli shops for the freshest fish every morning at the nearby market, transforming prawns, swordfish, tuna, squid, lobster and much more into the perfect, portable snack.
I would in particular recommend the seafood arancini, the delicious tuna and swordfish balls, and Emanuele’s take on that Roman classic, fried baccala. Avoiding heavy batter, the fish are lightly breaded and flash-fried to crispy perfection, served with potato wedges (€5). Unbelievably cheap seafood in Rome.
Fish & Fries also specialises in exceptional fish burgers, which include seasonal vegetables and once again, the freshest catch of the day. The prices are brilliant too, so expect to eat a full meal for €10-€15. Just one more reason to explore dining options outside the centre of Rome. Another one of the most affordable seafood restaurants in Rome.
Fish & Fries Circonvallazione Gianicolense 252, Rome
Salicornia in Pigneto
Salicornia is a restaurant and bistrot serving fish in Pigneto, east Rome. Dont miss the wonderful plates of raw fish, including amberjack, violet prawns and langoustines. The prices start small, at around €10 or €12 for raw prawns, or a tuna or salmon tartare.
The fried goodies are excellent – including moreish baccala balls coated in squid ink and corn, served with a chickpea and lime sauce Check out the fish tacos and fish spring rolls too.
When it comes to the pasta, you can choose between classic dishes such as spaghetti alle vongole, as well as a lovely squid pasta dish. The main courses are tasty and ambitious. I tried the grilled amberjack with celeriac, as well as king prawns with Vietnamese sauce and samphire. Full review here.
Salicornia Ristorante & Bistrot Via del Pigneto 25, Rome Tel 0039 351 055 3120
Barra Pescheria – Parioli
Barra Pescheria restaurant and high-end fishmonger is in one of Rome’s more refined residential areas, so it’s not an easy hike from the centre.
However, if your hotel’s in Parioli or you’re based in north Rome, it should definitely be on your radar.
Expect great raw fish and tartares, a fantastic selection of salads, fish sandwiches, pasta and risotto dishes, and freshly caught fish prepared very simply. The fish is sourced in Formia, Gaeta and the Pontine islands so it doesn’t get much fresher than this. Full review here.
QuarantunoDodici in Fiumicino
QuarantunoDodici (4112), in Isola Sacra, Fiumicino, is a great, high-end fish restaurant on the way to Fiumicino Airport.
It’s located in the same building as sister restaurant Il Tino, a Michelin-starred dining project which excels in serving the freshest fish. Chef Daniele Usai, along with his business partners Stefano Loreti and the Stillitano family are the names behind this high quality project.
Like Il Tino, fish is at the heart of the menu at QuarantunoDodici, although this is a slightly more relaxed ‘pop’ dining experience. So it’s perfect if you’re looking for a pleasant lunch near Rome Airport on your way into town, or a good way to spend those last euros at the end of your Roman holiday. Full review here.
Il Tino, Fiumicino
This fish-focused Michelin-starred restaurant in Fiumicino is a must for seafood enthusiasts. Il Tino is heralded as one of the best seafood restaurants in Rome.
Chef Daniele Usai presents romantic and picturesque dishes which explore the underwater magic of the coastline near Rome.
If you want to try the best of contemporary Italian dining, don’t miss Il Tino when in Rome. This is truly an extraordinary restaurant and unforgettable experience. Full review here.
