Il Bar Sotto il Mare

Soirée parfaite choix fait par le serveur. Vin de Sicile blanc agréable sur tout le repas. Fruit de mer et poisson très frais. Dorade grillée succulente. Chese cake sublime en dessert. 90 € pour 2 avec la bouteille de vin et l’eau gazeuse

Super authentic seafood about 5 minute walk from the Vatican Museums. Was recommended here by American Express’ Departures magazine and it did not disappoint! Was able to grab an indoor seat since all the outdoor seats were full (at like 10pm!). The only wine they serve is white since the menu is exclusively seafood. Makes sense I guess but some weirdos like me drink red wine with everything. Large raw selection which complemented their main pastas very well. There was a cover charge tacked on at the end but I really didn’t mind. Definitely swing by after visiting the Vatican though cabs can be difficult to find late at night in the area

This is a restaurant that is quite popular among the locals, but for us, this was a disappointing meal. We had heard nothing but good things about Il Bar Sotto Il Mare and made a special trip to eat there. Unfortunately, the food definitely didn’t live up to our expectations. Our appetizer of vermicelli pescatore was the best part of dinner, but things went quickly downhill from there. I had the tuna, cooked rare. Be sure to skip it. This is not sushi grade tuna, as I’m used to having in almost every restaurant in the States, and the steak is way too thin. Also, mysteriously, it is only seared on one side?! The result is tasteless, cold, raw tuna. My wife ordered fish on a purée of chickpea which we were told people ask for specially. It was way too salty, drowning out any flavor, and it was overcooked as well. The wine we chose was reasonably priced and quite good. The service was only so-​so. I was appalled when halfway into our dinner another English speaking patron who had been sitting by herself at another table was reseated next to us to make room for a larger group. What started as an intimate dinner with my wife turned into a non-​stop gabfest with a stranger who thought she was a lot more interesting than she actually was. Maybe, based on other reviews, you’ll have better luck. For me, this was w-​a-​y too expensive for food that was really not very good.

All you need to know — don’t go here if you are not Italian.
My husband and I got in from a long train ride and saw this place was close to our hotel so headed out for a late dinner. We were charged a «coperti» of 1.5 € each, despite coperti (cover charge) being against the law in Lazio, where Rome is located. We pointed this out to the waiter, who lied and said everyone was charged a cover in all of Rome’s restaurants.
Even though he adamantly defended its legitimacy, once we pushed on the point the woman who brought us our bill snatched it away and wrote up another one without the illegal charge. Then the waiter said it was a «fake» bill they were giving us, which made no sense (his English miraculously went from quite good to terrible once there was a problem with their billing).
It being our first night in the city, we thought perhaps we were mistaken, so we left him a generous tip of 5 €. We also felt bad we had possibly been incorrect, so left quickly from the awkward situation without my husband counting the change carefully. Turns out, they shorted us by 10 €. Our waiter did find us and return it, which I give him credit for.
Unfortunately, his morals are clearly much higher than those of this establishment’s owners, as our hotel’s manager confirmed for us that cover charges are against the law and that Italians rarely ever tip. If you don’t want to feel like you’re getting screwed for being a tourist, stay away from this place. And to cheat someone out of just 3 € just makes it seem as though they hate foreigners, as you’re hardly going to make yourself rich off that, just make people hate your restaurant and ensure you never return.
Although it’s secondary to what tainted our experience so much, the food was also just barely average and the service was terribly slow — we had to flag down the waiter to bring us our wine more than 15 minutes after ordering the bottle.
So even if I were deemed of the correct nationality by the staff to not be taken advantage of with the bill, the food was absolutely not worth a second chance. I would give it negative stars if I could.