Restaurant in Passignano sul Trasimeno, Italy
Family-run lakeside cooking, worth booking ahead.
Il Molo has held a Michelin Plate since 2025 and a 4.6 Google rating from over 700 reviews, making it the clearest dinner booking in Passignano sul Trasimeno. Run by the Pellegrini family since 1978, it serves lake fish and poultry with a wine list strong on sparkling wines — at €€, it's a special occasion restaurant that doesn't charge special occasion prices. Book 2–3 weeks out and request a lake-view table.
Getting a table at Il Molo is easier than you might expect for a Michelin Plate restaurant on Lake Trasimeno, but that doesn't mean you should wait. The lake-view seats in the main dining room are the ones worth having, and those go first. Book at least two to three weeks ahead if you want a specific date and a window table — the Pellegrini family has been running this place since 1978, and the locals know exactly what they're coming for. For a special occasion dinner on the Umbrian lakeshore, this is the clearest yes in Passignano sul Trasimeno.
Il Molo sits in the historic centre of Passignano sul Trasimeno, in a position where the village pushes out toward the water. The dining room has direct views over Lake Trasimeno, and on the right table you eat with the lake sitting just beyond the glass. This is the kind of setting that makes a meal feel like an occasion without requiring much else to do the work.
The kitchen runs on what the lake provides. Lake Trasimeno has a centuries-old fishing tradition, and Il Molo treats its freshwater catch as the serious culinary material it is. Sunfish, tench, and eel appear on a menu structured around both an à la carte and three tasting menus, giving you genuine flexibility depending on how deeply you want to commit to the experience. If you are here for the first time, the herb bottoni pasta with sunfish and saffron butter is worth ordering — it is the dish most associated with the kitchen and it demonstrates what the cooking here does well: lake ingredients handled with precision and a light hand, not overwhelmed by technique.
Alongside the fish program, the kitchen does excellent poultry, which matters if you are dining with someone who doesn't eat fish. The range means Il Molo works for couples with different preferences, and for the kind of group dinner where you need the menu to accommodate more than one set of tastes.
For a €€ restaurant in a small lakeside town, the wine list at Il Molo carries notable ambition. The selection includes a strong run of sparkling wines and champagnes , an unusual emphasis for central Umbria, and one that makes more sense when you consider the food: the herb pasta with saffron butter, the lighter freshwater fish dishes, the poultry. These are dishes that pair well with something cold and effervescent, and the list is clearly built with that pairing logic in mind rather than assembled from a generic Italian regional selection.
Umbria itself produces credible whites from Grechetto and Trebbiano Spoletino, and the region's reds from Sagrantino di Montefalco and Rosso di Torgiano give the list a local spine. If you are pairing across multiple courses, ask for guidance rather than self-selecting , the staff at a family-run restaurant of this tenure tend to know the list well and will match what's drinking well right now. For wine-led dining at this price point in the area, Il Molo competes at a level above its category. See our full Passignano sul Trasimeno wineries guide if you want to explore the regional producers before your visit.
This is a family-run restaurant that has been operating for over four decades. The 2025 Michelin Plate recognition confirms the kitchen's consistency, and the Google rating of 4.6 from over 700 reviews signals that this isn't an experience that depends on a good day. The dining room has the warmth of somewhere that knows its regulars but handles first-time visitors with equal care.
For a special occasion , an anniversary, a birthday dinner, a significant meal with someone you want to impress without the pressure of a full tasting menu format , Il Molo works on several levels simultaneously. The setting is genuinely atmospheric, the cooking is technically grounded and ingredient-led, and the price point (€€) means you can spend properly on wine without the full bill becoming a source of anxiety. That combination is harder to find than it sounds.
If you are visiting Passignano for the first time and want one dinner that captures what the town and the lake are actually about, this is the one to book. For other options in the town, see our full Passignano sul Trasimeno restaurants guide. The nearby Da Luciano is a solid alternative if Il Molo is fully booked on your date.
| Detail | Il Molo | Da Luciano (Passignano) |
|---|---|---|
| Price range | €€ | €€ |
| Cuisine | Country cooking / lake fish | Italian, regional |
| Awards | Michelin Plate 2025 | , |
| Booking difficulty | Easy (book 2–3 weeks out for view tables) | Easy |
| Leading for | Special occasions, wine-led dining | Casual lakeside meals |
| Wine program | Champagne and sparkling focus | Standard regional list |
For broader trip planning around Passignano sul Trasimeno, see our guides to hotels, bars, and experiences in the area.
If Il Molo's country cooking approach interests you, the same tradition extends across central Italy. 21.9 in Piobesi d'Alba and Andrea Monesi at Locanda di Orta in Orta San Giulio represent the country cooking category in the north at comparable or slightly higher price points. For those interested in how Italian regional cooking scales into fine dining territory, Uliassi in Senigallia and Reale in Castel di Sangro are the relevant benchmarks for central-Italy fish-led cooking at a higher technical level. Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone offers a useful coastal comparison if seafood is your primary interest. At the leading of the Italian fine dining spectrum, Osteria Francescana in Modena and Piazza Duomo in Alba set the reference points, though at a very different price and booking difficulty level than Il Molo.
Yes, straightforwardly. The combination of a genuine lake view, Michelin Plate-level cooking, a wine list with real depth, and a €€ price point makes Il Molo one of the stronger special occasion options in Umbria at this category. Request a lake-view table when booking , that's the detail that separates a good dinner here from a great one.
At €€ with a 2025 Michelin Plate, yes. You're getting Michelin-recognised cooking with a serious wine list at a price where the total bill, even with a bottle of champagne, stays manageable. For comparison, the Michelin-starred restaurants in Umbria operate at €€€€. Il Molo delivers a notable step up in cooking quality from a basic trattoria without requiring you to pay at the leading of the market.
If you want to see the full range of what the kitchen does with the lake, yes. Il Molo offers three tasting menus alongside à la carte, so there are options at different commitment levels. For a first visit on a special occasion, a tasting menu makes sense , it gives you the herb bottoni pasta with sunfish and saffron butter alongside the broader progression of the meal. If there are two of you with different preferences, one can take the tasting menu while the other orders à la carte.
Da Luciano is the clearest local alternative , same €€ price tier, easier to book on short notice, and solid for a casual lakeside meal. It doesn't carry the Michelin recognition or the wine program depth of Il Molo, but if your priority is relaxed rather than occasion dining, it's a reasonable swap. For anything beyond that in terms of ambition and budget, you're looking at restaurants outside Passignano. See our full Passignano sul Trasimeno restaurants guide for current options.
Smart casual is appropriate and safe. This is a Michelin Plate restaurant with a multi-decade reputation in a small lakeside town , not a formal fine dining room requiring a jacket, but not the place to arrive in beachwear either. Think: a step up from what you'd wear to a casual trattoria. For an evening special occasion dinner, dress for the occasion rather than the town.
The menu has genuine breadth , lake fish, poultry, pasta , which gives the kitchen flexibility. For specific dietary requirements, contact the restaurant directly when booking rather than assuming. As a family-run operation with decades of experience, accommodation for direct requirements is likely, but there is no published dietary policy available to confirm the specifics.
Possible but not the natural format here. The tasting menus and occasion-focused setting are better suited to pairs or small groups. If you are dining solo, à la carte is the right approach , it lets you set your own pace and spend level. The lake view is worth having regardless of party size, so request it when booking. For solo visitors to Passignano who want a more casual format, the bar and café options along the lakefront are less committed alternatives.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Il Molo | €€ | Easy | — |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Dal Pescatore | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Enoteca Pinchiorri | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Enrico Bartolini | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Le Calandre | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Il Molo is the standout option in Passignano itself, holding a 2025 Michelin Plate for its lake fish and poultry at €€ prices. For a higher-stakes Umbrian meal, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence is within reach but operates at a completely different price point. Within the lake region, Il Molo has no direct like-for-like competition, which is part of why it fills up.
The menu is built around lake fish and poultry, so pescatarians are well served. Strict vegetarians or those with complex allergies should contact the restaurant in advance, as the kitchen's focus on traditional country cooking means the menu isn't structured around substitutions. Il Molo offers both à la carte and three tasting menus, which gives some flexibility.
The venue is a family-run €€ restaurant in a small lakeside town, so the dress code leans toward neat-casual rather than formal. A jacket is not required, but you'd feel out of place in beach shorts given the setting and the Michelin Plate recognition. Think the kind of outfit you'd wear to a good neighbourhood trattoria with some ambition behind it.
Yes, with a caveat: book a counter or single seat in advance and mention you're dining alone, since the dining room fills and solo reservations can be deprioritised at busy services. The à la carte format works well for solo diners who want to pick two or three dishes rather than committing to a full tasting menu.
At €€ pricing, Il Molo's tasting menus represent solid value for a Michelin Plate restaurant. The kitchen's signature is lake fish — the herb bottoni pasta with sunfish and saffron butter is specifically highlighted — so the tasting format makes sense if you want to work through the kitchen's range. If you have a specific dish in mind, à la carte gives you more control.
At €€, yes. A Michelin Plate restaurant serving lake fish sourced from Trasimeno, run by the same family since 1978, at mid-range pricing is a strong value case by any measure. The lake-view tables add to the experience without inflating the bill. Compare that to Dal Pescatore, where you're paying considerably more for a different class of occasion.
It works well for a low-key special occasion: a birthday dinner, an anniversary, or a celebratory meal during a Umbria trip. The lake views from the main dining room help, but you must request a window table when booking — it's not guaranteed. For a grander milestone where the formality of the room matters as much as the food, somewhere like Enoteca Pinchiorri would set a different tone.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
