Restaurant in Rome, Italy
Serious grill-focused seafood, wallet-friendly price.
Dogma is a small, Michelin Plate-recognised seafood restaurant in Rome's Appio Latino neighbourhood, priced at €€ and built around live-fire cooking applied to fish and seafood. With a 4.8 Google rating and a focused, original kitchen concept, it's one of the stronger value bets in Rome's mid-range seafood category. Book a week or two ahead — the room fills.
Dogma sits at Piazza Zama 34 in the Appio Latino neighbourhood — not a tourist address, which is part of the point. This is a small, opinionated seafood restaurant with a Michelin Plate (2024) and a Google rating of 4.8 across 418 reviews. At the €€ price tier, it competes with mid-range Rome trattorias on cost but punches significantly above that weight in ambition. If your benchmark for a Rome seafood dinner is somewhere like Trattoria del Pesce, Dogma is a sharper, more technically driven alternative. Book it.
The defining characteristic here is the grill. Nearly all dishes — fish, seafood, and reportedly even desserts , pass over the barbecue at some point. That's an editorial decision, not a gimmick: live-fire cooking concentrates flavour and gives the kitchen a clear identity that most Rome seafood spots lack. The Michelin Plate recognition, which signals a restaurant of consistent quality in Michelin's framework, tells you the execution behind that identity is sound.
The room is small. Michelin itself notes that booking is recommended because of the limited covers. Walk-ins are a gamble , this is not a large neighbourhood trattoria where you can queue and wait comfortably. Come with a reservation and you'll be fine. Come without one and you may not get in, particularly on weekend evenings.
For a first visit, the format is relatively accessible: this is not an omakase counter or a multi-course tasting-menu-only room. The €€ pricing means you're in a range where the meal is an event without being an occasion that requires financial planning. Expect to spend in the range typical of a mid-tier Roman restaurant , a meaningful dinner out, not a casual lunch stop, but not the commitment of a €€€€ tasting menu at somewhere like Il Sanlorenzo.
Given the room size, Dogma is not a natural fit for large groups. The small covers count means that private dining or exclusive-use arrangements , if available at all , would need to be confirmed directly with the venue. For groups of four to six, a pre-booked table works well; for larger parties, verify capacity when you book. Solo diners and pairs will find the format easy: a focused menu, a clear concept, and a kitchen with a point of view make it simple to navigate without a table full of advisors.
If a group experience at a Rome seafood venue is the goal and you need more confirmed capacity, Acciuga or Ai Torchi are worth checking for room flexibility. But for pairs or small groups who want quality over space, Dogma is a better call.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy , this is not a restaurant where you need to refresh a reservations page at midnight three months out. That said, easy does not mean unnecessary: the small room fills, especially weekends, and Michelin recognition attracts attention. Book a week or two ahead to be safe, more if you're visiting in peak Rome tourist season (April to June, September to October).
The address at Piazza Zama places it in a residential part of Rome southeast of the Colosseum, accessible by metro (Line A to Re di Roma, or Line C options) or a short taxi or rideshare from the historic centre. It is not in the tourist corridor, which means the clientele skews local , a reliable indicator of value and consistency.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty | Michelin Recognition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dogma | Seafood, live-fire | €€ | Easy | Michelin Plate 2024 |
| Livello 1 | Seafood | €€€ | Moderate | , |
| Il Sanlorenzo | Seafood | €€€€ | Moderate | Michelin Star |
Rome is not a coastal city, which means good seafood restaurants here earn their reputation the hard way: reliable sourcing and consistent execution, night after night, without proximity to a fishing port. Dogma's Michelin Plate and 4.8 Google score suggest it clears that bar. For context on what Italian seafood cooking can reach at the leading end, Uliassi in Senigallia and Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone represent the national benchmark. Dogma is not in that tier, nor is it priced like it , but within Rome at €€, it is among the more interesting options in the category.
For seafood in other Italian regions worth adding to a wider itinerary, Gambero Rosso in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica and Alici on the Amalfi Coast are useful reference points. For the broader Rome dining picture, see our full Rome restaurants guide, and for planning the rest of a Rome trip: hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences.
Dogma is a small, Michelin Plate-recognised seafood restaurant in Rome's Appio Latino neighbourhood. The kitchen centres on live-fire and barbecue cooking applied to fish and seafood across most of the menu. It's priced at €€, so accessible without being cheap. Book ahead , the room is small , and don't expect a tourist-facing environment. This is a neighbourhood restaurant with a specific culinary point of view, not a broad Italian menu.
Yes. The focused concept and mid-range pricing make it comfortable for solo diners. A small room with a clear kitchen identity is easier to navigate alone than a sprawling menu at a large trattoria. Rome's restaurant scene has options at every level , see our Rome restaurants guide for alternatives , but Dogma's format suits a single diner well.
One to two weeks is sufficient most of the time. In peak Rome tourist season , spring (April to June) and autumn (September to October) , push that to three weeks. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, but the small room means that even easy-to-book restaurants fill on busy nights. A reservation is always the right call here.
At €€, yes , clearly. A Michelin Plate at this price tier is strong value by any Rome standard. You are getting a kitchen with a defined identity and recognised technical execution for the cost of a mid-range dinner. For comparison, a starred Rome seafood experience at Il Sanlorenzo costs significantly more. Dogma is the better call if budget matters and you don't need the full tasting-menu format.
Specific dishes are not confirmed in available data, so avoid taking recommendations from sources that invent menu items. What is confirmed: the kitchen applies live-fire and barbecue technique to fish and seafood, and this extends to desserts. Order based on what the kitchen is running that day , the concept rewards going with seasonal choices rather than seeking a fixed signature dish. Ask staff what's leading on the current menu.
No dress code is confirmed in available data. At a €€ neighbourhood seafood restaurant with a Michelin Plate in Rome, smart casual is the safe call , not formal, but not beach wear. Think the standard you'd apply to a good Roman trattoria: neat, relaxed, not overdressed.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Dogma | €€ | — |
| Il Pagliaccio | €€€€ | — |
| Enoteca La Torre | €€€€ | — |
| Idylio by Apreda | €€€€ | — |
| La Palta | €€€ | — |
| Zia | €€€ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Dogma is a small, opinionated seafood restaurant at Piazza Zama 34 in Appio Latino — not a tourist-facing address. The kitchen runs almost everything, including desserts, over the barbecue grill, which defines the food here. It holds a Michelin Plate (2024), meaning the cooking clears a credible quality threshold without the price that usually comes with it at €€. Go in expecting a compact room, focused cooking, and a meal that rewards curiosity over conservatism.
It is a reasonable solo option. The small room size and counter-style or close-set seating typical of restaurants in this format tend to work well for single diners who want to eat well without committing to a long tasting menu or spending heavily. At €€ pricing, the financial risk of eating alone here is low compared to Rome's Michelin-starred options.
Booking is rated Easy, so you are not competing for a reservation weeks in advance. That said, the restaurant is small and the Michelin Plate recognition brings steady interest, so booking a few days ahead is sensible rather than turning up and hoping. Walk-ins may work on quieter nights, but it is not worth the gamble if your schedule is fixed.
At €€ with a Michelin Plate, Dogma sits in a category that is hard to argue against on value. You are getting cooking that a credible independent guide has flagged as worth attention, in a city where seafood sourcing is genuinely difficult given Rome's distance from the coast. If your benchmark is a tourist-strip seafood pasta, Dogma is a clear upgrade. If your benchmark is a full Michelin-starred experience, the format and room size are different propositions.
The menu is not documented in available detail, but the kitchen's stated focus is fish and seafood with nearly all dishes passing over the barbecue grill — including desserts. Order around the grill. Anything that showcases the fire element is the point of eating here; dishes that don't reflect that technique are available elsewhere in Rome at lower effort.
Dogma is a neighbourhood restaurant in Appio Latino at €€ pricing, not a formal dining room. Clean, casual clothes are appropriate. There is no indication of a dress code, and arriving overdressed would be out of step with the setting. Rome's general dining culture leans put-together but relaxed at this price level.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
