Saturday, July 11, 2009

Isola Bar & Grill



It has been a long while since I dine here, almost a year ago I think. While shopping around IFC in the afternoon, I somehow had the craving for parma ham pizza and Isola came to mind immediately. I did not book in advance so decided to head directly to reserve a table for later that night. Surprisingly they did have free tables for my friend and I, but the staff informed us (or more like pre-warn us) that it will be a corner table only. Well, we were okay with it since it was a last minute booking. Later we found out that the definition of a corner seat is somewhat (or vastly) different from our expectation. It was a WINDOW seat overlooking the Victoria Harbour at the CORNER of the dinning area. Surprised indeed !



While enjoying the view we got from this corner seat, we were served with the bread basket. For just the two of us, I was surprised they would serve us that many bread. There were about 5 kinds of bread but for some odd reasons it only came with a small bowl of salsa sauce and no butter at all. I never knew salsa sauce can be used for that many kinds of bread (ie: bread stick?) Anyhow, the breads were not that impressive in my opinion but then I am still in the process of perfecting my bread knowledge. A positive note at this point was that the polite waiter did not seem pushy about the fact that we did not order bottled water, thumbs up on this attitude ! We ordered the following dishes: (1) Beef Carpaccio on salad leaves with balsamic, topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano (2) Parma Ham, diced tomato, Mozzarella, argula and Parmigiano pizza and (3) Lobster crab meat risotto with saffron tomato lightly spicy broth.



(1) Beef Carpaccio on salad leaves with balsamic, topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano
Portion looked very generous in terms of beef but the most important factor is the quality of the food. I am stressing on this point because the beef has no beef taste as all, as if we were eating something tender and soft that resemble raw meat. Possible reason was the strong balsamic vinegar they over poured all over the dish. It was a disappointing dish in general.



(2) Parma Ham, diced tomato, Mozzarella, argula and Parmigiano Pizza
As mentioned, this was the dish why I was there at the first place. However, the amount of parma ham seemed less generous than what I remembered from my last visit. Also, the parma ham was not as salty as it should have been but in general, a fair and comforting dish to enjoy overlooking the Victoria Harbour.



(3) Lobster crab meat risotto with saffron tomato lightly spicy broth.
Two words - Extreme Disappointment. Risotto is suppose to be chewy (the rice especially) with very creamy sauce. What was served was more like Spanish Paella! In other words, softer texture for the rice and slightly watery sauce. The lobster meat was fresh but that cannot compensate for the watery nature of the risotto! I thought the chef would act as a final gate keeper in the kitchen to prevent such a dish from leaving his precious territory! Thumbs down!



Likes:
  • Great view for most seats.
  • Good services (especially not too pushy for not ordering bottled water)
Dislikes:
  • Tasteless beef carpaccio
  • Watery Risotto (or should I call it Risotto with a Spanish Paella touch?)
Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

( Note: My more recent visit to ISOLA Bar & Grill > http://jason-bonvivant.blogspot.com/2010/02/isola-bar-grill-revisited.html )

Isola Bar & Grill
Shop 3071-3075, 3/F
IFC Mall, Central
Tel: : 2383 8765


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4 comments:

KC said...

Isola的pizza做得好,皆因佢有個好的pizza爐,那裡的trifola,不可不吃!

Jason said...

you are 100% right KC, the best dish tonight was the pizza, a must order item! ... o o o, Trifola? I better give their truffle dishes a try next time? Thanks thanks !!

Anonymous said...

I have drink there only as the view is extremely pretty. Thomas

Anonymous said...

Later i ride u to eat good food then v fantastic thomas

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