Isola

Isola @ IFC 

Isola is always full.... given the harbour view and the fact that its in IFC, there's no doubt why it shouldn't be. I finally got the chance to try out Isola but was quite underwhelmed with our dinner.

 

bread basket

There were five varieties in the basket, and though we couldn't finish we were asked if we wanted a refill...of course, we wanted to save ourselves for the mains so we declined. On the left is a pot of pumpkin spread, and since I love pumpkin anything I quite enjoyed it. 

Prosciutto, rucola e scaglie di parmigiano ($198)

Parma ham, diced tomatoes, mozzarella, arugula and parmigiano on a thin crispy base, which tasted a lot like crackers. The dressing of the pizza did however mean by the time it arrived it was cold, and the once melted cheese was no longer stringy. Whilst I appreciated the generous portion of parma, part of me was missing the yeasty flavour from  thi-crust Roman base pizzas. That said, the cracker base at Isola is not bad, its just a personal preference thing. I think the popularity of this pizza comes from the fact that they do use very fresh ingredients, from the shaved parmesan to the finely chopped tomatoes. (7.5/10)

Homemade Square Spaghetti with Sicilian Red Plums, Shrimps Zucchini in Cherry Tomato Sauce ($248)

closer view

This item was on their specials menu and it sounded good so we thought we'd try it. To our disappointment the house-made pasta was square shaped all right, but the dough was so dense the pasta after cooking was almost 'hard'... not in an undercooked kind of way... it was edible, just not very pleasant. The shrimps were tiny, not fresh at all, and the zucchini was sliced so thin and small you could hardly taste it under the tomato sauce. The only redeeming quality was the fresh and rich tomato sauce, but this you can get in a lot of restaurants. (4.5/10)

This experience was sort of a blow to my expectations. Although the parma pizza was quite good, at the price they charge, I think I'll go to elsewhere for a yummy well-executed pasta. 

Food: ♥♥-♥♥♥
Service: ♥♥♥
Price: $$$$
ISOLA
Podium 3, Shop 3071, IFC Mall, 
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2383 8765