Isola Bar & Grill

I had a couple of drinks here one evening before catching the ferry around to watch the light show on the harbour and it’s a great place to watch the sunset and the lights come on all around Hong Kong. I would have loved to try the food but didn’t get a chance. The cocktails however were strong and good quality! A little bit pricey but you’re paying for the ambience and the view.

At a premium price, we were expecting premium taste and great service. Unfortunately, we got neither of those here. It’s a shame because the décor is so classy and modern and the view of Victoria Harbor is beautiful.
Upon entering, we were greeted and led to a table right away. We ordered calamari, beef carpaccio and our pasta entrees. They even brought us crackers that looked like long french fries. Interesting. Now here is when things start going downhill. Get ready for the juicy part (literally, ew)… While we were eating our appetizers, I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye. I looked to my right and saw a cockroach the size of my thumb just chilling on the pillar next to me! We were mortified and called over a waiter. Soon there were two waiters standing beside us who were staring at this cockroach and clearly had no idea how to handle the situation. As one of them tried to call the manager over, one waiter grabbed a napkin, reached over and SMASHED the cockroach right in front of us. Shocked. No words. Could have at least warned us you were going in for the kill! Also would have greatly appreciated being moved to another table instead of having to watch this disturbing event go down. Afterwards we were finally moved to a pest-​free table. but there was not one word of apology. Guess they were trying to pretend nothing happened so as not to turn off other customers.
Regardless of the dismal and insincere service, other reasons this place will not receive a second chance:
— My pasta had a puddle of water at the bottom of it, flavor was bland and unmemorable
— Unjustified high prices for food that is mediocre at best (over $ 1000 HKD for two appetizers and two entrees? There are way better options in HK)
Awful service, unappetizing food, hefty price tag. The ONLY redeeming factor is perhaps the carpaccio appetizer.
I’d say skip this one.

Loved it a lot, understanding staff, since im love with italian food, they allow me to order from my choice away from menu,⁵

Here for lunch.
2 courses lunch:
–first course: best for the salad buffett, because they have everything you may want, good value. i enjoyed the smoked salmon, broccoli, tomato, the flavros are good. there are also many different desserts as well such as tiramisu, chocolate mousse, apple pies, etc.
— 2^nd course: i ordered sea beam grill. the fish is very fresh, with the skin grilled pefectly crispy. it was not heavy at all and i enjoyed it. it’s only $ 20 extra to 1^st course. if you order only salad bar, it’s already $ 328. with the 2^nd main dish, it’s $ 348.
–free bread: i had wheat with nuts, rosemary, white, chips, and others. i like them all, especially the rosemary bread and the chips. i ate them all.
The environment is very nice, with a waterfront view and upper deck on the roof. I highly recommend it.

My friend and I first got drinks at Isobar at 6 p.m. since Isola opens at 6:30 p.m. The drinks were pretty good, so I’d be willing to go back to Isola for drinks again.
We were served a basket of bread for the table after being seated. My favorite was the cracker! The crackers were really delicious, and I ate tons of them… They even brought more out for us since I wanted to consume more of them… Dangerous!
For my entrée, I got the a hand twisted paste with black truffle, broccoli, and norcia cheese for $ 228. The pasta was a bit too chewy for me, something softer would have been better, but the broccoli was cooked to my liking. For the quantity of the overall dish, you could go elsewhere to get something cheaper that tastes better. I believe their justification for the price is due to the ambiance and service. The ambiance was outstanding, great view of the harbor and Kowloon. The service was good, the staff was attentive.
My friend and I decided to share a dessert. Back at Northwestern, we used to share our common interest and love for tiramisu. So I figured what better dessert to get than the tiramisu to check out whether they make good ones or not. To my surprise, the tiramisu came out very different than what I had expected. Usually tiramisus are square shaped and served on a plate, but Isola’s tiramisu is circular and served in a bowl. It was also much bigger than I had expected it to be, but it makes sense and would only be fair as the dessert does cost $ 108 — that’s basically the price of an entrée at the Greyhound Café, Thai restaurant, also in IFC. As a tiramisu connoisseur, the tiramisu did taste good. I would be willing to come back here with friends for drinks and tiramisu to chillax and catch up.
Verdict: You can certainly get better pastas elsewhere, but what you are paying at Isola is for the ambiance and service. It is a great place to have a nice and classy sit down dinner. We sat in the restaurant, but you can also sit outside to enjoy the breeze and nice view. I would be willing to go back to try their stone baked pizza to see how their pizzas are combined to the pastas. The tiramisu is pretty good, so I’d want to get that again as well as eat their deliciously baked crackers!

No man is an isola. Hands down, Isola has one of the best dining spots in the city with a view of Victoria Harbour. The interior is spacious (7,000 square feet-​plus spacious) and neatly arranged, the wait staff courteous and knowledgeable, the food sumptuous with great presentation. Earlier this year, Isola celebrated their 10^th anniversary since opening in May 2004.
Isola serves great Italian food in an open kitchen concept, so you can always see what the chefs are up to and maybe catch a glimpse of the ingredients they use and how they use it. If you can only dine here once, make sure to book for a dinner reservation by the the outdoor terrace. It can fit up to 90 people and truly has a fantastic view of the city. One quick look at the wine list and I can see they serve classic as well contemporary «hip and happening» wines.
The menu is in Italian with English subtitles; divided into appetizers and salads, soups, pastas, oven and grill items, and pizza. We started off with the baked sea salt crusted sea bass, with spicy rocket salad on the side. Sea bass is always a great dish for dinner; the meat was really tender and the flavor was enhanced by the rocket. I guess it was a seafood kind of night because the next dish was the tuna and scallop tartar with green apple and Prosecco wine gelatin with horse radish. The dry Prosecco provided the majority of the dish’s flavor, complementing the distinctive flavor of tuna and the mild flavor of the scallop.
For those looking for an event space for dinner parties and corporate events, Isola would be a great place to accommodate your esteemed guests. I will be back for a second time to sample their pastas and pizzas — which are made fresh everyday — and to enjoy the view once more.