Monday, October 24, 2016

First Bite: Isla Una

I make sure that I visit at least two restaurants whenever I go to Ortigas. With the horrific traffic, I just have to maximize my trip. And when I was invited to a sponsored dinner at City Golf, I had to look for another restaurant to visit afterwards. I then remembered that there is this picturesque Filipino restaurant that was featured countless times in several blogs. 

Hello, Isla Una.
Isla Una’s interiors is like haven in a sea of pubs and bars within City Golf. Though technically also a bar, its interiors say otherwise. Or at least for the ground floor. I couldn’t really comment on the second floor dining area as C and I were already too comfortable with the couch by the leafy wall on the ground floor.
Since we just had dinner, C and I opted to just order some cocktails and desserts. We went with Yema Palitaw (PHP130) and Churros (PHP150) for our sweets and Alamat ng Pinya (PHP160) and Mayora (PHP200) for drinks. 
It seemed that everyone wanted to enjoy the live band on the second floor as we owned the whole ground floor to ourselves. It was perfect too as we could move from one table to the next in search for the best light to take photos without bothering anyone. 
And after table hopping for 10 or so minutes, we began to eat and sip. 
The Yema Palitaw had a faint taste of yema. 
It was overpowered by the sticky rice cake which was quite tough to chew. 
In fact, I grew tired of chewing it that I just ate one of three. 
We ordered Churros without reading the description so we were surprised when we took our first bite. It wasn’t like any churro I had before. Isla Una’s version doesn’t even come close as each churro is made from deep fried glutinous rice sticks topped with cinnamon and caster sugar. Think karioka/bicho-bicho with dip. 
It was an interesting dish as the familiar tastes of cinnamon and sugar as well as its look would make you think of churrosBut each bite would remind you that you’re eating something else. Sadly, I wasn’t too crazy with it too, even with a spoonful of dark chocolate dip per bite. 
I was worried that the cocktails might be too strong for an oldie like me but I was slightly disappointed that the cocktails tasted like juice. 
The Alamat ng Pinya which is Pinoy version of piña colada tasted like pineapple juice without the slightest kick or even tap. 
The Mayora or a Bugnay wine sangria tasted like wild berry juice. 
Though I do not have any plan to get tipsy, I was hoping to enjoy a glass of cocktail drink and not juice. Or else, I would have just ordered iced tea or lemonade. 

I guess I have established that I won’t head here for desserts or light drinks. I heard though that Isla Una serves some mean aligue prawns. I think I just found a reason to give this place another chance.

Isla Una is located at City Golf, Julia Vargas Avenue, Pasig City. 

Isla Una Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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