October 23, 2007

Review: Isla

Last Thursday, Frank and I finally tried Isla at TI. The restaurant has nice decor with Mayan artwork on the walls. Menu offers a variety of dishes to choose from. Frank ordered a carne asada burrito and I had the tamale. We snacked on chips and salsa while waiting for our food to arrive. They serve three kinds: tomatillo, picante and chunky. All were tasty, but they lacked heat. Chips were fresh and warm, tortillas are made in house.

Presentation was very nice. Probably the prettiest Mexican food I have ever been served. Rice had the flavor of tomatillo salsa; it also had corn and peas. Pretty good, but I could have done without the peas. Beans were good and had great texture. The pork in my tamale was excellent, tender and flavorful. As the menu described, it was topped with a sweet and spicy sauce. I didn't taste any spice, just sweet, too sweet really. Had it had heat, it would've been superb. The carne asada in Frank's burrito was prime and well marinated. Although, they dressed it up with too much pico, crema, etc. that the flavor of the meat was lost. All in all, the food was quite good, but they tried a little too hard and dishes were too mild for our tastes.

Service was fine to start, but after our entrees were delivered we became invisible. I never got a refill, but eventually, a busboy did bring Frank another iced tea. It took about 10 minutes after we finished our meal to grab the waitress’s attention for our check. Total came to $36 before tip.

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