Isola

I’d been rather a fan of Positano and their charismatic owner, so was sad to see the place close down. In its place and much in the same style, Isola recently opened. I popped in to give it a try.

The interior is largely unchanged and still retains the feel from its famous chipshop heritage. I was seated at a corner table and left to peruse the menu.

It covered lots of familiar territory so I adopted my oft used approach to Italians, starting with melanzane parmigiana then following with an egg-topped pizza.

Before the starter arrived I was presented with a little plate of pimento stuffed olives and some rather curious Sardinian bread which looked and tasted like a stale poppadom.

The starter continued in the underwhelming vein. Melanazane is rarely a bonnie dish but this was peculiarly gruesome looking. The fresh tomato that formed part of the stack was rather too firm, also. It was a weak opener.

The pizza was considerably better, thankfully. The egg was nicely runny and the ham very pleasing. This made for satisfying eating.

So overall, Isola was a bit of a mixed bag. The pizza was really good but pretty much everything else was a bit ordinary. Service was enthusiastically warm, so the place isn’t without merit, but next time I have the longing for Italian food I reckon I’ll go elsewhere.

Scores
Blythe scores Isola
3/5 for food
2.5/5 for presentation
3/5 for setting
3.5/5 for service
giving an overall 12/20

I ate: parmigiana casalinga; pizza occhio di bue

I drank: house white

I wore: pink shirt

Total bill: £24.10

Address: 85 Newington Road, Newington, Edinburgh EH9 1QW