~ Prepare to feast ~
Love for L'Isola; from its outdoor dining, fresh air, nice décor, lighting, plants, well-spaced tables and cool bar; it's attached to Hollywood Casino and is in the middle of Pelican Resorts in Pelican Key, Simpson Bay.
I liked the atmosphere and loved the background music. Although it wasn't that loud, it was loud enough to put me in a really great mood. Our waitress Bettina was a star; she was very attentive and genuinely caring about whether we liked everything.
My friend and I were excited for some girly time in our very busy lives. It was a lot of fun. L'Isola had all the right ingredients to enjoy our time together. First, we started off with our cocktails, a piña colada for her; and for me, a virgin passion fruit colada, which was perfectly made!
The menu looked good from the very beginning and, although the choices were hard, I knew I would go with the eggplant parmigiana for my appetizer. For my main, I had to make the tough decision between the Ravioli and Gnocchi. But let's get back to that Eggplant Parmigiana, Italian style. Well, what that means at L'Isola, anyways, is that it's a large hunky lasagna-looking piece of eggplant with cheese and obviously well-seasoned, herbed, flavoured, thick tomato sauce. I do not recommend this as an appetizer, but as the main course. If you are having it as an appetizer, I highly recommend that you eat only half as it is heavy, rich, thick, filling, tasty and very hard to not finish!
What a delight! On the Eggplant Parmigiana alone, I shall return soon. My dinner partner ordered the Carpaccio Salmon Filet with pink peppers, capers, red onions with a homemade lemon dressing. It was delicious, very fresh and tasty and I could've eaten the whole thing for her.
For my main course, I finally nailed it down from the Ravioli and Gnocchi to the Gnocchi freshly handmade with gorgonzola sauce and Parma ham waffle. I didn't notice any Parma ham waffle, but I also didn't know what to look for. All I knew was that my friend, who happens to be from Italy, told me that it gives it magnificent taste.
When it arrived, I dug in before I could remember about that, and the Parma ham waffle no longer mattered! This gnocchi is to-die-for. My partner ordered the Spaghetti with sautéed clams in white wine sauce. It looked simple enough, and very pretty with the clam shells, but when my partner offered me to try, I did so reluctantly. (Did I tell you I was enjoying my heavenly Gnocchi?) Surprisingly enough to me, the spaghetti was so not as plain as I had thought. It had a nice, meaty flavour from the clams and white wine sauce that soaked it through; it was quite delicious actually.
Although there were a few choices, the desserts weren't really my type of desserts, so I kept it simple with one called the Cookies with almond cream fantasy or sweet Cake of the day. A plate arrived with yummy biscotti cookies, and a tub of some sort of almond type of ice-cream, with a bitter chocolate swirl round the plate. I made sure it was all on my spoon – very simple, very nice after a heavy meal. My partner ordered a Tiramisu; this was definitely not a traditional Tiramisu that night, and I totally dug into it after a taste. There is something fruity and tangy about the white mousse-type foam surrounding the "cake" part in the glass cup. I loved it and wished I had ordered that instead.
L'Isola
Billy Folly Rd
Pelican Resort
Pelican Key, Simpson Bay
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: 1(721) 544-3872
Cuisine: Italian
Price range: Starters $8-14
Main: $16-35
Vegetarian/Vegan menu: Options available
Kids' menu: N/A
Good: Parking, atmosphere, food, staff
Credit Card: Visa, American Express, MasterCard
Ratings out of 5
Staff friendliness: 4.5
Service speed: 3.5
Restaurant cleanliness: 4
Food quality: 4
Value for money: 4
Ambience: 4
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Total score: 24/30
