isola, newington rd, edinburgh

Situated on the busy thoroughfare of Newington, on the outskirts of the city centre, and just a short walk from the Queen’s Hall concert venue. The decor is simple, with pictures of Italy pinned across the back wall, and an open-plan kitchen opposite.

3 SERVICE

Greeted by genuine Italian staff, who were pleasant and knowledgeable.

4 MENU

Here’s where it gets interesting. Because this is a Sardinian restaurant rather than just another Italian eatery, there are many more options. There’s actually a separate Sardinian menu, with a huge choice of dishes from the island, as well as a full Italian menu to choose from.

5 TASTE

The bruschetta rustiche and bruschetta Romana (one with mushrooms and peppers, the other tomato) were both satisfactory starters but the homemade bread, although lovely tasting, proved a chore to cut. The culurgiones ogliastrini were delightful little Sardinian ravioli parcels filled with potato and pecorino cheese, covered in tomato sauce, while the paccheri vegani was a tasty, light dish of fat pasta tubes in a tomato sauce with peppers, aubergine, asparagus, courgette and sprouts.

6 PRICE

The Sardinian dishes are a few pounds more expensive than the Italian plates on the menu, which are fairly standard city centre prices.

7 AMBIENCE

Walking in at 6pm on a Saturday, we were surprised to see it was empty. But it quickly filled up with family parties, couples and friends.

8 SOMETHING SPECIAL

Try a Sardinian dessert for something a little different. We had seadas – an oversized deepfried dumpling filled with pecorino cheese and smothered in honey. Sounds odd, but it worked!

9 TOILETS

Basic, clean, but the men’s hand-dryer didn’t work.

10 VERDICT

There are too few Sardinian restaurants in Scotland and this one has enough choice to entice you back for future visits.