Isla: This Place Sucks

Isla Restaurant in Newark is the pits. For a restaurant barely a month old, they might as well not have opened. Considering that this is the owner's second restaurant with the same name, he surely failed on this one. I have never been so disappointed at an eating establishment in my life as I have with this one. Let me tell you why. I just hope I can control myself and not cuss.

Isla is a Filipino restaurant specializing in regional cuisine from the Central Luzon province of Pampanga. Food from this region is known for its exceptional flavor. Although this restaurant offered a variety of local speciality dishes, it promoted food platters consisting of a variety of grilled and fried meats and seafood. Food is placed in a woven tray called "bilao".

Our first visit to this place was last Sunday. The wife and I arrived at around 2pm and the place was packed. Seemed like every Fil-Am in the Bay Area decided to try out what this place had to offer that day. There was a mix up in the sitting order that made me unnecessarily raise my voice and irritated as well. By the time we sat and ordered, it was 3pm. We ordered a "bilao" dish and a side of pork sisig, a classic regional favorite. I judge whether or not a restaurant is worth coming back to based on their sisig dish.

The sisig came out first after over 10 minutes, then the bilao, which took another 20 minutes or so. There was a lot of food for 2 people. The food was OK and nothing exceptional. How can you go wrong with fried and grilled food? Another gimmick this place offered was unlimited steamed white rice. In all fairness, I thought the sisig was probably one of the better ones I've had outside the Philippines. It's the closest I've tasted to the version of Aling Lucing -- the lady that made this regional dish popular. I am not going to talk about this dish. I've actual written a post on this a few years ago, called "What American Sisig?" . Check it out.

After Sunday's experience, we said that we would come back and give this place another try, this time, with our son, Jake.

A few days later, here we were. Back at Isla. There were lesser people than on Sunday, and we were seated right away. For a while, I thought it was a good sign. I was wrong. Terribly wrong.

It took another 10 minutes or so before any server approached our table to get our order. It was almost 8pm and we were all hungry. So we decided to order the same thing we had the last time we were there. Then, the nightmare began. The sisig dish came out probably after 20 minutes. Then, nothing. The wife and I alternated coming up to the front reception to follow up on our order.

Another 20 minutes had passed, and still nothing. I've had it. I blew my top and demanded to speak to the manager. I stood there for 5 minutes and no one came out. All I was told was to wait and someone would be coming out. When someone came out, it was a server. So I reiterated my demand to speak to a manager, but I was told she had already left for the night. What???? It wasn't even 9pm and there were still customers??? I then asked for the owner, and was told he had left as well. Then I asked who else in authority could I talk to. The server I was talking to said that HE was the only one I could talk to.

I looked at him straight in the eye and controlled myself from making a sarcastic remark. I complained about how long we've been waiting for our food to come out. He explained that  one of their grills (or stove) was broken, and before he could continue, I shot back and told him that I didn't care if his stove or oven or grill was not working. What made me even more furious was when this server offered a complimentary noodle dish (or pancit) as a way to compensate for the trouble that they had caused with the delay in the food. I told him that I didn't need his pancit dish because if I wanted it, I could have ordered it myself. At that point, I repeated my demand for the dish we ordered.

If what this server was saying was true, they should have informed their customers ahead of time about it, told them that orders were backed up, and let the customers decide if they wanted to stay and wait. But we weren't told anything. And they didn't tell the other customers either.

A "bilao" meal

For me, it was a cheap way of doing business. They're cheats. They lured in the customers, sat them, took their orders, then had them wait. They pretended all was well. But it wasn't !!! Now the customers had no choice but to wait, and wait, and wait. And since it was already late in the evening, these poor folks were not expected to just stand up and leave. They just sucked it up and dealt with the delay. That's what irked me -- a cheap, down right tasteless way of making a living.

There was a point when the wife wanted me to just pay for the food, have it packed, and leave. But it wasn't even ready. Besides, I've waited for almost an hour, and I didn't want to leave this darn place without eating.

I was certainly making a scene, and I didn't care. I wanted them to know that I will not tolerate such shabby service, even if we are of the same race. If my fellow countrymen are more patient and more tolerable, I am not. I treat everyone fairly and equally, regardless of who you are. And I expect the same from anyone. These people are in the (food) service industry, where customer service and satisfaction are key. If they cannot live up to it, they should get out of the food business.

We've been to other restaurants where we had to wait for 20-25 minutes (max) for our food, and when they arrived, the servers were super apologetic and would immediately comp the dish or take it out of the tab. They're fully aware of their mistake and had fixed the problem because they wanted to keep our business, despite the mishap. And we have come back to these places and have given them another chance.

As for Isla, if they wanted to keep our business, they could have easily comped the entire dish (which was only $40), or the entire meal ($55). What's $55??? They could have just charged it to experience, admitted their deficiencies, and invited the aggrieved parties back again, with a promise of better service and overall experience. Unfortunately, it didn't happen because there was no one in-charge. That's not the right way to run a business.

If the meal was comped, would I come back? I probably would just to give them another chance. But their failure to address the issue correctly and win us back was enough for us to say, NO MAS. NO MAS. They didn't only lose our business, but potential ones as well. We've been telling our friends to stay away from this place. Before coming here, I checked Yelp. The reviews were not favorable, and most of the complaints were similar -- poor service.

Now, you can choose to heed my warning or take the risk. But don't blame me. You have been forewarned. STAY AWAY FROM ISLA !!!!

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Yelp for the use of the photographs in this post.