"Let Me Bite That...."

Over the course of this weekend, I have probably eaten my weight in pork. And fried chicken.  But I figured it was a fitting end to a week that consisted of oxtail soup being consumed at each mealtime (I'm talking breakfast, lunch, AND dinner here folks.....it was THAT damn good). I will do better, in fact, I've already started to do better - I had a whole wheat muffin for breakfast today (made them last night, I knew if I didn't I'd wake up begging my boyfriend to take me to a fattening brunch), and for lunch sauteed spinach and roasted garlic cauliflower.

But I didn't sit down at this computer to talk about spinach and cauliflower (even though it was satisfyingly delish).  This weekend my mom came out to visit, and when she comes to visit that's when I really get some good restaurant time in because #1 Like me, my mom loves food and, #2 She pays!!! Ha!

We went to Isla Pilipina on Friday night, which is in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on Lawrence Avenue.  Isla is a really tiny joint (so if you ever visit be prepared to wait), and the place is packed on the weekends, but the food makes up for the close quarters.  The last time we went, we saw this being delivered to the table next to us:

Deep fried pork belly appetizer

My first impulse was to walk to the table and politely ask them to "let me bite that", but I didn't see that going over well. Instead I waited, and we ordered it Friday! It was, I must say, everything I hoped and dreamed it would be.  It wasn't as rich and dauntingly huge as the deep fried pork knuckle (got a pic of that below), but was the perfect mix of crunchy, crispy pork skin and moist meat.  It was divine.  My mom wasn't a huge fan of it because she thought it was still a bit too pork-y (how can you complain that pork belly is too PORKY???), but I took care of what she didn't eat! It even came with a cute little tomato garnish (I ate that too lol).

I love this restaurant, and although I can't go as often as I like (I'd be too tempted to order deep fried pork and calamari with every visit), it's on my list of favorite restaurants.  Oh, and I forgot to mention, it's BYOB! Another reason to love this place :-)

Other things I love at Isla: lumpia (deep fried mini eggrolls), calamari, crispy fried chicken (some of the best fried chicken I've ever had, no joke!), and pork bbq skewers. 

Deep fried pork knuckle after my mom and I did our damage!

Until next time darlings!

~Z

Just in case you get a hankering for oxtail soup, here's the recipe I used: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/rich-beef-barley-soup-recipe/index.html