What is it: I was quite surprised when the Central Market restaurant on this site shut down a few months ago as it seemed to be doing quite well. Islena describes itself as a subtly Spanish-themed bar and restaurant offering Mediterranean food and drink inspired from northern Spanish regions. The decor is based on a chiringuito or Spanish beach bar with large windows, rustic wood-clad walls, cool blue colours, and cafe-style furnishings, creating a fresh and open feel. If you don't look out onto Bell Street, you could almost be sitting in a cafe in San Sebastian.
Verdict: The owner has another successful venue around the corner so knows what he is doing. People might argue it's hard to take a theme like this and transfer it to Scotland because of the weather, but I disagree. Sometimes a bar should be a place to transport yourself to somewhere different and just indulge in a bit of food and drink fantasy. I enjoyed the attention to detail here; a lot of thought and care has gone into making it authentic.
Drink: I very much enjoyed a glass of Vilarnau Cava from Barcelona for £5
Food: Good, fresh, authentic Spanish cooking. I went for the whole salt-baked sea bream with
lemon and Salmoriglio for £15.
Prices: About right for this part of the city and because of the small plates priced from £4.50, you can have as little or as much as you like.
Alfresco: Great space outside to sit and watch the world go by.
Children: More than welcome if dining with adults.
Perfect for: Enjoying some authentic Mediterranean food and drink with a group of friends.
Avoid if: You were looking for a dark corner to enjoy your pint and read your newspaper.
Follow me on @andydrink or on Facebook
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here