This decade-old Portuguese-Colonial residence has the potential to be a destination restaurant, but this stunning beauty still has a few too many flaws. The spacious residence can accommodate over 100 guests. The alfresco terrace by the lotus pond is decked out with comfy rattan chairs, while the dining area exudes upscale elegance with hanging chandeliers and classy upholstered seats. The dimly lit “oriental” bar, which also doubles as a smoking area, is well stocked with a wide selection of wines and spirits. Upstairs are three private rooms—the Chinese, the French, and the British—designed for power diners. Ishq also extends its love to its toilet, which has to be seen to be believed. Ishq has all the good looks, but unfortunately no follow through. The menu brings together specialties from Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, China and other Southeast Asian countries with such fancily named dishes as Vietnamese Four Seasons and Cambodian Banana Fritters. Each dish arrived with grace, however, even Ishq’s specials turn out to be not so special, if not plain mediocre. Ishq Indochina Combination Platter allows you to choose four of the starters and try a bit of everything. We trusted the staff’s recommendations and picked tea-smoked duck that disappointed with its dry, paper thin-bordering-on-transparent slices and extreme sweetness, and bo la lot (grilled beef wrapped with betel leaves) that was dry, tough and bland. Ishq spring rolls and Shanghai cold drunken chicken were okay, but really weren’t any different from what we can find from street vendors. Over all, the platter was a big letdown. Like the starters, Ishq’s entrée menu, which comprises both Pan-Asian and French-inspired dishes, also failed to impress. Pink salmon steak with galangal sauce was a bit dull with only faint hints of galangal. The best bit of the dish, sadly to say, was the accompanying boiled crisp veggies. For vegetarian diners, there’s a small selection of meatless dishes, but you have to take your chances with it. Order the wrong item and you’ll regret paying a large sum of money for dishes like Szechwan spicy tofu that turns out to be really spicy but with no other flavors in the dish. To wash down the (mediocre) meal, there are a few desserts on offer such as Vietnamese bua loi (dumplings in coconut milk), Shanghai fried custard pear and seasonal fruits(—aren’t fruits in season supposed to be cheaper?). But we’ve learned not to trust the dishes with fancy names anymore, so we skipped the expensive desserts. We’re told Ishq means “love” in Hindi, and we save all our love only for this lovely residence, not its food. If we happen to crave “Pan-Asian” fare again, we’ll head to another eatery, where the toilet may not be as dazzling but we can get a tasty and good-value meal.
