Photography by Kathy Tran.
WTF is Australian food?
Isla & Co. knows that will be the first thing on your mind when you step into the Australian restaurant, so they get the question out of the way on the first page of their menu.
Australian food, according to restaurant owner David Orr, is largely influenced by the waves of immigration the country has seen over its history, not unlike American food.
“Where America has the Latino influence, we’ve got that Southeast Asian influence,” Orr says. “It’s sort of been molded from that different settlement of Australia, so our menu reflects that.”
Isla & Co. opened in Bishop Arts in October 2022, and Orr says that while the menu may not be completely foreign to Americans, it is the ethos of Australian dining which may present a culture shock.
The restaurant is “all day,” meaning the menu spans from brunch to dinner, with a full page of coffee options complemented by a full page of cocktails. “All day” restaurants are common in Orr’s hometown of Sydney, he says, and was something he found missing in American dining when he first moved to New York City in 2014.
Orr opened a coffee shop in Manhattan to provide the craft quality he missed, alongside the “cheeky” service he says Australia is known for. When the coffee shop did well, he released a brunch menu and, nine years later, Dallas is one of eight Isla & Co. locations.
The dining room at Isla & Co. is best described as crisp. White walls, brown tables and black chairs give a clean, minimalist look. Hanging plants mounted high on the walls and a spattering of framed photos round out the decor. The main pop of color comes from the bar, which is built with emerald green subway tiles.
Isla & Co. does not strive for an over whelming visual impression in their dining room. Instead, the restaurant is a blank canvas, and they are happy to let the food do the heavy lifting.
The brunch menu has familiar items such as avocado toast, but while the dish may be familiar, it is far from basic. The toast is topped with slabs of bright yellow delicata squash, purple pickled onions and crumbles of feta, making it both delicious and Instagrammable.
One of the most popular brunch items is mushroom toast, which is loaded with buttery, rich mushrooms and topped with red chili flakes. The spice of the chili flakes breaks up the savory mushrooms to balance out the dish, and the thick artisanal bread provides a satisfying crunch.
The dinner menu is equally tantalizing.
The spicy prawn vodka sauce rigatoni wins the dinner time popularity contest, but while the pasta dish is delicious, an Isla & Co. first timer would be remiss not to try the braised lamb shoulder.
According to Orr, the lamb shoulder is one of the most authentically Australian dishes on the menu. It is also head chef Malik Cantu’s favorite dish on the menu, and his love for it is almost palpable.
Cantu braises the lamb for up to three hours, making it so tender a knife is rendered obsolete.
Topped with zhug, a spicy cilantro sauce, and labneh, a strained yogurt with a slightly sour taste, the lamb shoulder is an approachable venture into Australia’s Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences for even the most trepidatious tasters.
Cantu is an Oak Cliff native, and leading a restaurant in Bishop Arts is a dream come true, he says. He graduated from South Oak Cliff High School in 2014 and worked his way through the Dallas restaurant scene, developing his skills and working his way up in the kitchen hierarchy.
“I got lucky; I was in the right kitchens at the right times,” Cantu says.
But while a readthrough of the brunch or dinner menu is sure to make anyone ravenous, Isla & Co. is also happy to be a spot for a casual cocktail or a quick coffee.
The bar menu experiments with drinks like the East Side Spritz, which is a cucumber-aloe twist on the French 75. But there are also familiar favorites, such as the bloody Mary or espresso martini.
Isla & Co. takes the espresso martini especially seriously, Orr says.
According to Orr, Aussies are coffee snobs. Isla & Co. roasts their own espresso blend in house. They also aim to eliminate excess sugar from their drinks and dishes across the menu, so the espresso martini is not as sweet as some may expect.
“That’s, I think, probably the secret to the espresso martinis. You’ve got fresh espresso, that’s quality espresso, and it gets brewed right there, and then the lower sugar content,” Orr says.
The house espresso blend, “Hole in the Wall,” is named after that first Manhattan coffee spot. Isla & Co.’s selection of lattes, cappuccinos, hot teas and more make it a good spot for anyone who finds themselves in Bishop Arts and in need of a craft caffeine fix.
Shortly after opening the Dallas location, Orr and his family moved to Northwest Dallas. But, he says, they knew Bishop Arts would be the home for their restaurant as soon as they visited the district.
He says Bishop Arts is the perfect combination of Sydney, New York City and Dallas, the three places he has come to love.
“It’s a walkable part of the city, which is pretty unique, and that reminded us of New York. And it reminds us of Australia in that you can stop and chat to anyone on the side of the road, and anyone will talk to you,” Orr says. “That welcoming community environment was really appealing to us and feels like home.”
Isla & Co., 408 W. Eighth St.
