alloy

perfect evening. great up-scale dining. our appetizers were great and everyone had nothing but compliments for the meals. the chef special seared ahi was likely the best ahi i've ever tried. i would have expected to pay much more for the quality. highly recommended.

the atmosphere in the restaurant was higher-end and welcoming...overall, all the food was decent. i would say that the atmosphere and company was what really made the dining experience enjoyable.

great!. wouldn't hesitate to take the trip up to the boonies of the s.e. to make another visit to alloy. it truly is everything you can hope a five star restaurant to be.

inside, a wide-open dining room greets you, as well as a cool glimpse at the extensive wine room and, off to the right, the luscious patio area. the thought and effort put into decorating this space goes to show that it isn't really important where your business lies; what is important is that guests truly understand your vision and that you offer

golden experience had at alloy calgary!. about a week ago myself and my boyfriend had the privilege of dining at alloy in calgary. we were looking for an upscale meal with a romantic atmosphere to treat ourselves too, and alloy delivered! the staff were friendly and knowledgeable on all fronts of the dining experience. from the wine to best complement our entrees to the sweeter cocktails for dessert, our server (who had to have been half savant) made individualized recommendations for desserts that could not have been better chosen by our own family members. the surf and turf was incredible! outside of licking my plate i could have ordered another in substitution of dessert! the balance, portions, and presentation were spot on. by the time we had gotten our "post gorging coffee" we were both discussing the next time we could come and dine again at alloy. i could not pay alloy a better compliment than to say this was the best meal we have ever had! from the delicate sweetness of the garlic prawns to the savory surf and turf there were no short comings to our dining experience at alloy; and we look forward to returning!

hugely disappointing. hugely disappointing. this is my second and last time at this restaurant. my husband and i went with my sister and brother-in-law for a special occasion. i will start with the positives - the truffle gnocchi appetizer and the wine recommended to us was fabulous.

now the negatives: my sister and i ordered the same entrée - the soy miso chicken. neither of us could eat it. the chicken was overcooked thus very dry and exceptionally salty - no miso favour apparent, just store bought bottled soya sauce. the "special potatoes" were like glue and were presented by the server as "tim bits". our server did not once return to enquire if we were enjoying our meals. when she finally showed up, the men had finished theirs; she asked if she could box our full plates up for us!!! we expressed our disappointment; she took our meals away and came back to say the manager and chef agreed the meal was overly-salty. neither the manager nor the chef took the time to respond to our disappointment at our table.

our server offered a replacement meal or complimentary dessert. since it took ages for us to get our meals, we opted for the dessert. a new (server?) served our dessert and left. she did not even ask if anyone wanted coffee!! the dessert was a joke - a "de-constructed" rhubarb crisp - an attempt at being creative but missed the mark entirely. we ate it because we were starving.

my brother-in-law felt his salmon was raw but he didn't complain. the issue is that any fine-dining establishment would have explained how the salmon would be prepared and asked if this would be acceptable. this would have ensured the customer would not be disappointed.

when we received our bill, our two barely-touched entrees were fully charged; dessert was complimentary. so very disappointing to experience such poor service and food. i accept that things can go wrong in a kitchen but the solution offered, the lack concern on behalf of management, and 5 star prices make this a do not return restaurant.

creative food. great portion sizes and had a great server jorge who just made the experience a much more peaceful.

we were disappointed by this place. the restaurant was nice enough; however, we were seated on the south side and the bench was so short, i almost felt like i had to ask for a booster seat (and i am 5'7").
it took eons for our wine to arrive, to the point that we thought that maybe we actually hadn't ordered it. we had the gnocchi and tuna sashimi to start. the gnocchi was tasty, but very salty. the sashimi was....unusual. definitely not my favourite. our second course was the soup which pretty much tasted like i was sucking on the end of a fire pit hot dog stick. not good.
for our mains we had the halibut and the pork tenderloin. thankfully, these dishes were both decent. tasty enough for the $40 price tag? umm, no.
as for dessert, the strawberry dessert was delicious, and for something a little different (and if you like cardamom), the coconut dessert was pretty good.
the service on the other hand was slow and felt unorganized. it should not take 4 hours for a 4 course meal in a half empty restaurant on a thursday.
overall, the experience was definitely lacking in service and taste. glad to have this off my bucket list, but won't be returning.

entree was fine - decor, appetizer, service and dessert was terrible.. out of the 5 elements i look for in a restaurant (atmosphere/decor, service, appetizer, entree and dessert), alloy scored a very low 1 out of 5. my wife and i ate there at 6:30pm on a tuesday night. the place was mostly empty but our entire meal was well over 2 hours. the atmosphere/decor screamed "cheap chic" and the music was above comfortable conversation loud (likely to compensate for the empty seats). service was very slow, terrible and infrequent. we ordered the pork belly and scallop for an appetizer. two small pork bellies (about the size of a loonie each) and a single scallop (appetizer for one?) about the same size. plenty of garnishment to accompany the $16 disappointment. the entree was the loan bright spot for the evening - pork tenderloin and short rib. i much preferred the short rib (my wife enjoyed the pork tenderloin medallions) which was a decent portion and tasted great. the dessert was nothing short of terrible. the "spicy" chocolate souffle was similar to something produced in an easy bake oven and my rhubarb was nothing short of a joke. boiled rhubarb on a tablespoon of what appeared to be rhubarb sauce, with a ball of ice that was lightly flavored with what i could only guess was strawberry and a bed of what appeared to be granular brown sugar. to my terrible waiter's credit, he agreed that the dessert was terrible (his least favorite) and didn't charge me after i tasted a little bit of each item and then pushed the food around my plate like a 5 year old who just wanted to be excused.

the favorable reviews and critic responses (ie. avenue magazine) are puzzling to me. an off night (perhaps a thursday, friday or saturday) doesn't explain the terrible appetizer, dessert and uncomfortable decor.

to sum it up, alloy was a typical try-hard calgary restaurant. unlike notable, model milk, teatro, cucina, borgo et al, alloy wants to be fancier and more sophisticated than it is. flower pedals on my dessert and 75% garnishment on my appetizer? let's start with timely service and something that is edible, correctly portioned and tasty and work from there.

excellent ambiance and very fine food. it's not cheap but the quality of ingredients is evident in every bite. the space is very light and airy. loved it.

this was the last weekend to enjoy the winter menu at alloy  and oh, i will miss the buttermilk chicken with cayenne sugared yam doughnuts and the deconstructed pumpkin cheesecake! the service was spot on and we were given great menu suggestions. my friends and i loved our meal and look forward to our next visit (hope the lovely patio will be open!).

my favorite calgary restaurant. end of story.

good food but tiny portions.. everything was tiny except for the free pita they give you. we got the lobster tempura... only 1/2 a tail for $16. then the 2 mains were alright, though cold. we stopped at wendy's on the way home.

was going to write a review but foodlover405 summed it up perfect! it's a deal sealer.

just great. the atmosphere, the decor, the service, the food, all great. take a date. chances are you'll be getting lucky.