alloy

love it!!! try the lamb or short rib. my wife had the duck which was terrific. great service.


-----29 aug, 2011-----

nice ambiance, had the short rib main and might be the best beef i have ever had. excellent service , wine , dessert. will definitely be back

alloy is a unique calgary dining destination and has earned its title as one of my favourite places to enjoy amazing food. raise your wineglasses with me in making this toast to alloy and dining excellence.

yummy but snobby. the food was good and something different, though the prices are too high for my wallet and the service was snobby and condescending. it really is a nice place, kind of a hidden gem and the decor is lovely, but the service was very nose-in-the-air. i feel i may have been treated with more respect if i hadn't been wearing jeans and runners. and who doesn't have any domestic beers?!

missing my lobster tempura. alloy pre-menu change was better than the current one however it is still fantastic food and very good service. wish they would have kept my lobster tempura (please oh please oh please bring this item back). aside from that the food is always good no mater what i order and the server is always good. a high class restaurant that i will go back to again and again.

great place to spend time with friends! yummy food!

like it. a table of six and we felt taken care of and the food was good. asking how our fish was to be cooked was new to me. just tell me how it is done and i will say more or less. a comment on the trio of sorbet plating saddly they switched to a tiny bowl. it was better before, braised short ribs were great and tender but they cheaped out on the veg. the mahi mahi was excellent cooked at medium.

lunch is ok. was in and out in 30 minutes for two courses, so service was good.

i had the crab cakes ($18). they were pretty plain and bland. they could have easily been frozen costco h'ourderves - actually the ones from costco are better, they have nice chunks of crab meat in them.

my main was the fish and chips ($18). this was a salmon fillet fried pseudo-tempura style within a bird's next of shaved potato. the technical skill to make it was impressive, but there wasn't much seasoning or flavor. maybe it should have come with some vinegar?

decor is great, parking is convenient and traffic in the area is low. these are all pluses for sure.

i might try their dinner menu, but with so much competition in calgary for fine dining alloy may fall off my radar. too many eateries and not enough time!

sadly underwhelmed. i'd been looking forward to my trip to alloy for weeks and after saving up the cash, we went on january 9th at 830pm for an all out food and wine fest.

so disappointing.

the room is fabulous, and was full, which lent a nice buzz to the air. unfortunately that air was filled with the smell of stale fish. it was the first thing we noticed when we walked in and was quite off putting.

we started with the lobster ravioli and the crab cakes. the ravioli was served in a mango cream sauce, that was heavy on the cream and had long slivers of raw under ripe mango that could not be cut floating in it. as for the lobster, i'm not sure if it was or not-it was so processed and mushy it was hard to tell. the crab cake suffered the same fate-crumbly indistinguishable fish product with no real flavour. both dishes were also so very, very, fishy smelling-to the point of turning me off.

sadly, our entrees did not save the meal. i ordered the gnocchi with aged cheddar, described as oven baked. what i got was a small french white filled with watery sauce and overcooked gnocchi. the sauce was so thin it was like drinking broth. my guest ordered the roast chicken with bread pudding. the chicken was ok, i've had better herb flavour from lesser a place-but the bread pudding was awful. it reminded me of the box stuffing my mother used to make and she never used enough water, leaving it dry, hard and salty. inedible.

our server did notice that we barely ate any of our meals and asked about the quality. we mentioned politely that we found a few dishes too rich and perhaps the stuffing was a wee bit dry? she was sympathetic, mentioning she had heard this complaint before, but did nothing to rectify it except ask if we wanted our remaining food packaged.

on a positive note, the $18 glass of valpolicella and my $8.00 amaretto sour were lovely.

would i go back? well, i always go somewhere twice before i make up my mind but would keep in mind the $170 we spent on this disappointment. that said, i think i will go in the summer, when i can enjoy the patio and perhaps eat when a lot of the items featured on this menu are in season. until then, i reserve final judgment, although first impressions are lasting.

hidden gem... i have been to alloy a few times, and its an experience every single time.

they ensure every meal is an experience. the atmosphere is busy, the decor is fantastic and upscale. the service is in its own class and the chef's creations are out of this world.

my suggestion if you ever have an opportunity to dine in this hidden treasure beside the tracks.. go with the chef's creation. you like i, will never be disappointed.

this is my first lunch and dinner suggestion for any special meal.

what a beautiful restaurant. elegant modern decor with a great fusion menu. most restaurants have 'modern' decor, but it's more cold decorated with dark colours.

very nice vibe with cold food,bad drinks and terrible service.if you are looking for a high end dining experience,you've come to the wrong place.

decent food but horrible service. this isn't my first time at alloy, but it definitely is my last time. each time we've gone, it was for a group celebration. our first impression of the restaurant was great - food was good and service was ok, so for the price, not too bad. plus they had plenty of parking. recently been there again and this time, the story has been turned around... while the food was still decent, their service left a lot to be desired. our server wasn't very knowledgeable of their own systems, nor was he the friendliest customer service professional. mistakes after mistakes, yet, no apologies for it. when we mention things have gone wrong, he would simply frown and turn around. horrible service in fine dining! brought issues up to the manager, darren, and he only gave excuses to the performance. there are plenty of good restaurants in town with great services and food. why should anyone have to put up with overpriced meal and bad service?

"the choice is ultimately yours on where to dine..." - darren, alloy restaurant manager, after bringing the incident to his attention.

this is our 6th time here, so they must be doing something right. put it down to the creative mixture of tastes & flavours that we have tried all over the world, the ambience, the well trained pleasant staff, the cocktail list & the easy access. highly recommended.

meh.... the hype is just that, the food is good, but for the price, there is a lot better out there. no complaints in terms of the service or ambiance, but since this joint is in an industrial area out of the downtown but charging central manhattan prices, you'd think you were getting something out of this world, but not really.

wonderful!. wow, what a great experience!
beautiful and simple decor, reasonable prices for the incredible cuisine, knowledgeable and friendly service and food selection, taste and presentation is fabulous!
with every dish we ordered and fully consumed, it was clearly obvious that the chef takes pride and passion in his work.
we highly recommend alloy to any foodie with an appreciation to detail!
cannot wait to go back and out only negative feedback would be that we are sorry it took us so long to discover this wonderful restaurant!