The Alley Bar & Grill

The Alley Bar & Grill, located as part of Aiea Bowl in Aiea, Hawaii, serves upscale plate lunches, pizza, and desserts. In 2011, The Alley is an award-winning establishment, being the 2010 Ilima Awards "Critics Choice."

Specials on June 16, 2011

The Alley has several promotions, depending on the day. For example, they offer "Tasty Tuesdays," where a select group of people can have a five-course upscale dining experience ($39 per person). Yes, reservations are required!

While The Alley's signature dishes include their Tasty Chicken ($6.95 bowl; $8.95 plate) and their Lemon Crunch Cake ($4.75/slice), I opted for one of their seafood specials: their Salmon Dynamite plate ($14.75). I got three fillets of baked salmon, each topped with warm crab/mayonnaise concoction, sriracha, and furikake. I got two scoops of brown rice and tossed salad with a soy/sesame dressing.

Had to get the closeup of the salmon. Damn, that looks so good.

My food was cooked to order. The salmon was just downright delicious. It was perfectly cooked and extremely moist. The crab and mayonnaise added a bit of heaviness to the dish, but in a good way to make it more of a filling meal. The sriracha added a tiny bit of kick, while the furikake gave a salty, toasted-sesame-seed-flavor to the dish. This multi-dimensional dish really impressed the heck outta me. I would prefer less mayonnaise and more sriracha on there for a slightly healthier dish, but I really can't complain too much about the food.

The brown rice was cooked nicely, not much more to say on that.

The salad greens were fresh, and I enjoyed the soy-sesame creamy dressing. This Asian dressing had a wonderful salty, sweet, and creamy flavor blend that touched all the taste buds. I thought the chef perfectly dressed the salad (not overdressed or underdressed).

As much as I wanted to save a portion of the meal for the next day, the salmon was too good and I gobbled it down in no time.

Even better, you can get The Alley Mix Plate, getting two of the plate lunch items (except the specials, fried pork chops, pulehu steak, and Asian braised pork). The price depends on the entree choices.

I love the food here. Yes, the food can get a bit pricey, but heck, The Alley (basically in a bowling alley) serves better food than at most restaurants I've been to. The food blew me away with wonderful flavors, and you can bet I'll be back for more! 9/10