Food Review: The Alley Ole, Norwich

I liked The Alley when it was part bar, part Moosey Art. It was a nice place to chill out. I remember on my first Friday working at Cooper Lomaz, I went for a Chihuahua burrito there with some colleagues.

I'd noticed walking past that it was changing but there was no indication as to what, and then I met up with my friend Amy and she told me. I was excited.

And then, on Thursday night I popped into Brewdog and bumped into my mate Sean who suggested we go there for food.

So the concept of The Alley Ole is Spanish style rotisserie chicken and pintxos (or tapas to you and I) and I can always get behind chicken.

It has a casual atmosphere so we just took a seat in the bar area as the restaurant area was quite busy and ordered a couple of drinks. I'm not going to lie, the beer selection is not going to set the world on fire. We had Konig Pilsner, a beer I drink a lot of in the Rumsey. What pleasantly surprised me was that they had Estrella Galicia on draught, a gluten free lager that I'd only ever seen in bottles.

Now for the important bit...

I ordered a quarter chicken with patatas bravas and holy shit. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and literally fell off of the bone. Prod it with a fork and it melts. I fucking love chicken. The patatas bravas were soft and fluffy on the inside yet crispy on the outside with a nice bit of spicy sauce.

I polished off my plate rather quickly and chef comes out, serving other people, and realises that he forgot to give us aioli... he apologises profusely and brings us some aioli with an extra quarter of chicken to share. Needless to say, we polished that off between us with the fantasically garlicky aioli.

AND IT GETS BETTER. Chef overheard me banging on to Sean about German potato salad so he grabs us a bowl of his Spanish style potato salad and told us to try that. I'm sorry Germany but this was incredible. It was indeed similar to Bavarian potato salad, but slightly less acidic and not as heavy, and with actual vegetables. The best part was how refreshing the crunch of a pea was within the salad. I want this all the time.

I mean, to sum it up, if you live in Norwich and haven't been to The Alley Ole, you need to do it. If you're coming to Norwich, make sure it's on your list.

See, food for me is just something you eat. I never feel emotion toward food but my experience and the food at The Alley Ole was absolutely spot on. I left there feeling ridiculously happy - Amazing food and great service.

Actually my favourite place to eat in Norwich now.

You can find them on Bridewell Alley in Norwich.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thealleycafebar/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAlleyNorwich
Website: http://thealleycafe.co.uk/


Nate

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