The Alley

These prices make no sense. Or rather, everyone else’s prices make no sense in Helsinki's culinary world. That was the thought running through our heads while scanning the menu at The Alley. Main courses top out at €20, a three-course menu costs €39 and even four courses come in at just €48.

The atmosphere is equally pleasing. Framed illustrations and posters line the walls, shelves are stacked with jars of pickled vegetables and candles flicker across the warm, red-toned dining room.

The place is buzzing even on a weekday evening, which is no small feat in Helsinki. Restaurants this affordable rarely stay secret for long. Yet despite moving into its current premises only late last year, The Alley still feels like one of Helsinki’s better-kept discoveries.

But surely food this cheap can’t be that good. Can it?

We sampled four starters. Veal tongue with tuna sauce and prawn crudo with ponzu and elderflower were both excellent, layered dishes full of character. The surprise winner, however, was the little gem lettuce. Through some culinary witchcraft involving an outstanding pineapple-gochujang dressing, a humble lettuce was transformed into a dish so delicious it felt almost offensive.

Not everything landed. The brioche with chanterelles was a rare miss, resembling French toast topped with crisps and sweet tomatoes. These things happen.

The starters were paired with wines that were unexpected but successful. One Sicilian bottle, Cortese Nostru, initially tasted like fruit juice and prompted speculation about whether the Mafia had watered it down in the barrel. A second sip revealed considerably more depth and complexity. By the end of the evening, we had ordered another glass.

And the mains?

In many Helsinki restaurants, the starters steal the show. At The Alley, the opposite is true. Good as the starters were, this is a restaurant that truly shines when the main courses arrive.

We ordered both the octopus and the Iberico pork. They were so good that tears may have formed had we not been too busy laughing with delight. We spent much of the meal reaching across the table to steal bites from each other’s plates. The ingredients were allowed to shine, while the sauces enhanced rather than overwhelmed them.

The octopus, charred almost black on the outside, was among the best I’ve eaten. My dining companion did point out, though, that no octopus would ever surpass a legendary specimen he once encountered on Elba that had apparently passed through 13 separate cooking vessels. Fair enough. But if you happen to be craving octopus in Helsinki, The Alley more than rises to the occasion.

The Iberico pork may have been even better. It earned extra points for the grilled endive, which delivered such glorious umami that we would happily bet money on fish sauce being involved somewhere along the line. This is also a dish for people who appreciate a bit of fat on their pork. There was plenty of it, and it was precisely what made the whole thing so irresistible.

More broadly, The Alley’s cooking could best be described as globally minded cuisine with a noticeable Asian accent. The foundations may be international, but Asian ingredients and techniques appear frequently enough to give the menu a distinct personality.

These are dishes we’ll gladly return for. In fact, we’d recommend ordering the full menu. The portions aren’t tiny, but they’re not especially large either, and the starters do an excellent job of waking up the palate. Besides, when the mains are this much of a superstar act, they deserve a support band.

There were a few other missteps. The desserts failed to leave much of an impression and a yuzu soju ordered as a digestif proved disappointing. Yet The Alley still earns five stars. Because when this kitchen gets it right, it really gets it right. The best dishes landed with the force of Cupid’s arrows or the final scene of Cinema Paradiso.