Oahu - Revisiting The Alley Restaurant at Aiea Bowl Five Years Later

After spending a nice couple of nights in town, we were back in Ewa Beach. The Missus wanted to do Her morning swim, so we decided to head on out to Ko Olina. We hadn't been in years. It was a Sunday morning so we went pretty early. We easily found parking near Lagoon 4. The Missus did Her swim while I went and strolled the four lagoons.

You know, I don't think I've been here since the Aulani opened? Geez, all the huge resorts.

For some reason, I got major Mission Bay vibes Kohola Lagoon, except the water looked beautiful and didn't smell like kukae!

Heading back to the car we noticed that the parking lot had filled up! Good things we got here early!

After freshening up back in Ewa, the Missus was craving some Oxtail Soup. The Alley, in Aiea Bowl opens at 10 on weekends and the Missus really enjoy our last visit there back in 2019. So we headed on over.

Man, the place sure has expanded the eating area since we last visited. And now, get so many signs and instructions.....

The young folks working were so nice and friendly. And we were seated behind the lanes.

We ordered our "usual" here, the Oxtail Soup (of course) and the Tasty Chicken.

The Tasty Chicken arrived quite quickly.

We really like the way they do brown rice here; nice texture, nutty flavor. As for the chicken, well, it was different from what we'd had here on previous visits. The batter was hard and crunchy, not light and crisp like we'd had before. The glaze was much sweeter; much like the overly sweet K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken), which I can get anywhere in San Diego. While not bad, it was not what we'd enjoyed before.

We were happy to see the "tower" arrive soon after.

As we deconstructed the "tower" we knew something was amiss as the usual beefy-anise fragrance was missing. In fact, looking at the broth, we noticed that it looked quite "thin".

   My goodness, this was pretty bad; the soup lacked richness, it tasted like salty "shoyu-water". The thin broth was terrible.

The Oxtail had a nice texture, very tender, but it also seemed to have all the flavor cooked out of it, like it had been boiled in water for ages. This was so bland! What the heck is going on here?

This was quite a disappointing meal, which was too bad. After all, this had been our favorite Oxtail Soup spot on Oahu. It was sad, since we'd had decent grindz at old favorites like 8 Fat Fat 8 and Kim Chee II during this trip.

The Alley Restaurant at Aiea Bowl
99-115 Aiea Heights Dr, Ste 310
Aiea, HI 96701

What a bummer.....

Comments

[kat]

bummer

[Soo]

That's good you enjoyed the scenery before the bad soup. What's your fav spot for oxtail soup in San Diego?

[Junichi]

Man that sucks. Maybe chef changed?

[Kirk]

It was Kat!

Well, for local kine oxtail soup, you can't get that in San Diego Soo! I just make my own:

https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2009/12/local-kine-oxtail-soup.html

My friend's theory is that things changed after they were on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives Junichi. So maybe???

[James]

Not gonna lie, that looks terrible. Also I can't believe they seat people behind the actual lanes now - must be super noisy at night!

[Sandy]

I've never seen oxtail soup in SD; I wonder if the closest is King's Hawaiian Restaurant in Torrance. Next would be the Californian in Las Vegas, but that's a late night special dish.

Last time I made oxtail soup, I added watercress. Do you know why recipes call for raw peanuts? Just wondering what it adds to the soup.

[Kirk]

It was such a disappointing meal James. And yes, it probably gets pretty loud. I'm thinking that these days the restaurant brings in more money than the bowling alley.

I'm thinking it was something locals added to the basic Chinese recipe to add more texture, aroma, and savory-nuttiness Sandy. I know of folks who don't like the peanuts.....

[Tim D]

The Guy Fiery effect. Happens to so many places.

[Kirk]

Hi Tim - I purposely tried not to mention that; but I do agree! Thanks for taking the time out to comment.