Its unique glass house-style structure and quaint British-style garden might have generated plenty of buzz but we feel that Aree Alley still has a way to go in terms of food and service to quite deserve the hype. We love the chill setting and the bossanova band does a nice job of serenading you at conversation-friendly levels. But like many good looking dining venues in this town, the food doesn’t quite match the surroundings. In particular, the cooks are rather tone deaf when it comes to harmonizing their sauces. The spaghetti kee mao salid foo (spicy spaghetti with crispy gourami fish, B170) is overpoweringly salty. The chilli nacho with beef sauce and cheese (B250) suffers from a pedestrian beef sauce—despite its slightly hefty price tag and being a three star pick on the menu. The pork tenderloin roll (B290), too, is let down by a tasteless sauce, despite the soft and juicy meat. The creamy sauce in the tom yam hang seafood (stir fried chicken, squid and shrimp with chili paste, B190) is almost too sour but is saved by the fresh herbal notes. Drinks don’t really fare much better, with the orange juice (B89) tasting more diluted than fresh, though they do have a decent menu of wines by the glass (B220) and by the bottle (starting from B650). They don’t make their own baked goods, which are produced in a bakery in Siam Square, but their crepe cake is nothing to write home about anyway. On the positive side, and despite it usually being busy, you never have to wait too long for food. Still, while none of the dishes here are out-and-out disasters, neither are they amazing. It’s a shame—if they could bring the food up a notch or two then we’d quite happily return to enjoy the garden. Corkage B400.