Alchemy Coffee and Bookstore — Restaurant in Cork

A really great café! Really. Short summary at bottom

When I made my first step into it I knew that this is going to be one of my favorite cafés in Cork. They played old school R&B and some of the songs were even in my Spotify playlist. Staff was really nice and the whole location has a nice and fitting urban style. They don't play this music always, so don't hesitate to go there if you don't like it. They have a really nice selection of handmade food. From sandwiches to croissants to mushroom rolls to cake and rum brownies. What I enjoyed the most were the different cheesecakes with a brownie base. I tried peanut butter cheesecake with brownie base and a raspberry variation. Personally preferring the peanut butter one. They don't offer the same food everyday, so it's worthwhile to go there more than once. Maybe you will find something new that (most likely) is really delicious.

Jumping to the coffee, I can say that it's good. It's nothing fancy nor super expensive or rare, but just good coffee. Some friends of mine even told me how it's the best coffee (cappuccino to be exactly) they ever tried. Maybe my problem is just, that I've already tried exceptionally good coffee (from a friend of mine). But coffee is not the only beverage they offer. I, for myself, like the Earl Grey (technically just black tea). They serve bigger portions than usual, since you get a full cup and a little tea pot, filled with hot water, with it (like a second cup). I suggest you to put the tea bag from the cup immediately into the pot or you will be left with a tea pot full of hot water. You can have milk with it if you want. They also offer hot chocolate. Optionally with marshmallow and/or whipped cream on top of it. I never looked out for anything else to drink, like water or such.

The Bookstore. Officially this is also a bookstore, but from my perspective it's more part of the interior style, than of the business. You can't really read a book there, since it's too loud most of the time. I never saw someone buying or looking at books either and was not really interested in them myself.

TL;DR Really great handmade food and nice beverages. Not sure about bookstore part. 6/5...

Met a friend of mine there for coffee today , ordered 2 coffees waiting 15 minutes. Asked second time, and got a young blonde hair girl with a serious attitude problem , I tried to explain to her that I have already ordered coffee but she wouldn't or couldn't listen and became quite hostile, I eventually Left with my friend , this is disappointing as I have heard great stories of this coffee shop , if they continue to employ this sort of staff they won't be in business for much longer, even her co worker apologized on her behalf , won't be going there again and won't be recommending it to anyone I know , there is a lot of great coffee shops in Cork that are crying out for business and a lot of them closing down, I hope this one has the ability to recognize that the customer is the one who helps them stay afloat in these...

Coffee is great but the staffs are not friendly and accomodating. The 3 girl staffs only select who they want to serve first. I ordered and paid first, then there's this new customer who arrived few minutes after me and he was served first. I was standing in the waiting area for about 10 minutes long and the girl staff told me to sit in the table and she will just bring my order to me. 15 minutes later my order still not being made because she was busy chit chatting with the customers outside! Same as 2 girl staffs in the counter, they keep talking to each other instead of minding all the customers. Poor service! I regret...