Albero Lounge — Restaurant in England

Edited review: After an unimpressive first impression I revisited Albero Lounge on a Saturday afternoon in July, and the experience was very good. The drinks and service were both good and there were lots of staff running things smoothly and tending to everyone. An enjoyable couple of drinks in a nice location with a nice atmosphere.

Clearly my original experience was an unfortunate one-off and a stressful situation for the staff on hand that night.

Would I now recommend? Yes. Will I return? Yes.

Original review: Went there on a Friday evening around 8.30pm. Although there were plenty of people, it wasn't that busy. I went straight to the bar with my friends where they had 2 staff members serving drinks and one serving tables. The female bartender blanked us completely. After about 5mins of this, it became apparent she was working her way through table service orders. The other bar tender finished serving a customer and moved to the next one. We waited a bit longer to see if it was looking likely we'd get served soon, all the while getting unintentionally in the way of the table server. After around 10 - 12mins of this we left for another pub.

First impressions: Giving the benefit of doubt, I'll just say they were understaffed on a Friday night. That said there were people standing at the bar and a bar tender standing right in front of them, blanking them. Not a word to explain she was working the tables and someone would be with us asap... Or just a 'hello' and 'sorry we're a bit rushed at the mo'...

I get she was busy but sadly a snip of customer service or just a bit of personality would have left us happy to wait. Sadly both were bereft in the place. I'd given it more than enough time and left.

Will I be returning? Probably not. Do I recommend the place? No.

It's a real shame I didn't get to review them for the drinks, atmosphere and location. But that's just...

Whilst in bedford, i stumbled across this beautiful looking bar/restaurant called Albero lounge. Situated next to the river, I thought it would be an ideal place to stop for food.

After filtering through their menu, I decided to go with the 3 tapas dishes for £13.50. It seemed like great value for money, and I love to pick at different items.

My choices were, Harissa chicken skewers Louisiana fried chicken & Korean king prawns. To add some carbs, I had the garlic ciabatta for £3.25.

Unfortunately, my review is going to be more enjoyable than the food.

The chicken skewers...I'm not sure how long these chicken's had been frozen before ever seeing the day of light, but I know they had been buried deep in that freezer before being put out there miserly for quite some time. Dry, tasteless, borderline criminal. 2/10

Louisiana fried chicken...although fairly nice and moist. I'm not sure where they get Louisiana from. Maybe they have a chef in the back called Louis? 5/10

Korean king prawns...well, not much to say about these, other than they were your typical frozen prawns you'd expect to find from Icelands. Korean? I have no idea why they bought Korea into this. Kim jong would bomb this place if he knew. 3/10

Garlic ciabatta...I'm not even going to waste my time. You'd find more garlic on a vampire. 1/10

Overall, not great food wise.

The service was good, and the prices are reasonable. And you do get...

Friday December 20 2024. On behalf of The whole of our group, 19 eating 5 drinks only. Thank You, Thank You. What a wonderful evening we had. From the moment we got to you, nothing was too much trouble. I know that you normally have all the big Christmas parties upstairs, but due to our variety of disabilities there are several of us that cannot manage stairs easily or safely. And you very kindly put us into one of your downstairs rooms. It was perfect. Again you've had a complete change of staff since we booked, yet we were treated like long lost friends. There was so much laughter and banter going on, I never heard a single word of complaint. It is always going to be difficult pleasing such a large group as ours but you nailed it! Again thank you. If I am asked would we go there again, it would have to be a resounding Absolutely YES!! I'm still picking up messages of thanks and praise for other members of the group thanking Heidi and myself for organising this event. I can only once again say Thank you. We did the paperwork side of things. But it was you all that made it happen. You were absolute🌟 Merry Christmas and a very Happy...