Albie — Restaurant in London

I’ve held off leaving a negative review until I’d been a couple of times but unfortunately both of my experiences of weekend brunch at Albie have been disappointing and frustrating.

On the first occasion, it was relatively busy so I withheld judgement on the extremely slow service. Our server was friendly but unattentive. I ordered poached eggs on toast. When it arrived, it was literally just two small poached eggs on two small pieces of sourdough toast. That was it. The toast was so dry, crunchy and tough to chew that it was unenjoyable. The toast wasn’t buttered and the eggs had been lightly seasoned but it didn’t come with any other accompaniments like avocado or salad. I ordered a sausage on the side (for an astonishing £5!). When it came, it was completely pink and uncooked inside. I waited 15 minutes for the server to come back over, who took it away. 10 mins later, she brought back another sausage which was equally uncooked. I left it. We then waited a further 20 minutes for the plates to be cleared away, 20 further minutes for the bill and 15 more minutes to pay. Every table around us was also having trouble attracting staff attention. We were then overcharged on the bill, which we just left to avoid waiting further. While it was a frustrating experience, I gave it the benefit of the doubt given how busy it was. These things happen.

The most recent time I visited for brunch on a sunday, it was not busy. We were presented menus and had our orders taken and delivered quickly. I had the smashed avo on toast with a side of smoked salmon. It was perfectly fine, but nothing special for £18. After that, the server disappeared. We were not asked if everything was ok with our order and our plates were not taken for 20 minutes until after we’d finished. It then took another 25-30 minutes to get the server’s attention to get the bill. Again, the two tables that were occupied near us were also experiencing the same delays. There was no acknowledgement that three tables were having to wave to get anyone’s attention. The slow service particularly baffling as there were only five covers and four waiting staff. The staff always seemed to be busy and yet the service was poor.

I will say that it’s a nicely laid out and designed restaurant. It’s clean and tidy and feels upmarket. However, for the price point, the portions are stingy and uninspiring. The cost of add ons that you would expect to be included anywhere else are on the wrong side of cheeky. These could be excused if there was exceptional service, but there isn’t. I understand that Albie will probably survive based on footfall from the hotel, but as a local, I and those I attended with are unlikely to be returning or recommending it to friends unless it makes...

Good food. Good atmosphere. The staff need to step it up, though!

I visited Albie at the Hoxton in Southwark yesterday (a Monday) and was initially greeted by a nice lady who I assume was the host (she was stood at a stall ready to take me to my table). This lady was kind and friendly, so I was looking forward to a good evening with good service.

While waiting for my family, I sat at a smaller table and ordered a beer with my brother as we were a little early. The lady who took our order seemed friendly too, but after watching her doing laps of the restaurant, we felt we had been forgotten as it took about 15 minutes to receive our drinks (which was a simple order of 2 pints of the same beer)!

Once sat at our larger table, the rest of my family ordered their drinks which, to my surprise, arrived in good time! I even made a joke to warn them that they may have to wait a good while. However, the feeling of being forgotten prevailed as it took a long time to order our food and this was only once we asked the waitress to do so.

The food, however, was lovely! There was a good variety of vegan options; a citrusy salad, a 'meaty' burger, and a garlicky pesto rigatoni (which I also tried and was stunning!). I went for the tabouleh salad and some chips which was really refreshing, crisp and zesty. I would definitely get that again. For dessert, I had a 'Happy Ending' vegan ice cream sandwich. Again, very good. There were plenty of options for everyone!

Overall the atmosphere, thanks to the music and interior design, was up to the Hoxton's usual standards for its hotels. Always a nice and cool vibe, I would definitely go back for that. I just hope that next time the staff are a bit more attentive and don't make us feel in the way! It wasn't a huge issue as I had a lovely time with my family, but it could...

The decor and atmosphere were great, staff were friendly though service was a bit hot and cold. After we had eaten and didn't want more drinks we never saw the staff again and had to flag them down after 30mins to ask for water and the bill. But they did bring a complimentary birthday dessert for one of our guests which was so nice. Dinner menu was nice, expensive but almost worth the price - except for a salad from the mains menu we shared between 4. The styling of the salad was like 1970s, weird frills like swirled cucumber with dry spinach coming out the top. The salad was £18 and really not worth it. This was disappointing, nothing cooked/prepped in a way to make it delicious. If I had just ordered this as my main I would feel hard done by for the price. However the gnocchi was great, the ravioli was nice (instead of just butter as a sauce this could have been improved). Overall it was nice but they're not doing this style of food as well as other places I've been to in London. I think they need a month or two more to figure out what they are doing. I probably wouldn't dine here for dinner again. But would definitely come back for...