The Alchemist — Restaurant in London

Came in today with my partner for a date night to celebrate a special occasion. The doorman was very pleasant and had a laugh with us on entry. When we entered, there was no one who welcomed us, or told us if we had to wait to be seated, so we took a seat in which seemed to be the restaurant area. We started browsing the drink menu and thought that someone who had seen us would bring food menus over. We waited another 5 minutes before standing up near the bar, and a member of the bar staff just shouted "Someone to the host station" (Which we didn't even realise was there at this point), which was when we were greeted with a small hello. When prompted if we were ready to order, we asked for a few more minutes as was still looking. When we were ready, we closed the menus and waited for one of the 4/5 people walking around to take our order. After about 10-15 minutes of us trying to visually signal a server, we ordered. The venue at this point was rather quiet, with only 3 other tables in use that we could see of.

We ordered our drinks, and when we ordered our food, my partner had the chicken burger, but asked if it was possible to not have the sauce or pickles as they don't like them. The server did a bit of a little laugh, pulled a bit of a smirk and said "Yeah, sure, that should be OK", but felt a bit mocked and judged by the request. We waited about 10 minutes for our drinks to be bought over. The drinks were nice, so couldn't fault the bar team for this as the cocktails were great.

Whilst waiting for our food, a couple had been waiting around about 15 minutes to put in their order as well, a server went to the table next to them to see if the table had finished eating and clear the plates, which they said they hadn't and went to walk away, the lady on the table had to visually communicate to her that they were ready to order. They only had drinks and left. The staff seemed more interested in hiding away at the side counter near the stairs to the toilets, and by the host station to other staff members and what seemed to be off-shift staff members, or taking selfies behind the corrugated glass behind us near the till, or just simply being on their phone instead of working.

Our food came, both our fries were luke-warm at best, and one of my pieces of chicken was a bit soggy underneath which wasn't nice. Throughout our meal, we kept getting looked at by a staff member which made us feel rather uncomfortable as we were trying to enjoy a nice evening, but couldn't as felt like we were being judged the entire time and just wasn't a pleasant experience.

After my partner had already finished their food and I was about to finish mine, someone came over and asked if everything was OK, because we had basically already finished, we didn't bother mentioning a small detail about the fries, as we already felt like we had imposed somehow.

After we had finished eating, we decided that instead of staying for a few more cocktails after as we had planned, we decided we were just going to pay and leave.

A lady with a clipboard showed up and asked them to clean in places, which took attention away from the tables, so when we finished, we decided to get the bill, but had to go and find a staff member in the end to ask for the bill. - The bill came almost instantly by a different staff member, and almost the second they walked away, another different staff member came over with a card reader, like they just wanted us to go as soon as possible.

We noticed that there was a 12.5% service charge, which I thought was definitely not worth it for the "service" we were provided with, but just paid it as couldn't be bothered to have it removed as just wanted to leave as quick as possible.

I have been in to a few Alchemists a few times in other places, and never have I ever had such a poor experience. I work in hospitality myself and am disappointed by the service provided to us tonight. We usually go to All Bar One, but thought a nice change would be good, but going forward we are just going to continue to go...

I was in London for the day and a friend said The Alchemist was a place to visit. It was easily within walking distance of where I was staying, in Russell Square, and was “my” type of place. So I decided it would be my lunch stop. The Alchemist opened at 11am and I was the first person in. Right away I was greeted and i formed the kitchen and alcohol was not open for service until 12pm. They served coffee and small bites. I ordered a flat white and decided to sit and read my kindle until 12.

But first I had to walk around and take in the ambience and decor. It was slightly dark in tone, but warming and comfortable, and had a steampunk feel to the lighting and decor. The music was a little like trance or house music and was slightly loud but quickly got use to it. The staff was pleasant and presented a charm to their work in finishing prep for the day and answering questions.

I received my Flat White shortly. It was a pleasant coffee but nothing special. But I didn’t go to The Alchemist for their coffee. I went for their drinks and presentations of said drinks! We’ll get to that shortly.

In my time there (about 2.5 hours) I only had their loaded fries from the menu. I had a large breakfast and didn’t feel hungry. So next time I go, plan to hit up the menu more. The loaded fries were good and a good size from their ‘Nibbles’ menu. It was fries (with skin) that had BBQ sauce, applewood smoked cheese, N*duja sausage (a spicy pork sausage) and cut spring onion. Although the BBQ sauce was a little sweet the dish as a whole was enjoyable and went well with my drinks.

Onto the drinks…….During my lunch I sampled 4 drinks. One from 4 different categories of drinks they have in their drink menu.

1. Pop-Sicle: This drink was made in a cone shaped glass and had a large bubble on top. I was informed to pop the bubble with my nose. When I did the a puff of smoke was released and I was able to get a sweet smell. I was not able to tell the scent but it was a nice surprise and added to the presentation. When tasting, the Patron Silver and mango flavors were the most prevalent. A good pairing really. But they were not so strong as to also cover the orange and lime flavors in the drink. A good refreshing start.

2. Pipe Dream: This drink was served in a kettle or pot design that had a small spout you will drink from. Dry ice is inserted i to the drink to make it have a smoking effect. Again…presentation is a show. This drink has a heavy smoke taste to it (from the Laphroig Whisky 10yr) which is one of my favorite flavors. This also has Johnnie Walker black label but I really did not taste it. That was fine as I enjoyed sipping this drink. This is one I would have loved to have around a warm fire. Really fit with the darker ambience of the restaurant.

3. Pear Pressure: This drink was presented in a bong shape glass. You used the choke portion of the bong as a straw. This drink was so light and refreshing to consume. The pear and cucumber stand out and go so well together. I am sad to say this drink went down very quickly! Such a good light drink to have at any point in the day or year! Probably my favorite cocktail of the day.

4. 3.5oz of Happiness: This drink starts in a small but well presented flask. The flask has the company name and logo on it with a sticker with the ‘chemical symbol’ (like the periodic table) of Ha, the drink name, and allergen information. The flask could be kept as a souvenir or returned for a refund/refill. You pour the drink in a glass provided. This was a Gin drink but I did not taste the gin, which was slightly disappointing as I really do lime the taste of Gin. The berry flavor and Martini Rubino were the stars of this drink. Still enjoyed it but would have liked more Gin.

Overall, I had a great time tasting and drinking while spending time at The Alchemist. I truly do recommend a visit by anyone to the establishment for food and fun drinks. I will be back again next time I am in London! Special thanks to the bartenders: Amber,...

Came for a date night with my partner for drinks and a meal, We chose to come to The Alchemist due to it being a more premium venue and I had heard good things about it online, That was not the case for our experience.

When we went inside there was no one at the host station and no signs saying wait to be seated and no one around to let us know how it works here, Only a few staff members stood in a corner talking, Unsure of whether to wait or seat ourselves we sat at an empty table and opened a drinks menu, The staff had been staring at us with a judgmental look so we stood up and waited at the host station again. About 5 mins after standing at the host station a member of bar staff had to shout for someone to come and seat us, Where the members of staff whom were talking to each other looked at us as if we were a disruption to their shift and unhappily walked over to us, And then sat us in the same table we had previously took upon ourselves to sit at.

After looking at the menus we had decided what we were going to order and was waiting for someone to come over to take our order. At this point 3 members of staff were now stood at the host station talking to each other quite loudly and unprofessionally, Easily disrupting the dinning experience others were trying to enjoy. We had tried to get a servers attention and made eye-contact with them on several occasions where they would continue with their conversation.

We waited for roughly 15 mins before one of our many servers of the night came over to take our order, We placed our drink orders and when it came to ordering my meal, I had asked for a burger with a special request to take off the sauce and pickles. The waitress looked so disturbed and said "Oh, right" then I felt quite unwelcomed and uncomfortable at this point to which she responded with "Yeah, That's fine" then paused awkwardly and said "We can do that". It felt so judgmental and like it was a pain for her to have to add a special request to the burger. Once we had ordered it took about 10 mins before receiving our drinks where they were just shoved onto the table and the waiter left as quickly as possible to go and resume her conversation with other members of staff.

Once our food arrived it was server by another server, He was lovely and you could see him rushing around the whole time we were there, he was constantly working whilst everyone else stood around doing nothing. However because he was the only person doing anything he did rush off quite quickly, But he was not in the slightest rude like the other 3 members of staff we had dealt with that night.

Once I was finished with my meal, the one lady had come over to ask if everything was okay with our meal and if she could get us any sauces or anything, However I had already eaten my entire meal as it was a good 15/20 mins before a checkback was made, We saw another couple seated next to us who was also here for a meal and drinks however after the service from just their drink order, and the fact no one came back to ask what food they would like to order, They left.

We then had to wait around for another good 10 mins of us trying to get someone's attention so we could pay the bill and leave, We had to go up and find someone to let them know we would like the bill, It then took another 10 mins before we received our bill.

We intended to stay and to spend a lot of money that night on cocktails however due to the experience we had, We just wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

Overall it was a terrible experience and I will not be returning or suggesting it to friends or family as I would never wish that service on anyone. I don't usually mind a bit of a wait especially if it is busy, However it was a quiet Sunday Evening with only 4 tables in the "Dining" section of the bar, And 5 members of staff running this section. A service charge of £7 was insane for the level of service we received, I would have had better service at a...