The Alchemist Victoria — Restaurant in London

Came here for the bottomless brunch on Saturday, up until the bill was given to us I couldn’t fault it, venue decor is amazing, great music, food was lovely, and the bottomless cocktails were lovely, the waiters / waitresses were great, we had a brilliant time until the bill came out, bottomless brunch totalled nearly £55 per head and when it came to the bill a 12.5% service charge was added ontop. We politely asked to take off the service charge with the intent of leaving our own choice of tip for no other reason than we simply couldn’t afford another £40 service charge ontop of what I felt was an expensive brunch, however the immediate switch up of the lady who hosted our table was disappointing, the attitude change we received once we asked to remove the service charge shocked us, it quickly felt awkward and hostile towards us, it made us feel like we had done something wrong and it felt uncomfortable for us paying the bill, face pulling etc. it made us feel it was all fake before. We were questioned if there was issues with the service and we felt like we had to justify ourselves. I’ve never experienced that before and it left a disappointing and unwelcoming end to our experience, when we had already spent £215 for an 1hr 30 brunch which at that point felt like it was not enough. A shame as the place was lovely and but I feel the actions of the lady who handled us was quite shocking. Service charge should be at the customers discretion and no one should ever be made to feel like we were doing something wrong or criminals for politely asking to remove it due to cost, not that anyone should need to explain...

My recent visit to Alchemist was a deeply disheartening experience, characterised by a lack of empathy, accountability, and professionalism from both the staff and management.

After enduring poor service at the bar, my party and I requested to speak with a manager in hopes of addressing our concerns. However, our hopes for a resolution were quickly dashed as the manager displayed a complete lack of interest in assisting us. Instead of acknowledging our valid grievances, the manager dismissively shifted blame onto us (we were waiting for 15 minutes at an empty bar ), making us feel even more invalidated and disrespected.

The manager's unbothered demeanour and disdainful expression only served to compound our feelings of frustration and disappointment. It was abundantly clear that we were seen as nothing more than a burden, with no genuine concern for our satisfaction.

When I expressed my dissatisfaction and mentioned my intention to take further action, the manager exhibited a shocking level of bravado and indifference. This utter disregard for customer feedback and refusal to take responsibility for their shortcomings is simply unacceptable.

I sincerely hope that this appalling behaviour does not reflect the norm at Alchemist group and that the higher-ups within the organisation will take a more proactive and empathetic approach to addressing customer concerns.

Additionally, we were seated near the bar, where cleanliness seemed to be lacking. The area appeared unkempt, with no apparent effort made to tidy it, despite being seated...

We went for a girls' night out tonight to celebrate one of my friend's birthday, and I specifically put that on the booking too, but I guess that applies only if you have food... We have been seated on a very nice table, and our order was taken very quick. Half of our drinks were served, when we have been approached from another member of staff asking us to get up and move tables, because he's been told by a manager. We've then been moved to a hight table by the entrance, but from there everything got even worse. I asked why we had to move, and I've been told that somebody else specifically asked for that table (fair enough). Our chairs were constantly kicked by passing people, and the staff completely neglected us, we had to chase them to order more drinks, ask for water and even ask to pay the bill. If you are not going to acknowledge the occasion of our visit, why is that an option on the booking? Unfortunately, we have not seen the manager who requested us to move, at least to have an explanation. We didn't have food, because we felt a bit uncomfortable to have a proper meal on a high table that can barely even fit our drinks. We were very excited for this evening, but unfortunately left...