The Alchemist

The Alchemist is basically one big show that I enjoyed watching for nearly two hours. Everything on the menu looks fantastic and is cheap too, by London standards, with drinks coming in at £7−8 a piece.
I had the flavor changing cocktail as well as the passion fruit cocktail with meringue that is torched on top. Both tasted good and were a ton of fun to watch make. There were all kinds of beakers, dry ice, Bunsen burners… You name it. I wanted to try it all.
My only critique is that given the level of theatrics, there are a lot of premade syrups, and not a lot of fresh juices/​zest. This is a different kind of cocktail bar but just thought it should be noted the cocktails don’t taste like some you’d get at your neighborhood speakeasy :)

Cocktails excellents et très originaux dans un cadre qui mérite le détour. Les prix sont raisonnables. Les yeux et les papilles se régalent.

I love a good cocktail bar — and I love that this place is different than the rest. Their location is great for an after work drink as it’s right behind the Heron Tower. Super easy to get to from all over town. The place is HUGE — lots of seating and it’s nicely spread out so you don’t feel like you’re sitting with the party next to you. Great tall ceilings and fun décor (even an old B&W muted movie playing on the big wall!).
On to their cocktails — the menu is HUGE — I mean a ridiculous amount of options. And they ALL sound delicious. They have a fun selection of large batch cocktails too, which is great for sharing. All of their cocktails are served at the table chemistry style. The server brings out a tray of all the ingredients, and they’re in vials and beakers. They apply heat, liquid nitrogen or whatever else they can think of to make it a real science experiment at your table. It’s amazing — seriously just go for this.
Their food — pretty good. Nothing amazing, but it’s good. I wouldn’t go just for the food, but that’s not what they’re known for so go for the cocktails!

It was really tempting to give this place 5 stars but the food was just about average, hence the 4 stars. The cocktails are good fun and I recommend going here for drinks only rather than a meal. Go through the list and just enjoy! They really play the Alchemist theme well and it is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I would recommend this place to anyone, it is a must visit

The Alchemist is an absolutely fantastic place to go for a drink (and maybe a bite to eat!). The service is friendly, the drinks are inventive, and the food is tasty. My only problem? I got a crick in my neck from constantly turning around to see the chemistry lab-​inspired drinks around me!

In the heart of London city, next to the iconic gherkin is a chic bar/​restaurant Alchemist. When you walk in on a weekday evening it’s buzzing with all the city workers drinking at the bar, but upstairs is a nice relaxed area for girls who want to catch up with their friends. The ambience and modern but chic with rustic elements to it with gold embellishments around. They have a black and white Charlie Chaplin film as the main background.
The drinks menu goes on forever but my favourite was the caramelised rum punch with hint of pineapple and cinnamon. I don’t recommend the flavour changing one as it was just pure artificial syrup at the bottom, yikes. The food was a mix of British/​Mexican/​Japanese/​Chinese so they had some ramen choices to fish and chips so abit odd.
We had a mix of starters and I recommend the bang bang chicken. I always love a bit of sweet potato chips too. The prawn on skewers with curry sauce was ok but I would definitely go for drinks rather than food. Verdict: definitely go for drinks but not the food. And for deserts, choose the usual stuff… the salted caramel cheesecake had way to much salt we had to down the bottle of water! The waiters were very nice and gave us a bill of about £30 each which isn’t bad considering we had a few to drink but the food is abit meh.

Really fun, creative drinks at a great price! We came here on a Saturday evening and were happy to find that it wasn’t completely slammed. The bartenders mixed us up some amazing concoctions, and it was such a fun evening. I recommend the bubble bath and zombie, as well as the smokey old fashioned. I’d skip the colour changing drink next time– it was just too sweet for me. Alchemist, I’ll be back to try more inventive and exciting beverages!

Great albeit sugary cocktails but meh food.
The alchemist is pretty darn huge compared to other cocktail bars. This is good because it’s super easy to get a booking/​walk straight in but also kind of bad because a lot of tables remained empty leaving the atmosphere a bit dry.
The menu was a weird mix of Japanese and pub food sooo we ordered a bunch of stuff to share. It was cheap and edible but not amazeballs.
The cocktails were pretty cheap at ~£7−8 each and way larger than normal. The range of different concoctions were pretty impressive too. The passion meringue cocktail was my fav and the salted caramel rum one was pretty damn good too! The flavour changing one was waaay too sweet though and it was just pure sugar at the bottom.
Would go back for drinks but not food!

Despite how busy this place was when I visited, I didn’t have a problem finding a seat or getting served (we only came here for drinks). The drinks menu is extensive and impressive and watching each one crafted carefully by the bartenders was like being back in high school chemistry all over again — Bunsen burners, dry ice and chemical flasks aplenty.
I started off with a Caramelised Rum Punch — the caramel was made from scratch in front of me! The fiery showmanship involved in crafting this nearly set someone’s suit on fire, but the taste was worth the near-​disaster situation! I also tried a Honeycomb, which was like a creamy dessert in a glass, and a Smoky Old Fashioned which was one of the best I’ve ever had. I loved the huge ice ball!
A couple of the people with me ordered hip flask drinks — you get to keep the hip flask and only pay for refills — such a cool idea! The service was prompt and friendly, and the sofa seating was super comfy. I will definitely be back, as there are still cocktails on the menu I want to try and I need about another 100 of those Smoky Old Fashioneds. So. Good.

Coup de coeur culinaire et décoratif pour ce lieu.
Il était situé à 2 pas de notre hôtel et c’est en voulant choisir la facilité (=flemme aiguë) que nous avons atterri ici.
C’est avant tout un bar à cocktail, à la lumière tamisée, ambiance industrielle à l’anglaise et grands fauteuils confortables. Ils sont drôlement fort pour ça les londoniens. On se laisse immédiatement porté par l’ambiance. Mention spéciale pour leur identité visuelle dont je suis hyper fan. Après avoir monté un petit escalier, on arrive dans la salle restaurant.
Encore une fois, ici, un mélange des genres. Couple, collègues en after work, groupe de copines… L’endroit est un peu bruyant mais on s’y sent bien.
On commence par un cocktail. Exit les cocktails classiques, on sort son petit dictionnaire d’anglais pour tenter de comprendre chaque ingrédient et on se lance. Et tant mieux. On fait de jolies découvertes gustatives.
Et pour manger. Large choix, des plus simples aux plus exotiques. En plus des plats, on peut commander des tapas en petites quantités pour partager tout au long du repas. J’aime l’idée.
Le concept de l’alchimiste est poussé jusqu’au bout. En plus de petits détails, le sel et le poivre dans des erlenmeyers, nos assiettes arrivent avec des nécessaires de chimiste. La sauce en se versant qui fait de la fumée. En plus d’être bon, c’est fun !
On s’en sort tout de même avec une addition à la londonienne.

Nice décor /​1920s with a B&W movie shown on the big screen upstairs. Great inventive cocktails (and mocktails) at reasonable prices however some of these cocktails can take some time to prepare and can particularly long time if the person served before you has order multiple drinks. Therefore as mentioned by other reviewers, the wait to be served can be anything from 5 mins to half an hour depending on how lucky you are! All in all, was a decent choice to celebrate a friend’s birthday bash.

Perfect name for this place, the barchefs here aren’t event bartenders anymore. They’re basically scientists with a penchant for alcohol. Or maybe they’re performance artists with drinking problems? Either way The Alchemist is the kind of cocktail bar that any cocktail aficionados boozy dreams are made of.
We only stopped in for a few quick cocktails but the expertise by which our cocktails were concocted and the degree of difficulty they were executed were on a whole other level. I went with my go to Manhattan and Old Fashioned and far and away these were in the top I’ve had ever. The rest of our group went for fancier cocktails with creative names (that evade me now — apologies this review is 6 months late), but the general consensus was «Ohhh, Ahhh, Yummm and OMG that’s amazing». So you get the gist of it.
Had I had more time I would have come back to try their dinner along with a few more cocktails but alas, vacations are fleeting at times so I did the best with the time I had here!
Looking forward to returning for another go later this year!

I loved the atmosphere — beautiful, chic, décor, black & white movies on the background. Good, attentive service. Really enjoy *being* there. Cocktails are also good.
I didn’t enjoy *eating* there though. I wasn’t impressed by the food /​menu. It’s a bit all over the place — it had Thai, burgers, seafood, sandwiches, salads… I was confused because not only it wasn’t specialised in anything specific (which is, fine, also), but it would help if the menu would be broken down by the categories if the restaurant is serving ‘a little bit of everything’.
All three of us have ordered a steak sandwich with onion & gravy. And it was alright. The bottom part of the sandwich got soggy and there wasn’t enough meat for the price.

Great place, especially on a quiet weekend night when nothing else is open. Menu seems a bit random but the ingredients were fresh and really well put together. So we were pleasantly surprised
People were dressy, but we wound up coming in jeans, sweaters, and sneakers and there were no issues. We got a table for 2 with no wait at around 6pm on a Saturday.
The cocktails are the best! So creative, smoke, fire/​caramelized ingredients. Really well put together.
The place provides an allergy binder if you ask, listing all the possible allergens in each meal — gluten, egg, nuts, soy, etc. Not a ton of gluten allergy options, wound up with steak and salad (allergy list suggested steak or chili as the g.f. options). Of note, the fries are listed as gluten free but they’re fried in same oil as other flour containing foods. But waiter brought that up himself, which I appreciate. Also, other gluten free options might be possible — maybe with no tortilla fajitas or no bun burger, but I didn’t ask. The curry and Ramen both had gluten components.
Beautiful atmosphere, not too crowded tables. :)

Oh, I wish, I wish I learned about this place sooner! Tucked away off the side street of Bishopgate, this sophisticated cocktail bar has easily become my favorite bar in town.
My friend and I were doing a ladies night and this was our last stop. In hindsight, this should have been the first stop. We only ended up here by chance after seeing all the awesome Unilocal reviews on here. The place has a great smart-​casual atmosphere and ample space to walk around and mingle with friends. So I can see this as a cool place to bring work colleagues but also dates. Signature cocktails like The Mad hatter’s tea party or the meringue and passion fruit martini was a winner in my books as it is as much fun to watch the bartenders make the drink as it is to drink it.
We didn’t get a chance to try the food yet, but we’re definitely coming back soon.

I was very excited about going to The alchemist due to its name and it did not disappoint. The atmosphere is amazing! the bartenders wear protective google to fit the theme and the entire décor suits the, name. We went for dinner and of course cocktails. we ordered streak and fries which was good and very decently priced. The best part was the cocktails. The types of cocktails are innovative and really fun. the bubble bath had an amazing presentation. I would definitely recommend this place if you like cocktails!!!

Great, Great Drinks here. The place has a very cool vibe inside it and I really enjoyed everything about it. They had great fajitas and the staff was awesome. I would recommend this place if you are in London and looking for a place for some cocktails and dinner.

This comfortable and cool lounge serves top quality beers and their mixology skills are very impressive. We made some special requests and they whipped them up quickly. Going to make this a regular stop when in town.

Wah wah wee wah! …Was my first thoughts when witnessing some of the fancy cocktails they make here!
I’ll never pay full price for a cocktail (happy hour b@1 what whaaaat) but if you’re going to make it change colour, blow smoke or pour it from a kettle into a teacup for normal London cocktail prices then hand me your menu fine sirs!
Been twice; first time was Valentine’s Day (twas a Saturday) and it was so lovely! All quiet and you could get served almost instantly. Went back on a Friday eve and it was a veeeeeery different story. Three deep all around the bar. Killed it quite a bit for me.
So, when it’s not Friday night packed, people should check this place out.
p.s you can buy a cocktail in a hip flask for £11 and keep the hip flask! or have it refilled for £7.50. FAAAAAANCY!

Nach einem langen Tag in der Londoner Innenstadt waren wir auf der Suche nach einem Restaurant. Glücklicherweise habe ich von diesem hier schon zu hause was gelesen und daher haben wir uns dort hin begeben. (Am Sonntag war geschlossen, daher sind wir am Montag erneut hin gelaufen)
Was zu aller erst auf fällt ist die Inneneinrichtung, sehr schön gemacht und sieht absolut hochwertig aus. Dafür waren die Preise unerwartet niedrig, sicher an der Imbissbude isst man billiger aber für das Ambiente und die Lage sind die Preise meiner Ansicht nach schon günstig.
Das ausgewählte Essen kam (bei drei Personen) recht zügig und hat hervorragend Geschmeckt. Die dazu bestellten Cocktails waren einfach nur atemberaubend und das sowohl geschmacklich als auch der Effekt für die Augen! Molekularcocktails die einfach Lust auf mehr machen, von farbwechselnden, brodelnden und rauchenden war alles dabei. Selbst ein Espresso-​Cocktail war durch die Warm/​Kalt-​Kombination sehr gut angerichtet (eine Seite komplett gefroren und die andere Seite sehr heiß, wodurch sich der Cocktail vor unseren Augen erst richtig entfaltete.).
Auch bei Nachfragen war die uns bedienende Dame super hilfreich!
Einen Außenbereich konnte ich zwar erahnen beim Durchgang durch das Restaurant, allerdings habe ich hier nicht näher nachschauen können. Durch die Jahreszeit war dies bei unserem Besuch auch hinfällig.
Wie bei sehr vielen Restaurants in London ist auch hier das Trinkgeld direkt mit auf der Quittung vermerkt (steht auch in der Karte das dies direkt mit verrechnet wird).
Alles in allem kann man das Restaurant nur empfehlen, beim nächsten Besuch in London komme ich sicherlich wieder vorbei.

Super calm and chill ambiance. Love the interior and the space.
The food was actually tasty and good. Not too salty. Started with the pork sticky rib. It’s one huge rib dozed with sauce. It was meaty and good. The Red Curry (with Chicken) was good; the sauce was «saucier» than «soupy.» The Jerked Chicken was good but not something I’d rave about to order. The pulled pork burger was big, meaty, and tasty. The bun was good too. Came with a side of crisps.
All in all, food was good and decently priced, and good portions.
Heard a lot about the cocktails but didn’t get a chance to try any. Will be back to try it out.
Service was very friendly, but very slow.

Looking for a spot to celebrate something, get together with your mates and you want a place where you could eat, drink and sit but also stand and have a little bit of a more casual environment? Look no more.
Reservation is smooth, I called and they sent me a confirmation email (since I don’t have a UK phone number).
Cocktail journey started with a Passion fruit meringue, because who wouldn’t like merengue on top of their cocktail? Specially if it comes with a spoon for you to dig in and be happy! Next for me was the Garden Martini, with gin and flowers, unforgettable.
To eat, my friend and I had a Sharing Platter and a side of fried baby calamari. The platter was really tasty, the dumplings blow my mind. I was also impressed that the nachos were made from real maiz tortilla, good job.
I ordered a fudge cake so we could sing happy birthday but that ended up being a gift from The Alchemist (#adorbs, thank you).
Got jealous of my friends who ordered the Tea Party — if you like tea, or simply if you want to impress someone, order that. You will be surprised.
Service was impeccable, our waitress was also so nice, talkative and suggested great options.
I would certainly come back here more often if I lived in London.

The Alchemist is one of those legendary bars you hear about that sits somewhere in the UK. When you’re traveling to a place like Manchester, it’s always on people’s food and drink spots of places not to miss.
So when I learned they were opening a branch here in London, I was so overjoyed I could have turned lead to gold.
But then again, I didn’t need to, since they have nailed the joy of science and sustenance here at this bar.
First off, it’s impossible to miss. I was expecting a tiny hole in the wall with about 15 people crammed together. What I was not expecting was a gigantic well lit monster establishment, with a beautiful bar space up front, dining in the back and even an outdoor patio as you keep going. The space is grand with multiple styles of hanging lights (from steampunk to fairy) spread throughout. It’s beautiful but damn can it get warm under all those lights. I’m sure in the winter though, this will be the place to be to escape the cold.
And as beautiful as the space is, the drinks are even more so. They have an epic cocktail list of classics and creative drinks unlike things I’ve ever seen. I got the Wow Woo which was a carbonated alcoholic fruit punch that shimmered with red glitter gold when you gave it a stir. The Bathtub frothed and bubbled up as if you were taking a bath inside of it. Everything was incredibly well made, and at only about £8 a pop, not over priced either.
We also did dinner, which was equally epic. I chose this spot for an outing because we had some diners with eating requirements (vegetarian and all that), but one look at the menu and I knew there wouldn’t be an issue. It’s hard to classify exactly what kind of food The Alchemist does, since at our table alone with ordered fried chicken (which came in a basket that looked like a chicken), ramen (which came in a smoking beaker) and fajitas (which came… well, I guess as fajitas, but very well presented fajitas). There’s a little bit of everything from all over the world. And normally I worry about something that does a bit of everything so they do everything poorly, but I really enjoyed my food as did everyone else around the table.
Service can be a little slow, but again, it is a giant spot. Overall though, I had a fantastic evening and know I will be back soon.