Alchemy

Love the garden out back and the mussel deal on mondays. Also one of the best burgers on 5th ave!

Unlike the other reviewers, I had a great experience here. We had fish and chips and mac and cheese. I consider myself a mac and cheese conoisseur, and it was among the best I have had with rich cheese and yummy little sweet peas. The fish and chips were good, too. It was slightly over-priced for what it was, but I still enjoyed it. We thought the service was excellent and they were very sweet about the fact that we had a baby. I would definitely go again.

Had a late lunch here on Saturday and everything was delicious. I had their soup special which was a vegan split pea and delicious (particularly for a vegan soup) and then the short rib and polenta appetizer which was also good, although i would have preferred less fat on my short ribs. My girlfriend had their burger which might very well be one of the best burgers in the Slope.

The food's not as bad as some of the other reviewers have made it out to be, but on my last trip I had to get up to ask for menus, get up to ask for water, get up to get glasses for the water, get up to get syrup for our pancakes, get up to find someone to bring me our check, and then finally get up to find someone who could tell me when I'd be getting my change. The place wasn't even half full, the three waiters were just busy chatting it up behind the bar. So to sum it up, food's okay, but prepare to be completely ignored the entire time you're there.

In our search for a quality—and maybe if we're lucky, consistent—brunch lead us to Alchemy this morning. If you're short on time, here's the quick review: poor food poor service good grits. When we walked in the bartender treated us poorly while we inquired about where we could sit. We head to the patio area and sit down at the only table still in partial shade, despite it not being cleaned off yet. The only patio waiter arrives and asks us if we need change for the bill, while picking up $60 or so off the table. We inform him that we are new customers and he quips, "Oh, new people!" First evident sign of a total lack of awareness. (Note: I'm wearing a bright yellow hat, orange shirt and a wrist brace. Does this resemble the people you just served brunch too before we sat down? Doubtful.) We've been given a bottle of water, but no glasses. We have no silverware and no menus and have to get up to get them ourselves. We order—me, sweet Guinness pancakes her, soft scrambled eggs and grits. "It's caramelized" the waiter points out. Walnuts, bananas and something else in the sauce. The fruit choice for topping? Cantaloupe, red grapes and blue berries. A horrible choice. The pancakes were fluffy, the sausage seemed packaged, the grits were yummy, her eggs were dry, the toast was untoasted and the coffee was watery and weak. Our search continues.

This is an average bar with average food, but it pretends to be more than that. The food and drinks are ridiculously overpriced, and don't believe the prices listed online they're way off. I unfortunately ordered the veggie burger, which the waitress assured me was "very good." It was an inedible grease bomb (Think soaking through the bottom bun greasy). I took two bites and made it apparent that I wasn't happy with it, she just took it back and didn't offer me anything else. The mussels are good on Mondays, but other than that, stay away. Go to an actual restaurant instead.

It would appear that there's been a change in chef here. My wife and I ate there last night (06/02/08) and it was awful. The disappointing experience started with an uninspired beet salad and ended with a grilled chicken sandwich whose bread was burnt to charcoal (presumably the chef saw the state of the bread before it was sent out...the place wasn't very busy) and (for my wife) a tastless pork roast served with undercooked sweet potatos. I had been to Alchemy 3 times before and it was on those occasions very good, but I would not return.