My family of 5 visited Alchemy for Brunch…read more
First, my wife and son waited 30 minutes for drinks, and when they arrived they were the wrong drinks. They both ordered iced Cinnamon Toast Crunch lattes, and both received a hot version thereof.
As for the food, my daughter ordered her steak medium, and it was far overcooked. This is inexcusable - both to cook AND to present if you're a food runner - but she didn't want to make a fuss, so she kept it and ate half of it. In addition, the steak was butchered badly, with a far amount of unrendered fat. It's 4oz of strip, not an 18oz ribeye. Whoever was expediting should've had it recooked. Additionally, the fries were soggy, the eggs were far from over easy, the hollandaise was bland, and the steak-covering 'tomato aioli' (which looked or tasted like neither) just seemed a way to try to hide the mistakes with the steak. Please see the attached photos for documentation of her dish.
The other food issue was with my wife's (beautifully plated) Japanese pancakes. When I've ordered these in the past - or made them, or even relied on the description in your menu - they've been light and fluffy. Generally, this is accomplished via folding in egg whites, which lends an airiness to the dish. Deflation is normally a concern, but not with yours. It was as though dense pancake batter was simply cooked in a ring mold.
In terms of the service in general, it was subpar, to put it kindly. My eldest daughter never had her water refilled, and in general the waits were too long between checkups at each stage of the meal.
And finally, the check.
When the check arrived, it included three additional drinks beyond what we ordered. After pointing it out to the waiter, and him having it corrected, it still contained (contains, actually) an additional drink. Regardless, I went ahead and paid it, because everyone was annoyed and ready to go.
Somewhat slow service I can understand, especially with the labor issues that have plagued service industries of late. I still tipped $22, because my wife and I both used to work in restaurants and understand that people should be paid a fair wage regardless. That said, a $170 breakfast - without alcohol - should be memorable... for good reasons.
I'm giving it a 2, because the presentation was definitely instagram-ready. But it's been 5 days since I emailed them feedback, and not so much as an automated reply. So maybe even the 1 was undeserved...
