We had a spectacular time here! I would have loved to try every single drink on their very…read moreextensive menu! I have been to two different locations, but they were both gorgeous spots, like the look and vibe is top notch. The drinks? Kitschy and weird as hell. Do they taste good though? Live up to the price and the hype? YES. 1000% The drinks are fun and funny and most have some sort of little quirk...color changing, in a weird vessel, tasty sweet garnishes, etc. But they also all taste amazing. Some are a show to watch them being made, some are diy mixed at the table by you. I was brought here the first time by a family friend who lives in London, and when I returned a year and a half later, with our hotel around the corner from an Alchemist, I made ALL my friends on the trip go here on our first night. And we all returned at least once more during our week in the city. Service was good and patient with our large group, food was decent...I simply have had an amazing time every time I have gone to the Alchemist and if there was one in my hometown I would be out of house and home giving them all my money. Highly HIGHLY recommend.

The Alchemist was literally at the bottom of our Airbnb, making it incredibly convenient--and I'm…read moreso glad we stopped in. The location is fantastic, the customer service was excellent, and the atmosphere made for a really enjoyable breakfast. I started with a cappuccino and added salted caramel, but honestly, the cappuccino was so good it didn't even need it. It was smooth, rich, and perfectly made on its own. For breakfast, I ordered the Eggs Benedict. They offer two versions: one with pulled beef and one Florentine. As someone from the US who's a bit of an Eggs Benedict snob, I've tried countless versions over the years, and pulled beef just wasn't something I could picture working with it. I went with the Florentine and customized it by adding bacon, avocado, and a side of sausage. One thing I've learned while visiting the UK is that the sausages are much larger than what I'm used to back home! I honestly could have skipped it because it was so filling. The Benedict itself was unique--the base was almost like a buttery croissant instead of a traditional English muffin, and it came with pickled red onions, which was an interesting touch. The poached eggs were cooked perfectly, and I especially enjoyed it with the added bacon. The food was fresh, high quality, and beautifully prepared. There was plenty of seating both inside and outside, but I chose to sit outside and enjoy some people watching, which made for a relaxing start to the day. Overall, a great breakfast spot with delicious food, excellent service, and a wonderful atmosphere. I'd definitely come back.

Place is packed on Monday night. Bustling inside w/ younger crowd & tight seating. Special they're…read morerunning is single smash cheese for 10. Server sat us fast & ordered to go since she said it takes 20-25 to make food. Got the double smash & a fritter (veggie) burger. Both were great tasting, good portion & hot! Fries were perfect - crispy seasoned & hot!

Food 4.5 Service 2.5…read moreAmbiance 4.5 The smash burger was to die for, definitely coming back whenever im in london. The chips were goated and Lemonade too solid 4.5

Very cool bar, good vibes near the Waterloo station…read more It was raining out so we came in for a round of drinks and to get dry. Friendly bartenders but the liquor selection is limited. Worth coming in to check out.

Very nice place. Seems historic! Just had a beer but the service was great and friendly. Next time…read moreI'm stopping for much longer!

Came here on my last day in London. I'm bumping up to a 4 for really high quality service, but the…read morefood was just okay. Clearly I'm an American, so I know my burgers. What can I say, my country is filled with the obese and fat-loving community. I came here because I was just craving a burger and was amused by the "holy cheesemus" stuff on the outside. Not that I ordered it (Asian American, so lactose is my frienemy). I had the regular burger with a side of fries. The fries itself (crisps? No idea what the locals call it) were crunchy and yummy. When I ordered the burger, my waiter asked if I wanted it medium, and like a proper carnivore, I asked for mid-rare. Rare if it's a slab of steak (make note!). My burger came out...mid-well. It was a good tasting burger, and I didn't feel like being the jerk to send it back. It wasn't burnt or bad tasting, just not expected to get a mid-well. It even had a little flag saying it was mid-rare. It's fine...I realized during my time in London that the UK just doesn't know how to rare up meat. So at this point, I'd give a 3 star. But the manager (I learned later...) came by to grab my empty plates (points for managers who "dirty" their hands), and asked me how it was. I...hesitated and he kinda knew there was something off. I told him about the mid-rare thing and he asked if he could get me dessert or something. Being utterly stuffed, I declined and asked for the check. To my surprise, there was a 20% off. When I asked my waiter why, he said the manager took it off because of the mid-rare thing! NICE! I don't blame the Byron, as I just figure that London doesn't know how to do American-style meat temps. So, I left the "discount" as a tip. Yes, I realize UK doesn't do tips. I'm still American and they can just think I paid full price.

When in the UK, supposedly its a must to try out this burger place. Considering we eat a lot of…read moreburgers in the US and they all taste the same to me, I was pretty skeptical about Byron. So they do have several locations and the one we went to was located on The Cut (ouch~). I tried the Byron and it came with a fried pickle (yum!). Burger didn't taste extra special, but it was still good. I also got some loaded fried to go along with it (fellow Americans - you will have to order fries with it - it doesn't just come with it like in the US). Also, get the mac and cheese - it's pretty good. I also tried their Soda Folk Cherry - very good and nice change from a regular coke.

Not sure why I gave this pub such a high mark since the service was crap. Well, I guess it was…read morebecause I wanted a half pint, and they gave me a pint. Well, I guess that is a minor issue. However, ignoring that, it was the nature of the pub that was awesome because, as the name suggests, it is a hole in the wall, located under the railway lines heading to Charing Cross, and just across from Waterloo Station. Honestly, it's much better than the railway station pubs.

Came here to escape the rain and grab a drink. They didn't seem to have a restaurant but rather you…read morecould order food from Honest Burgers to be delivered there, which was interesting. It was your standard pub but the bartender was nice enough to let my friend try the beers to figure out which one she liked. They have a limited wine menu but it was nice and cheap. The bar itself is pretty big with front seating and then an entire side room that is spacious with tables and seating available.

5 = food 5 = service…read more5 = atmosphere Everything was very good after a full day of being tourists and coming off of the London Eye. We came and beat the crowd. My husband and I shared the lentil soup and we both ordered the Coban Kavurma. It was all very delicious. The spices on the Coban Kavurma lifts the dish to a higher level. The lentil soup was smooth and flavorful. Our table shared the creamed mushroom which was amazing as well. Our servers were very attentive.

The food is what we call Middle Eastern in the States. For starters, we had babaganoush and…read morephylo-wrapped spinach/cheese. Our main courses were the Lamb Amana, which is minced lamb mixed with spices then formed into a long meatball and cooked on a skewer, and lamb shish kebab. Both were really good. The chicken was moist and flavorful, while the lamb was spicy and juicy. The service was prompt and the interior very confortable. I think you will really like it.

Super friendly service, fun atmosphere and everything we ordered was enjoyable. Liked the scampi…read moreand fish and chips as well as the Mac and cheese. Our friend said the cocktail was well prepared.

We needed a place that was open relatively early before our 1pm ABBA Voyage show and they opened…read moreearly enough for us. The pancakes were small! Portions were small to decent. Prices were ok. It all tasted fine, nothing special. If you need a quick bite, this will do. Service was friendly and a little slow. Pub style atmosphere.

Great pub in the heart of London with a fantastic ale assortment, as well as cider and liquor. It…read morehas a traditional, local charm and when we visited on a Sunday night was packed by locals and visitors. Luckily we found some stool seating by the front and were able to enjoy some beers and take in the ambiance. There's an upstairs that is accessible by a very very narrow staircase which even has handles for support, all part of the fun lol!! Beer: We tried out the Guinness (great pouring process!), peroni, and a local ale which the bartender allowed me to sample. He was very helpful and walked me through the different ciders they had in stock and even how you could add fruit syrups to sweeten the flavor. What makes this place even more memorable was the helpfulness of the young guy bartending. He helped us plan how to get to Gatwick airport extremely early the next morning and we owe him a big one!

First London pub for me and thoroughly enjoyed it. Beautiful stained glass in front to sip a pint…read morenext to. Cozy slim hallway next to bar to get your selection of classic pours. Friendly local feel midday on a Thursday.

We ended up in Waterloo station on one of our outings while we were in London recently. We were…read morehungry so we decided to just have some food here. The burgers were really good. I had a Mediterranean style lamb burger. The meat patty itself was moist and not over cooked and I liked the ciabatta bread they used. The beer selection is good and it seems like a good after work bar.

Hmmmm! I'm torn here…read more As far as bars in train stations go its good, in fact comparably its great. As a sports bar, which is what it seems to push itself as with a gastro menu, its not so great. On a fairly bust 6 nations day the service fell to pieces, the staff seemed more irritated as each order went. Not really what you want on a nice Saturday out in town. If I was at Waterloo waiting for a train I would go back, to watch a sporting event with friends...I would give it a wide berth.

Came in for an early dinner with the family. It was nearly at capacity at 2 pm on Friday, which…read moreI'll be honest, set some high expectations for me. We were seated almost immediately, but we're asked to leave our stroller at the top of stairs. Its pretty tight quarters so we were happy to oblige. They provided a high chair for the baby though which was great. I ordered a ribeye, which comes with chips and grilled tomatoes. My wife ordered a Margherita pizza. For little man, we ordered fish fingers and mashed potatoes. My steak came out medium and was inconsistently seasoned. The peppercorn sauce though more than made up for the taste though. Chips came out very hot. Crispy, but not too crispy on the outside, and very flaky on the inside. My wife said the pizza was super good and that it wasn't too hot when it reached out table. My 10 month old ate 2 of the fish fingers and a handful of chips, so he also approves. Overall, it was a good experience and somewhere I would be happy to come back to.

I don't expect much from the establishments in the my tourist filled areas of any major city. Even…read morewith that low bar though this restaurant was a huge disappointment. My friend and I had been walking around downtown London taking in the sights and just wanted to take a break for an hour. When came in at an off time, maybe 2pm. From the second we walked in I knew we were in trouble. We were barely greeted, it took probably ten minutes to get a table despite almost no one being in the restaurant that time of day. They then didn't come to take our drink order for probably another 10 or 15 minutes and then were annoyed that we were only getting drinks. The plan was to have a couple pints across an hour but for the hour we were there they didn't really ever come back to our table. I had to get up and track down the waiter in order to get a bill. It is hands down one of the worst service experiences I've had in the last decade. They just did not care to wait on us. Also, I absolutely hate that they have tap water but didn't offer it to us. When they asked if we wanted still water my friend said yes, I was too late in correcting her to specifically ask for tap as "still" meant we were going to pay for a bottle of tap water. It isn't the 1920s, you have purified water. The default being a bottle of tap water is so anachronistic that it drives me crazy. It was 90 degrees out and London was in a heat wave. It just comes off as petty and a money grab. Overall avoid this place. Get farther away from the London Eye area and the tourist traps and visit someone better.