Frankie the Alchemist

Picture the scene; two foodies sink excitedly into their green leather booth, their tummies rumbling in excitement after a frugal day of rice cakes and carrot sticks.

They’d done the leg work, booked online to avoid disappointed; they scoped the menu online and decided to spend their treat Tuesday (it’s a thing you know,) at The Alchemist, New York Street. The trendy bar-come-eatery is sister to its first restaurant found nestled in the heart of Spinningfields and provides a low-lit, indulgent dining experience complete with enchanting trinkets and sparkling windows.

Having not dined at the Alchemist for well over a year, I was extremely excited to partake in some of the new offerings dished out by the menu. Confidently deciding on Jerk Chicken with Dumplings and the ever-popular Chicken in a Basket for our mains, we allowed the ambience to wash over us as we watched bubbling concoctions pumping with dry ice pass by on trays.

Whilst neither of us were able to spoil our taste buds with the glorious creations concocted by the bar staff (sobriety is apparently a “must” at work in 2016), we intriguingly watched as the couple on our adjacent table glugged their cocktails appreciatively.

“It’s like drinking a cloud!” the girl exclaimed to me excitedly.

The restaurant was buzzing with a hungry (and evidently thirsty) crowd of Manchester’s suited and booted; most of which were claiming a cocktail after a hard day at the office whilst others were too busy nose deep in hot chocolate...oh. Was that just me?

Not wanting to miss out on the sorcery taking place behind bars equipped with Bunsen burners and laboratory glassware, we ordered hot chocolates to see what an Alchemist’s take on this classic winter warmer would be.



Delivered in glass beakers no less, a creamy hot chocolate was topped with white chocolate foam and sugared marshmallows on sticks. But the magic didn’t end there, whipping out his blowtorch the bartender no sooner sets our drinks in front of us before toasting our mallows till goo began to escape into the thick foam.

We sipped our cocoa appreciatively, enjoying the warm, chocolate-milk flavour whilst simultaneously slurping up clouds of sweet white chocolate foam and browned sugary marshmallow. Sigh, does indulgence get much better than this?

And then the appetizers showed up.



The Chicken in a Basket arrived quite literally in a chicken basket. Salt and pepper chips, red cabbage slaw and a pot of BBQ-esque gravy occupied the bottom layer of the basket, supporting generously portioned tenders of crisp chicken.

Whilst presentation is always something that to be marvelled at at The Alchemist, it’s not always functional for the diner; however thanks to its layering plate, my fellow diner managed to coax the chicken out of its coop, filling the plate and began to dig into the platter of golden fried goodness.

Between mouthfuls, she described the dish as fantastically crunchy, fried chicken – without the grease. A winner in both of our eyes.

My Jerk Chicken was delivered in a heavy stone casserole pot, 3 fantastically marinated chicken thighs adorned a bed of long-grain rice and garden peas. Dumplings accompanied the dish alongside the pot with a vessel of deep brown Jamaican gravy.



The chicken was exquisitely tender, juicy and fall-off-the-bone soft. I was pleasantly surprised at the mildness of spice as flavour took over as I indulged my palette to the sensational jerk rub which had been massaged into the skin of the bird. The dumplings were doughy balls of soft glory disguised in a slightly crisp outer shell, a flavour sensation when combined with a shred of chicken and dipped into the pot of steaming gloopy gravy.

The rice was the kind of nondescript carb side you need with such a flavoursome dish. When soaked in the gravy, it added a wonderful contrasting texture against the softness of the dumpling and chicken.

My only wish with the rice, was that it had stuck with the authenticity of classic Jamaican recipes and stuck with kidney beans rather than using garden peas. I find kidney beans a lot fuller in flavour and add a certain smoothness and smokey flavour when used with rice. The garden peas sadly didn’t do much for me and were a little lost in a dish that was in abundance of flavour.

Overall, I was extremely satisfied with my main. It took me on the wonderful meaty jerk experience I had been craving, balancing tangy sensations of the jerk seasoning with the smokiness of a barbecued chicken thigh. The dumplings added a great addition to the dish, adding small bursts of soft savoury dough crust into each bite. The gravy? Well when did gravy ever not make a meal 100x more delicious?

As the frugal remains of our meals were taken away, we both knew we were much too full to order dessert.

Which is why we ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding and Warm Chocolate Fudge Cake almost immediately.



Both plates arrived in decadent gloriousness. My fudge cake was a rich affair of thick, gooey sponge lathered in ribbons of hot fudge. Cool vanilla ice cream balanced the sweet glaze of dark chocolate which wrapped around every bite. In short, a truly satisfying plate of oozy, chocolate goodness.

How was the Sticky Toffee Pudding? It disappeared from the plate in a record-breaking 84 seconds; I hope that clears up any wonderings.



The service was extremely quick without feeling overbearingly rushed. Despite being a Tuesday evening the entire restaurant was rammed with hungry diners, eager to take advantage of the 50% off January offering.

As a unique and fun dining experience for both Manchester’s own and its visitors, I would most definitely say The Alchemist is worth a visit (or several).

Both visually and stomach-filling-ly pleasing, it’s a definite must for those wishing to seek an impressive and indulgent evening of culinary chemistry.

THE VERDICT: I'd give it a solid 4/5...I was going to give it a 3 and a half but I think I'd be doing the chicken a disservice!

Follow Frankie on Twitter @FrankAboutFoods!

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Posted: Friday 15th January 2016
ID: 10002 - 1534