Visiting the New Alchemist at Media City UK, Manchester

The Alchemist is well known in Manchester for being the go-to place for fancy cocktails and starters to share. Whenever I have friends from out of town over to visit, I will more often than not take them to The Alchemist on New York Street or at Spinningfields for a cocktail that will blow them away. Until now, I’ve always had to make the (admittedly short) journey to Manchester City Centre to do this, but now there’s a new kid on the bloc. The Alchemist has just opened at Media City UK, and so in an effort to continue to increase my impressive cocktail hosting abilities, I had to pop along to check it out for myself.

Located right between The Lowry and the BBC building on the bridge across the canal, The Alchemist at Media City UK is right in the heart of this new development in Salford. Media City really does keep getting better and better and the fact that they’ve opened up there now speaks volumes! Inside, the décor is as beautiful as ever and of course, the drinks comes complete with their extensive signature cocktail menu. I went for my favourite, their very bubbly ‘Bubble Bath’ cocktail (guess which one is mine), with my guests opting for a Red Dead Zombie (complete with sparkles and dry ice smoke) and a non-alcoholic fruity cocktail that looked just like a rhubarb and custard sweet!

Food wise, we nibbled on some Padron Peppers and Kale and Corn appetisers whilst we had our cocktails and decided on our starters and main courses. The Kale was delicious – I would totally recommend this as a healthy bar snack and something delicious yet out of the ordinary.

For starters, we went for a real mix and shared them between us. Quite often this is how I eat at The Alchemist; choose some of their fancy starters and share them between friends like posh tapas whilst we sip on standout cocktails. We went for the Avacado, Thai Fishcakes and Prawn Lollipops, all of which were delicious and served alongside sweet chilli source for an extra kick.

It was so hard to choose our main courses; they all sounded so good! In the end we opted for exactly what we fancied. I chose the beef fajitas, which turned out to be a really good pick! The serving size was huge, served on a platter full of beef fajita meat in the middle of a selection of guacamole, sour cream, salsa and other different fajita garnishes. My friends opted for jerk chicken (which I was told had a nice spicy kick) and Chicken Katsu Curry (which my friend said, whispering, was ‘way better than Wagamamas’!).

Although by this point we were totally full, we decided to get two desserts to share. Hey, I can’t say no to a good sweet! We went for a classic Sticky Toffee Pudding and Vanilla Ice cream, which hearty and filling, totally reminding me of Sunday dinners at home. To contrast, I championed the Cinnamon Waffles which I am telling you, you need to try! These are delicious, so light and fluffy and the subtle sugary, cinnamon taste is going to be the perfect dessert option for heading into Autumn and Winter.

Over all, The Alchemist at Media City UK is another asset to this niche bar chain. It’s a great option for those who want to have a fancy meal and drink without heading into town, and I am sure is already going to be an incredible asset to have in Media City.