Saturday night. Apothecary gets loud - atmosphere aiming for intimate (low light, candles, dark woods everywhere) but the amount of noise kills it as a date spot for me. Book before you go, definitely. Drinks were good - I tried an Earl Grey cocktail inspired by something called a MarTEAni and a recreation of a Dale DeGroff cocktail. The latter was not as good as something actually mixed by Dale DeGroff, but both were still quite good. I don't know if they're 25-kuai-better-than-Mao-Mao-Chong good, but they've got way more options. Every drink has an introduction and a description, a nice touch.
Food-wise, I had the pulled pork baguette and a black-eyed pea soup. Pulled pork was lukewarm and not particularly juicy - Home Plate does it much better. Soup was well-spiced but brothy rather than creamy, which made me sad in the mouthparts. This would be more OK if they (a) didn't charge so exorbitantly for bar food and (2) didn't pre-prep everything, and just heat before serving. I wouldn't come back for the food.
Service was patchy - lack of cutlery, difficulty getting a waitress, difficulty making myself heard to a waitress - but all was forgiven when we left and our waiter came rushing out after us, brandishing my partner's smartphone. I'd give it a 3.5 - it's too loud, they overcharge and if even my local at home cooked to order, surely Apothecary should do too.
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