While in London, we randomly walked into this place off the street. The ambiance was nice - partly open air. Cool decor on the walls. Vegetarian options as well as oysters and steak. I would definitely go there again! read more

The Botanist - Great vegetarian eggplant entree! - British Near Me - London, XGL

Great drinks, food, and great service! Highly recommend the verdant vista. Loved the ambience on a Friday night. read more

If you're looking for a casual upscale bar and restaurant in Chelsea, look no further. When you get to the door, you'll be greeted by Oliver with a smile in his voice and his best efforts to ensure a grand dinning experience. If you're lucky enough to have the hardest working man in the food service industry, Muhammad will take great care of you. Calamari for starters, a braised beef cheek dish with a potato cake and kale that I even enjoyed. The schnitzel is also not to be missed. Not pictured is the unbelievable blueberry sorbet. I'm telling you that you've never had anything like it. read more

The Botanist - British Near Me - London, XGL

It was a very nice restaurant with kind and friendly waiters. The atmosphere was very calm and great to chill and relax after a long day sightseeing. Even the lighting and decor of the place was nice. The food was okay but I wasn't satisfied with my choice. We were glad to see that our plates were not filled with oil in comparison to other restaurant we visited in London. Restaurant très sympa et calme, parfais pour se détendre après une longue journée de tourisme. Les serveurs étaient très aimables. Le décor et même la luminosité était très agréable. Le plat que j'ai choisi ne m'a pas spécialement plu. Cependant nous étions ravis d'avoir des plats qui n'étaient pas imbibés d'huile contrairement à d'autres resto londoniens. read more

The Botanist - British Near Me - London, XGL

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Best Gin & Tonic I had in London & the whole wide world in their hands! they use Fentimans tonic.. 1 of the most premium that we don't have here in the states p.s. don't know if they r related 2 The Botanist Gin b/c that is my favorite gin.. so premium n smooth-est read more

Food was mid at best. Made reservation at 1 got our food at 3:20. Service was terrible. Took forever to get every item we ordered, and still managed to forget multiple things we ordered. read more

Me being American, Alex made it feel like, she's is amazing and will give you the best service. She accommodates to whatever you need and will do it with a smile. She deserves a raise! Thank you Alex for making the best experience read more

The place is really nice. Had a reservation upon my arrival to London don't by my friends. We went during Dinner timer 8:30 PM. It was easy to find parking on the weekend. The venue is well designed and set up. There is a bouncer outside, and there is a separation door between the bar which had many young professional dressed to impress :) Has a full bar by the entrance then the dining area is less crowded and had mostly couples or small groups. Many people seem to order the Ceasar Salad with Chicken. Our table was next to the window and was not really in place, the wine almost fell. Wasn't really impressed with my food and its presentation. I had the Gorgonzola and walnut tortellini, creamed spinach, woodland mushrooms the paste was dry and the tortelloni was not well cooked. However, the Creme Brulee "MUST HAVE" the presentation was SUPERB read more

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Terrible overpriced food and sluggish and unwilling service. A really ghastly dining experience at nearly £60 per head. Can't quite believe the number of good reviews here, as the locals appear to have sussed out this is not the place to be - it was nearly empty, I now know why. Avoid. read more

This is a very charming and posh spot but honestly the service is absolute rubbish. If you don't believe me, check it out for yourself ‍

This place is always crowded, so if you're coming for a meal - book a table. If you're coming for a drink in the evening, plan on standing. The place is cosy (no, not small) and has a homey feel about it. The brunch was tasty, which I organised for my group & I actually like the look of the restaurant. The service is fine in here and prices are comparable to other places in Sloane Square. I'd recommend the scrummy brunch for sure. Tasty sandwiches and scones with a wide selection of fresh cakes and pastries. read more

After a day at London Fashion Weekend me and my friend decided to finish the day treating ourselves to a nice dinner and we know this place was supposed to be quite good. We were lucky enough to get a table although we were told we'd have to leave in an hour because there was another booking. The menu is lovely and everything looks delicious but it is also quite pricey so we decided to take advantage of the set menu option that was valid till 6.30. That is a great deal because it cuts the price to less than half of what you'd normally pay and you get the same amount of food. There was a small issue with the waiter being reluctant to bring us that menu, then claiming we were too late and it stops at 6.30 sharp even if it was still 6.20 and me having to actually show him the time on my phone. I kinda felt like he did not like me much after that but he was still extremely polite anyway and the rest of the staff were absolutely lovely. The food itself was delicious. I had the schnitzel (soft and juicy) and my friend had the fish cake (surprisingly filling) and we also had the burrata and whitebait starters and some red wine. The atmosphere was very nice as well, it felt grown up and sophisticated, just like a nice restaurant should be and they also treated us to a piece of chocolate at the end. I would definitely recommend this place to celebrate a special occasion or to meet with relatives or as a treat after a day shopping designer clothes in the area. Just make sure to book a table to avoid disappointment. read more

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Finally, I can get a proper dirty martini without someone looking at me like I have three heads or something when ordering. Needless to say the bar is good and always quite busy. On good weather days you'll see folks gathered around the outside. The inside bar area is usually packed. The dining room is elegant and trendy with comfortable furnishings. I've always enjoyed the items I've ordered and most recently I got the cod which was as good as the presentation. (See photo) They have a nice wine selection as well and the staff is "usually good" however we've had a few that seemed to be unhappy to be at work. Upon a previous visit my guest, a colleague ordered steak (medium) which arrived quite tough, over-cooked and inedible for her. The server removed it then offered something else which she agreed however left her quite disappointed. It's never good when your dinner guest doesn't enjoy themselves. My colleague didn't consume either meal however we were charged for one of them. I was surprised that our server didn't recognize that this second meal was barely touched. As someone who worked in a restaurants years ago I understand the repercussion of an unhappy guest. She has yet to return and I hate she had a bad experience since I'd shared with her that it was a good restaurant. On my most recent visit the meal was great and all went well aside from the fact they had run out of all features of the evening by 7:30 which my visiting friend found disappointing. He had his eye on one of the specials but settled on anther item and the starter feature which was the only available item on their list of the day. I asked the server how they had run out of the features so early in the evening. Her response was "You know we have a lunch too and it was quite busy today" - yeah, I let that go however she may not have intended that to sound rude but it did and my guests thought so too. Clearly we know now that if a special is good one must go for lunch to try it. If The Botanist were a bit friendlier and recognized repeat customers it'd be nice. I've introduced four others to this place and dined there six times in the last six months and apparently their computers do not track repeat customers which is unfortunate. Other places where I've dined the same amount or less seems to recognize customers which is always appreciated. So this American Southerner in London has found a fabulous dirty martini and a good meal at The Botanist but says y'all could use some minor improvements on hospitaltiy. read more

The Botanist - Roast fillet of cod, crushed Jersey Royals, peas, bacon, salsa Verde - British Near Me - London, XGL

Upon entry, the doorman, Luca, sat us next to the only other occupied table. Tables are not socially distanced, so we asked to move. When the next customers entered, he insisted again on seating them next to us - again, not socially distanced. We moved ourselves to a new table and Luca then approached and began arguing with us, claiming we were being unreasonable. As he did so, he leaned over our table and got right up in our faces to the point where he was literally about 30cm away from us. After repeatedly telling him to back up, he repeatedly leaned in. We pulled up the UK Government's official guidelines, to which he responded that these are mere suggestions and not things he actually needs to follow. I don't know why Luca thinks he is above a life-threatening global pandemic, but he certainly wasn't apologetic about it and insisted that we were being unreasonable for wanting to socially distance. Keep in mind - the restaurant is pretty big and with only 3 tables occupied, Luca wanted them to be right next to each other. Our waitress was actually quite pleasant and I feel sorry for her having to work with someone like Luca. The food was good, but certainly did not outweigh Luca who insisted on putting lives at risk to suit his own personal agenda. Under normal circumstances, Botanist isn't the best restaurant in the area but is still decent; however, given we are in the midst of a global pandemic, I really would not recommend going here. There are a lot of people in the hospitality industry sadly losing their jobs due to this pandemic, maybe one of them should replace Luca and help bring back some sense of safety, intelligence, and respect for customers' general wellbeing. read more

I've been to the Botanist a few times now but somehow it just won't impress me beyond a lame OK ... the main bar area is far too loud for conversations - OK, I may just be too old to see the point of disco bars without a dance floor ... Luckily there is a restaurant bit to the side that's a bit more civilised and on a quiet night you may not have to order a full meal. The chips are great btw. Staff are traditional Sloane Square which on the last visit translated into polite and efficient service - a real treat. read more

This bar and restaurant is located on Sloane Square. A cozy place perfect for sipping champagne, cocktails, or grabbing a bite to eat. The bar was busy. I loved the artisanal cocktails and our appetizers where unique and delicious. We just stuck to the bar menu since we had only eaten a few hours earlier. The smoked almonds where wonderful. I loved the grilled spiced avalado, crispy quinoa. Tomatoes and the Burrata with Isle of Wight tomatoes, avacado, and chili were also good but the tomatoes could have been riper; the service more attentive; the bar less drafty from the entry door; and the restroom cleaner. I ordered the Rhubarb and Rumble cocktail but received the Knickerbocker. Charity donation is placed on the bill without notice. www.thebotanistonsloanesquare.com read more

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The Botanist is very 'young' Chelsea, in the way that Colbert next door probably embraces their parents. The bright young things spill onto the pavements of Sloane Square in the summer, making this a lively and fun spot for a drink. The cocktails are also very good. The apple meringue pie martini is gloriously topped off with a mound of sweetened whipped egg white. The decor is understated comfortable chic. I have eaten here several times, although not on this latest visit. It is an idea to book, but we usually just turn up around 8.30 or 9pm and get seated after a short wait. I must say that food is acceptably good, but not spectacular. Staff are charming, discrete, friendly, and unlike a previous reviewer mentioned, they did recognise us on a follow up visit. An easy choice when in the area, that has been worthy of return visits. read more

The Botanist - Apple meringue pie martini - British Near Me - London, XGL

So the people watching is excellent at the bar and the day bartenders are very attentive but the night bartender seems to really like looking at his man bun and tattoos in the mirror. The bar is very loud and people are not so friendly but all in all an OK experience. I had the Mulles and they were very tasty but the small amount or fries left you wondering why. When I ordered a glass of water the bartender made a serious heavy sigh to the point it made me chuckle. Still it is cut throat to get a seat at the bar so if youre faint of heart try a different spot. read more

Situated right on Sloane Square, it's a great place to go for an after work drink or dinner if you're in that area. The menu is great - sophisticated but simple. Some great seafood, but also some great steaks and interesting takes on British food. Had the lobster ravioli followed by the mix of lamb - no complaints at all. Staff are friendly and the prices are reasonable. Highly recommend - good food, not too pretentious and friendly service. read more

The Botonist on Sloane Square enjoys a double life: posh Brasserie by day; swanky bar by night. By day, it's a Brasserie serving brunch, a variety of mains and afternoon tea. I found the service to be pretty decent: quick, attentive, polite. The food was also good too, with the roast beef I enjoyed falling second only to Hawksmoor's outstanding effort. By night, it's a swanky bar where the moneyed Chelsea set congregate: the guys in suits and blazers; the women in glamorous dresses. The drinks menu and prices are reasonable: despite its prime location, there are plenty of more expensive bars to be found down Kings Road. Overall, it's a pretty solid bet whenever you happen to swing by. read more

Food is mediocre at best. Everything we had was just "fine." It was nothing better than I would have thrown together at home, and I am not a good cook. . . . I am giving the Botanist 3 stars instead of 2 because of the bar. On a nice day it is a great place to hang out. Sloane square is lacking in good neighborhood pubs to grab a quick one on your way home from work or when you have finished shopping on Kings Road. They make a good Pimms and lemonade and even send waitstaff out to the sidewalk so you don't have to push your way through the crowd for each round. read more

Overpriced, mediocre fare and over the top pricey drinks served in an establishment that is packed wall to wall with smarmy, obnoxious douches. What's not to love? :) read more

Modern and beautfully decorated but attracts Sloane Square's worst parts, astoundngly pretentious, rude clients. Two examples from our brief stay: - Rotund, florid faced man with phone to his ear barges through a girl in our group insead of walking round and doesn't apologise until we ask him to (phone stays at ear) - I reach past a group of six arrayed in a defensive line along the bar to get our drinks and the nearest of these aging, botoxed women loudly moans to her coven that people keep pushing her and they should move. How did this not occur to her before? Maybe we just got unlucky but it would take something dramatic to get me here for a drink again. Caveat: I only went for a drink so can't comment on the food and the staff were a lot more pleasant than the crowd read more

Went here with my sisters for my Mum's birthday on Sunday 21st. We wanted to do high tea somewhere a bit more modern than the typical Mayfair stuffy hotel. Nice dining room, but very busy and noisy which would be fine if the service could cope with the busy-ness (which I think is mainly due to the lack of options in the area). Ordered one bottle of the cheapest fizz (the cheapest that wasn't English!), and four high teas - came to 35 GPB per head which seems a rip off for a few sandwiches and a cake. Tea consists of a few finger sandwiches, two cream scones each (with pretty stingy jam/cream provision) and one cake that you have to choose before you see what you get for tea. I certainly felt full, but there wasn't much variety, and as we could have had a decent lunch elsewhere for that price felt it wasn't good value for money. Most importantly the service was pretty horrendous and we felt like we were more of an irritation than welcome customers. read more

In short: tasty food, pretty restaurant, attentive service...but missing the "x factor" for a 5th star. We were here for Sunday lunch, when the restaurant was surprisingly empty. I was initially disappointed that there was no brunch menu; it was unclear why (other reviews seem to indicate there used to be brunch available) and I think they're missing a key market opportunity. Oh well, the rest of the menu looked tasty anyway! And tasty it was. I had the mussels and fries while my friends both got Sunday roasts. We all kept raving about the food -- it was fresh and cooked to perfection. It was nothing overly unique, but it didn't need to be and wasn't trying for that approach. Likewise, the atmosphere was simple, bright and classy, and the service was attentive and gracious. Nothing about this place was trying to be trendy; it was clearly meant to be "just" a delicious meal in a nice setting. The whole effect came across as enjoyable but a tad bit boring to this twenty-something. It would be a great choice for lunch with mom or a business meal, but perhaps worth trying somewhere else for a lively "guess what I did last night" Sunday brunch. Side note: Based on some other reviews, it seems like the place might be a lot livelier in the evening for drinks -- I would definitely give that a try, especially if the cocktails are as good as the food was! read more

The food here is OK but I didn't really order anything out of the ordinary. However, I went for a somewhat late lunch and some of the specials had run out. Cocktails here are super A+ and extremely delicious. The pom collins had real pomegranate seeds and the Victoria Beckham gin cocktail I ordered was almost a piece of art as it contained a cucumber slice that wrapped around the entire inside of the glass. Seating seems difficult and you should likely pre-book though we hovered creepily by the bar for around 10 min and managed to scrounge up a table in the bar area. What gets me about this place is actually the atmosphere. You'll find plenty of the Chelsea crowd lingering about and bright young things with digital SLRs (Rag&Bone is almost next door FYI). I was also here during some runway show happening in Sloane Square so there were just lots of trendy gaunt youths milling about and Instagram portraits in the making. It was a sunny day and between the navy, double-breasted, gold button blazer wearing older man reading the paper to my left and the two American ladies-who-lunch to my right ("OMG! My boyfriend went to business school with him!") who ordered virgin bloody marys (what are these? why would you have these? isn't this just tomato juice with extra tabasco at this point????), I almost forgot that I just paid upwards of 20 quid for a salad. read more

It's always nice to find a place in London that serves afternoon tea for less than £20 - not bad at all if you're looking to enjoy a treat with the girls. Comfortable surroundings and just a hop, skip and a jump from Sloane Square tube. The lunch menu looked pretty scrummy but you can't really beat smoked salmon sarnies, fresh scones and yummy tarts. The waiter was very friendly and took good care of my 8 month pregnant friend. It was also sweet that they'd made special cup cakes for the Boat Race - so you could pick between dark and light blue. I could easily become a regular. read more

Such a spendy area deserves a nice place this eat for eats and drinks. You might even see a celebrity, not too big a one, mind you, but a face from the telly or films, perhaps. What you'll also find is a clever spin on the Bloody Mary, and get the beefy one, you must, it's better the second time and just quite tasty. Sleek, stylish, trendy- and the setting is too. Not just the clientel. Enjoy! read more

For dinner here you *definitely* need reservations... practically a *must.* Especially if you'd like to dine anywhere near a suitable supper hour, you really can't just expect to walk in and get a table - so consider yourself warned. Fortunately, I'd been told this before heading here with a friend for a pre-theatre dinner. It's a stone's throw from the Royal Court, so the Botanist is ideally located if you're headed to or coming from a show there. The atmosphere here isn't particularly intimate - they're definitely going for more of a "scene" vibe - but the interior is really stunning. The walls are covered in illuminated Victorian scientific images of plants... this sets a beautiful tone in terms of décor. However, the tables are small and packed in rather close together - it sort of produces a crowded feeling - not uncomfortable, but I certainly wouldn't want to have a heart-to-heart conversation here. Our service was super-efficient... quick and smooth and painless... it was more utilitarian than personable, almost like we hardly knew our waiter was there, but no complaints since the execution was flawless. The wine list has a pretty large and diverse range of international options to choose from... but our waiter knew his stuff and was quite useful in helping us select a bottle. The food here is continental. I had the seasonal salad and my friend ordered the halibut. Our food was nice, but didn't have any *wow* factor... I could barely tell you what it tasted like the next day, let alone find myself craving it... The puddings sounded good, but we were in a rush to make our show, so unfortunately, we didn't have time to try one. This place is beautiful to look at, but I probably wouldn't come again for dinner...the food simply wasn't enough to shout about. But I definitely want to try it out again some weekend morning since it seems like so much more of a brunchy-type place and the breakfast menu looks so appealing. read more

So. I have mixed feelings about The Botanist. The cocktails are to die for. If you're lucky enough to find a seat, the toffee apple cocktail will change your life. On a Saturday morning, the half of this place with just tables is a lovely place to hang out. But, it's always rammed and you can't book that area. Try your luck, have cocktails or a mimosa with friends, and it's a blast. It's not cheap, but hey, you're in Sloane Square - be realistic. The other half of the place you can reserve a table in. I'm less convinced. Sure service is attentive, but the prices are phenomenal, for food that you'd probably get the same quality of elsewhere. A double eggs benedict costs £12.50. The ham was delicious, but other than that - it's just not that special. I also had lunch here yesterday, and though it was nice because of the company, the tables are too tightly arranged and my salmon fishcake was nothing to write home about. read more

I think it was Mr. Sloane who was the botanist. So he got the square named after him long ago and now this - his service to botany and his lasting hobby has been honoured. Look out for the Naked Lawn Tennis soon. Located on the corner of the square The Botanist does all the three traditional meals of the day plus the very English addition of Afternoon Tea and plenty of snacks. There is a restaurant and a bar area here both of which are decorated with quite a bit of minimal elegance and understated charm. It makes a really good spot for a Sunday afternoon in particular. They do fantastic Bloody Marys, really good coffee and a great burger. Haven't eaten in the more formal dining area yet but from what I have had so far I'd expect one of the best meals to be found locally. read more

Relaively new Bar and Restaurant, opposite the enduringly popular Oriel, been two or three times now, but only for drinks. Nice touch is the doors/windows opening on fine days. It's got quite a buzz, particularly late afternoon and early evening, prices not exactly cheap, but a good place to meet your pals for a drink before going out for an 'occasion'. Wines are good, but they're equally happy serving tea and coffee. read more

I came here for dinner with some family while I was in the UK for business and what can I say - I love the neighborhood of Chelsea and all its establishments and the Botanist was no exception. I love the atmosphere - very reminiscent of the trendier, classy bars in NYC. Once you enter, the space reminds you of a nice living room with stylishly sleek furniture and open space. The crowd is on the younger side - I'd say late twenties to early thirties. The vibe was energetic with people mingling and chatting, but it never got overcrowded or too loud. For dinner, we got an awesome round table in the middle of the dining section (note the bar area and dining section are separate here). Everything was pleasant about dining here - the sommelier was informative when asked, and service really didn't skip a beat. The food was pretty good, but not spectacular. I ordered the seabass with a side of steamed napa cabbage. The fish was very fresh and cooked perfectly. Only complaint about this dish and the side is that it was very salty. I also noticed that in the UK, they like to serve fish skin side up - I have no qualms about this but I could see how it might make other Americas a bit squeamish. ;) Portions wise, the fish was filling but some of the other meat dishes (lamb, steak) were much smaller in portion compared to what you'd find in the US, but that's expected. All dishes tasted great in terms of flavor, and the presentation and preparation were excellent. Overall great experience - I would dine here again or come for drinks. I would just ask they hold back a bit (or a lot) on the salt. read more

Quinoa salad! Yum!!! Sit in the bar lounge if you're working on your laptop or taking calls or meeting friends even. It's noisy and vibrant with people even in mid afternoon mid week. The rose was wonderful with the quinoa veggie salad and great portions too!! read more

In a restaurant on Sloane Square, you might expect good food and drink but you would definitely expect great service. I was taken here for a pre-theatre meal by my other half's family, 7 of us in total. From the outside The Botanist looked very neat, the black and white exterior with its touch-of-green lighting inside complementing the restaurants name nicely. Inside you could tell you were on Sloane Square. Suits everywhere, bustling atmosphere and in my jeans and trainers I felt slightly out of place, though there were the odd few guys dressed the same so I wasn't put off. We waited patiently past the bar at the entrance to the tabled section and while waiting got told off by a member of staff for being in the way of the restaurant. We politely remarked we were actually waiting for someone to seat us and with a brief apology she walked off. Eventually seated we all ordered fairly quickly as the show was ever approaching. The tables were cramped and all very close together as if they had tried to fit as many in as possible. It was quite hard to navigate around and between them on the way in and out, and for seven, the table was very small. The food was good, but could have been better. My steak was cooked well, but was very fatty though the chips were good though could have been more like an armadillo - crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside - as it were they were quite stodgy. Other meals on the table were equally in the category of 'nothing to write home about'. Service was slow and abrupt and prices (though I wasn't paying) were expensive for the quality of the food. Of course though, you are paying for location in this neck of the woods... However, the redeeming feature for me was the décor. I loved the look of the place, the wooden floor and the walls covered with photos of animals and flowers that looked like they had been taken from an old science textbook were a great touch. Reading other reviews it seems the drinks are the star of the show here rather than the food but unfortunately I didn't volunteer my services for cocktail tasting this time. read more

Went here with my girlfriend for celebratory cocktails--for the high price and swanky atmosphere, their mixology chops are lacking. Girlfriend had a cocktail from the menu which was sickly sweet and very weak. I had a classic cocktail (Sazerac) which was similarly weak, improperly served on the rocks (they could have at least asked), and completely missing its key ingredient (absinthe). read more

Great location, gorgeous interior, lovely bathrooms (it's important to me) and the food is decent. However, the service is just about the WORST I've encountered in ages. My friend and I wanted to go in for the afternoon tea, which is supposed to be served until 6pm. So we arrived at 4:45pm and were immediately informed by the hostess that they would need the table back by 5:30pm. We said fine. We ordered and a few minutes later a lovely three tiered tray of sandwiches and cakes arrived. Well that's nice but they forgot our tea, plates, jam and clotted cream- all of which we had to request be brought. By then the clock was ticking, so we inhaled our hot tea and food and were delighted with ourselves when we finished the last crumbs promptly at 5:28pm. No one had been by to check on us at that point, but we weren't bothered. However, 45 minutes then passed AFTER we finished and still no one came back to our table. We found it interesting that they'd been so insistent that we be out by 5:30pm but well after that they still hadn't bothered to acknowledge our existence. We'd been testing to see how long it would take for someone to notice us, but after awhile it got very frustrating so we flagged down a waitress who apologized half-heartedly and brought us our bill for 40 (including a 12% service charge). It pained me to fork out that much money for a mediocre meal with such horrible service, but we were just eager to leave. I'll probably make a complaint because it's a real shame that such a beautiful spot should be wasted. read more

The Botanist - British Near Me - London, XGL

To use a botany analogy, this is like seeing a beautiful garden only to discover it's filled with aphids. It's not going to harm you, but it's both disappointing and not some place you want to stick around. To be fair, the food probably deserves 3 stars, but I'm docking one for the terrible service. We called to make reservations for Saturday night and they were adamant that the only time available was 6:30 and we must clear out by 8:30. Therefore you can understand our surprise when we showed up to find the restaurant completely empty, and continued to have free tables well after 9PM (more on why we were there so long later). The food was decent but not particularly special. I had the fish stew which had big chunks of salmon and halibut, plus a few orphan calamari. The others ordered steak, which frankly looked like the steak frites you might find anywhere. I will say that the dessert was amazing: rhubarb souffle with homemade almond ice cream. It *almost* made me forget about the terrible service. First, no fewer than four different waiters served on us throughout the night. Our first waitress was fine until we ordered a bottle of wine that had clearly gone off. It was supposed to be a decent wine from the Loire region and certainly wasn't cheap, but to my novice palate tasted skunky. My friends, who drink more than their fair share of fine wine agreed. I told the waitress, wherein she took the bottle of wine away and then came back with it 3 minutes later declaring it "just fine". We weren't about to drink it, so we ordered a different bottle of wine while the still full glasses (and bottle) sat on the table the rest of the night. As we were choosing the next bottle, I asked for her recommendation between two bottles and she said she liked one more than the other but couldn't tell us why or even describe what they were like (I suspect the price point was driving her decision). We went with the other bottle, and never saw her again. When 8:30 rolled around we were anxious for our bill. Finally flagging down another waiter we got it, but then sat at our table for another 45 minutes until I managed to snag a fourth waiter to bring the card machine. We had just watched the table beside us pay their bill and evidently there was something wrong with one of the card readers as it had declined everyone's card. So when the waitress came to take my card, I asked her if it was the same machine - she didn't know. My card was declined, a fact that she announced loudly. I asked her to try another machine. She asked for another card. I stood my ground. Ta-Dah! Amazing - my card worked! I noticed that she did not announce that fact as loudly. Not what I would call a great experience. For that kind of money in this market you can get a lot better. read more

Sloane Square at its best (not to be repetitive!) This place is great for brunch and dinner. It's also great for a drink at the bar - especially before heading next door to Kitts for a night out. I'd come here with visitors to the city and/or a group of friends but would also make sure to get reservations. The bar can be very crowded - which is fine in the summer because you can stand outside on the curb - but tougher in the winter. Either way, the crowd is awesome - young, well dressed and chatty - as is the wait staff. Get dessert at the restaurant - I always do and it doesn't disappoint, especially anything involving chocolate. As for the food, everything I've had has been good - nice size portions, good value for money, and tasty/flavorful. I miss The Botanist - many good memories here! read more

My parents were visiting and were looking for a gastropub experience. We picked the Botanist because it was close to a show we were going to see that evening. Being on Sloane Square, the place was heaving with people. The place is very well styled, too. But, we were a bit disappointed. Given we had a show to make at 7PM, they said that we could come for the late lunch menu at 5PM. As we sat at our table and waited nearly 30 minutes, we were informed that they were in the middle of shifting to the dinner menu which starts at 7PM and we would need to order from that. Upon looking, there is absolutely nothing different between the menus other than cost -- nearly double the price! Just ridiculous! read more