The Botanist
Restaurant - English in London
7 Sloane Square, Chelsea
London
SW1W 8EE
Contact Numbers
Opening hours
Monday to Friday: 8am - 11:30pm
Saturday to Sunday: 9am - 11:30pm
Key Services
About
The Botanist
Situated on Sloane Square in the heart of Chelsea, The Botanist is a popular bar and restaurant. It is named in honour of the adventuring naturalist Sir Hans Sloane, whose vast private collection of plant and animal specimens formed the core of the Natural History Museum. The Botanist draws together influences from far and wide, whilst remaining essentially British at heart.
Trading Since
2002
Reviews
The Botanist
We're probably not the easiest family to please in a restaurant. On top of the everyday chit chat we always discuss the food and service in minute detail. This Father's Day we ventured to the newly opened The Botanist on Sloane Square.It takes time for new establishments to settle into a routine; The Botanist only opened in May, a short month before our visit. But basic mistakes kept creeping in and with five sister restaurants I had expected the whole operation to be a bit slicker.The restaurant is located next to the recently renovated Sloane Square Hotel. It was a busy Sunday and customers were certainly crammed into the dining area, making our table of five slightly uncomfortable. The place has a clean feel to it with calming tones and a historical mural which ties in with the restaurant's name.So to the meal… The ladies forwent starters, so it was left to my father, brother and myself to sample: Stilton and white onion tart with roast pears, steak tartar and globe artichoke, morel and baby spinach risotto.The tart pastry was perfect - crumbly, but solid enough to hold the very flavoursome stilton filling. I was disappointed with the pears which, served cold, seemed more raw than roasted, and didn't have the required sweetness to offset the stilton's saltiness.The risotto sounded wonderful, but the creaminess which typifies risottos was swapped for a thin bland sauce which drowned the rice.The steak tartar was the first sign of trouble with the service. First my brother was brought a stilton and onion tart - not what he had ordered. As my father and I tucked into our starters, and finished them, he was still waiting. Steak tartar doesn't require huge amounts of cooking. Yet when it arrived it was "overcooked". Had it perhaps been sitting on the passe for a bit too long.Being a Sunday it was beef roasts for the lads and fishcakes for the ladies (not that fishcakes are particularly Sunday food!). The fishcakes were a good size but a little bland. The meat was beautifully pink and tender. The jus arrived in a wonderful little copper saucepan. The Yorkshire puddings were also scrumptious: crispy on the outside and light and fluffy inside. The vegetables however were underdone and the potatoes were far too salty and reminded me of those packet roast potatoes from the supermarket.After the waiter finished spilling water over the table, and forgetting to wipe it up, we ordered dessert. Tarte Tatin was excellent. The pastry once again perfect. Just the right amount of caramel too. The chocolate fondant just dreamy. And the Knickerbocker Glory was, well… just like being a kid again.The cheese plate ended an average meal. The minute slivers of cheese presented an uninteresting selection.Slow service, a clumsy waiter and average food (the quality of the met was a surprising highlight though) resulted in the manager gracefully removing the optional service charge from the bill. How kind! But as I said at the start, it takes time to settle down, so I look forward to a second visit to an establishment some promise.Food 3/5 - Fantastic meatService 2/5 - Get to grips with the basicsEnvironment 3/5 - Calm decor but much too crammed
A User - 07/08/2009 | report this review
Buzzing Bar & Restaurant on Sloane Square
We dined at The Botanist one Friday night with friends. Located right on Sloane Square, this is apparently THE place to be in Chelsea on a Friday evening, or in fact, any night of the week according to our waiter. The bar was buzzing (loudly!) - we had to push our way through the well-healed crowd to the restaurant. Unfortunately the noisy buzz spilled into the dining area, meaning a night spent shouting to each other across the table.That was really the only negative thing I have to say about the place. Well, unless you are allergic to the Chelsea-set. I really need to get stuck into the hair-bleach before I next venture to this part of town.Service was charming, though a little green. I liked the modern décor a lot, and the large light fittings like they have at Le Café Anglais in Bayswater. The toilets were surprisingly nice.We began with some well mixed cocktails and made our food selections. Only the boys had starters, opting for the Pan Fried Scallops, sautéed new potato, pear and bacon salad, truffle dressing; and the Veal Sweetbreads, carrot purée, girolle mushrooms, Sauternes Sauce. Both dishes were declared excellent, and the sweetbreads were still being raved about the next day.For main course we had the Seared venison fillet, braised red cabbage, parsnip mash, blackberry compote, sloe gin jus; the Pan Fried Seabass, Jerusalem artichoke, new potato and shallot salad, sauce vierge; the Red wine braised monkfish, creamed curried mussels, baby leeks, salsify crisps; and the Roasted partridge, Savoy cabbage, potato rosti, Alsace bacon, fresh peas, baby onions, beer bread sauce, game jus. The fish dishes were good, but the stand out was the gorgeously cooked venison, and the partridge was also incredibly good.Although the noise was really starting to grate, we couldn't leave without sampling dessert. Both couples ended up ordering the Pecan Pie with clotted cream ice cream. It was ok, though definitely the most average thing we ate that evening.
A User - 03/10/2008 | report this review
Ticks all the boxes
Had dinner here recently with a friend on the recommendation of the missus, who'd had some cocktails at the bar a while back and proclaimed it well worth a visit. Have to say I was very impressed. First off, the service was tremendous. Our waitress seemed to know the menu back to front, gently upsold us without being pushy and was just the right side of attentive. Really well-executed service is such a rare thing, especially in London, that it deserves a mention, I think. On the booze front, the wine list, whilst extensive, was a little on the pricey side even for the area. This is the sole reason for the dropped star - there's really no excuse for it and the likes of Arbutus do a much better job of it. Food-wise, all the quality you'd expect is there, with the menu brief but well-chosen. Suckling pig and rib-eye steak both arrived perfectly cooked, and the starter of a smoked chicken and foie gras terrine was sufficiently lavish and rich. A beautifully-kept and extremely generous cheeseboard provided a great finish to a very pleasant evening. On the whole, good for groups or being out with a friend - not sure I'd take the missus here on a 'date' to be honest as it's not what you'd call intimate, but if you're looking for somewhere that's relaxed whilst still being top notch on the quality front, you can do much, much worse indeed in this location.
A User - 11/07/2008 | report this review
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