Horsham Coffee Roaster in Horsham

Botanica is good, in fact its food quality is better than good with some outstanding cooking from a talented team of chefs. The atmosphere is casual, with a lovely outside area that overlooks the downs on nice days. The menu is thoughtful and broken down in to small plates and large plates and is dairy and nut free. Sadly, the menu lacked a good description of the overall concept. If they want to be bold and lead with a dairy and nut free menu that is designed to be sustainable with lower carbon emission, why not shout about it! To have no description or introduction on the menu was a little odd. The open kitchen produced exciting flavors and textures that were well balanced, with perfectly cooked vegetables, fish and meat. Wine, as expected was expensive and service is added to your final bill. The staff here were fairly well trained, although lacked some passion, enthusiasm and warmth. The restaurant is comfortable with well-spaced tables, but didn’t live up to its name Botanica. I expected a wall of growing herbs or some living plants, not the plastic pots that decorated this space. A big plus was the menu is well suited for anyone with allergies including the notorious gluten free, and there are plenty of choices on the menu. Our only gripe was a dish labelled “Day boat” fish on the menu was sadly not as described. The fish served was a Mediterranean farmed Sea bream aka Dorarde Royal, but the chef claimed it was locally caught day boat (meaning wild caught on a small fishing boat). As one of our party works in the fish industry, he was able to confidently identify the fish, which was sadly not day boat wild black bream that is caught in the UK waters. It would have also been nice to know where the lamb and chicken came from. No mention of Organic, free range or a local farm where the lamb came from, which is what one would expect from a restaurant that is all about local and sustainable, and where food miles and production are important. Never the less, this did not distract from the overall high quality of food served, whether it was day boat or not, the fish was bloody tasty and that’s what really mattered. We would certainly go again and overall enjoyed the experience. Ps. Be warned, we took at tiny cake in for a birthday celebration (not to eat) but they were reluctant to bring it out saying they could not handle it if it had dairy and candles were against their no open flames policy. However they did bring out a small plate to say Happy birthday.

What a lovely place food was the best I have ever had thank you to ash the waitress/barmaid was very sweet attentive and funny lovely atmosphere open fire cosy spotless can’t wait to go back Debbie xjulian

What great food with very attentive service. Beers were good with good choice.

What an amazing experience - stunning food in lovely surroundings with such a friendly team! Love the sustainability ethos and learning more about each ingredient, along with the merging of various styles to create some truly brilliant dishes. Loved having the chefs come out to introduce us to dishes, and giving their own stories about what the dishes mean to them. Overall service was out of this world - we were so well looked after!

Free entry to explore the marvellous gardens at Leonardslee when booking the Ultimate experience. A thorough wine tasting, brilliantly conducted by 'Simba', a true credit to his profession as a sommelier. Fabulous wines and that Sabre moment when the cork is 'popped', my friend did this with such distinction. An excellent, delicious Afternoon Tea followed, nothing waste much of a problem, photo opportunity, carrot cake a welcome extra but 'Simba' created the icing on the cake. Fantastic experience.