The Botanist in Birmingham

Rather disappointed. New to the area our group had this venue suggested as a nice stop for some food. It has outdoor seating overlooking the scenic canals. Fortunately we had a spot of sunlight so could enjoy a drink before making our way inside. The decor is tasteful and welcoming but the experience was spoilt from that point onwards. We were a few minutes late to request our table we had booked and were reminded of our time keeping via one waitress telling two of our group “you better eat quickly” accompanied with an eye roll. Conscious of this we made our choices and ordered just one course, which felt more than manageable in the remaining hour and 45 minutes to consume and then vacate. A number of our group ordered the stated “famous hanging kebabs” from the options they selected the famous hanging kebab of the day, however, when asking what they were we were given the answer “I don’t know” with no expansion in that or offer to find out we did still order what turned out to be a very tasty meal. In fact, it’s almost the biggest shame that there was so much disparity between the service and product. A few dishes were missing, then the wrong ones but it was resolved albeit the group having different eating times. The finale really highlighted the tone of experience we had that evening. The waitress after taking payment was so keen to clear the table it bordered on being almost Basil Fawlty esq. My friends drink was taken despite only being half drank and my other friend had oil from the kebabs down the back of his top. The food and setting were enjoyable, but the service has a lot to be desired. To think we paid for a service charge added to bill despite a service lacking in professionalism and hospitality leaves us with a sour taste. Maybe this is an isolated experience however, for myself and our group I wouldn’t be able to recommend this venue. With so many other choices out there I do hope some equilibrium is found between service and kitchen at The Botanist.

Bar woman with black hair ruined our evening here tonight. So rude and offensive to my partner of colour. We ended up walking out as a result of her

The food is nice and service is wel organised. However, an extra out of the box question is not even asked checked why and just denied. That is imho not why you want to pay these prices and be very happy.

Awful. Team lovely, food dire! Only 2 in kitchen but shouldnt allow stale food and meat that is rock hard. Lost its way and very tired!

No good for a person who is disabled toilets down steps. Table close together. Drinks once ordered at the table took a while to come , food was good. I asked the waitress, if the fish was cod, her reply was no I don't think so, I asked what is it, her reply was I don't no. Never offered to find out. The price of the food was very reasonable, not over expensive.

Lovely place, atmosphere was good with oldie and new feeling, food was OK, but they struggled with making me a bitter shandy, (I'm driving) the guy came and asked me as he had never done one, well I ended up with a Guinness shandy, 🤔

Went last week waited quite a while for a drink and then when our food came we had to ask for a plate as it was skewers!!!!! Basic essential I though and even then we had to go looking for someone to get them. When the bill came the waitress apologised as she was on her own !!! Needless to say she didn't ask if we wanted to pay the gratuity. We wont be back

Great food, atmosphere and service!

I was impressed with the hanging pork belly kebabs, very tasty. Service was OK and the beer was OK.

Not a bad little cocktail bar, with top shelf decent spread or runs, whiskeys and gin. Not cheap either... Usually have live music and that's rather nice Not too busy either. Older crowd...as in over 30's. Good place to chill away from the rowdy joints along temple street.

Wonderful food with even better hospitality - the staff were very approachable and friendly.

Beautiful, fun and friendly place with great drinks

Great cheese burger and chicken katsu curry. Wonderful people work here. Awesome cocktails. Really nice ambiance.

like the location food was okay but definitely not enough staff as the wait was rediculously long

Really nice lunch out with friends. Great place, kebabs & desserts were so good!! A Cocktails or 3 went down very well! Strawberry & Elderflower mojito is a must to try! Definitely will be frequenting again!

Fantastic service, food was lovely, whole night was perfect, look forward to booking again soon

My family and I were looking forward to an evening at the Botanist, and reserved a table for 6:30pm. We were told the table is held for 15 minutes, so knew 6:45pm was the latest arrival time. We arrived, after being delayed in The Ivy at 6:42pm, only to be told, and I'm shocked to say this, by the most miserable FOH girl I've ever seen, that our table had been given away! So no table! I've never seen anyone with such a bad attitude when dealing with the public. How you can have someone like that be the face of your business is beyond me. Just rude, beyond words. And we will not be visiting, nor recommending the Botanist, again. Sort the staff out and sort the customer service training out. And if you have a 15 minute waiting time, abide by your own rules. Thankfully there were better bars in Birmingham to spend the evening in.

Hanging kebabs highly recommended. Fabulous food

Such a lovely little place, the interior design is so beautiful and well thought out. The cookie dough desert was incredible. I liked the way you could pay and leave a tip of a device it made leaving quicker instead of waiting around for the bill for ages. Loved it :)

Lovely food and fantastic service Relaxed atmosphere could hear friends so music appropriate

Table was in main walk way got knocked every time someone went past and way too loud to point you couldn’t hear a thing even the words. Left 1/2 of drink and went.

Entrance pub was dirty, restaurant was very worn out. Chips tasted like cardboard and they were over cooked. Not very many vegetarian options. Out of vegetarian pie so had halloumi kebab, was just fried halloumi nothing special. £16.50 for a few pieces of fried halloumi and over cooked fries - not acceptable. Toilet seat was broken and flew off. Toilets weren’t very clean either. Cocktail presentation was very basic considering price. Went here for my son’s birthday treat over The Ivy (as we always go there) this was the same price and much, MUCH worse. Really regret this choice. Only redeeming quality was that staff were nice. Would not go back to the one in Birmingham!

Brilliant Food, Cocktails and Staff 👍👍🍹🍹Thanks all for a fantastic afternoon and evening helping us celebrate our 30th year together 👍🍹🍹

Really tasty food, well priced and attentive, friendly staff. Always at the top of my list for food when visiting Birmingham now.

Lovely atmosphere and the staff were friendly and chatty and the food omg absolutely fantastic. Highly recommend

My friend famgave me a surprise part there, the staff were amazing, polite and very kind. Can recommend if you want a good night out with a great atmosphere go here.

Average food at a high price. Expected better to be honest. Nice atmosphere and service was fine but nothing special. Didn't like that they automatically added a tip. It's too presumptuous and personally I think it's rude. We had it removed. Had they not done this we'd have tipped something anyway.

The food was amazing, albeit on the pricey side. But it's a great place to go out for a special occasion

Should give a warning that it’s apparently normal for the chicken to look like this. Didn’t know a chicken wing and a breast are the same cut of meat. To me it looks raw and very off putting

Hugely disappointing service. We came specifically to have the salt and pepper onions as a starter for our Sunday roast, something which we had had in the Nottingham Botanist and really enjoyed! Firstly, we were refused the onion, when I queried it, they said it was Sunday roast menu. I contested this as you can buy it in the bar. The chef was being deliberately cantankerous and eventually conceded to us having it if we ate our meal in the bar "so no one else would want one" - an onion, this is. Seems completely unbelievable, that we would be forced to eat at bar tables in a bar filling up with Sunday revellers wanting cocktails instead of being able to enjoy a Sunday Roast in the main restaurant with everyone else. I am flabbergasted that such a simple request for us to spend a lot of money (at least £50 including mains and drinks) was met with such resistance. Worth noting you could have salt and pepper chicken for a starter. But not onion. Disgusted at the power this chef seemed to weald over the manager and staff, I'm pretty sure supplying an onion should be an easy task. Very very upset and disappointed.

Great food & service, throughly enjoyed the meal 😋

It was a bit on the expensive side probably mostly because it's in central. Otherwise nothing special. Just another expensive pub.

Nice food, friendly staff, definitely recommend the crackling with chilli jam. Pork belly hanging kebab was fantastic but very filling. I had the hot board which was a lovely taste of a variety of flavours mostly sides style foods. So if you want a meal go for the hanging kebab, if you're undecided the hot board is a tasty safer choice but did feel like I missed out a bit. In addition the mixed vegetables were very tasty with a coating of sauce. Cocktails were nice, spicy margarita was labelled as coming with a jalapeno however mine came with a substantially hotter red chilli which I like personally but maybe someone less prepared for a very hot chilli be aware. Mocktails we're equally a success for both pregnant partners and a nice selection.

Too crowded, expensive cocktails thrown into the vessels left leaking down the sides, nowhere to place your drink down let alone sit, and this is 4pm in the afternoon. God only knows what it's like in an evening, not for me unfortunately...

Delicious cauliflower starter, overcooked chicken kebab main, ni ce atmosphere

The cocktails are very good. An excellent simple menu and good choices for those with dietary restrictions. Staff are very friendly and knowledgeable.

Great atmosphere and the live band was nice and added to that. Drinks were really good, pretty expensive for how much of it is ice which is why this lost a star. But other than that it was great.

Not much seating area if you’re just having drinks but it’s nice. Had a good time there as it had a nice atmosphere.

Great table, great music, fab atmosphere!

Lovely food. Served differently. Good atmosphere..

Our first visit here and I was really excited. The service was great and we ordered starters, mains and drinks. It was utterly disappointing, and we were put off from the rest of the meal after receiving our starter that was full of mould. We left our drinks, and plans and had to find a different location. I feel sick that a restaurant actually allowed me to eat the bread when it was obvious it was mouldy.

Great service in the restaurant but very slow in the bar

Excellent service from friendly staff and great food, the band was very good also.

Great cocktails 🥂 very nice place

Service was. Bit slow waited for water for ages

Drinks were great, bar was packed but servers when on top of it. Definitely recommend:)

Quite disappointed, over 50% of the menu was off. What we had was good but it would have been better had we had more to choose from

Service and atmosphere was good. Will be better if they can serve the food faster. Considering a quiet tue night it took 30 mins for mains to come. Service was kinda slow. Had the camembert. The cheese was ok. But the sourdough loaf and croutons are way too hard. We struggled to eat it. Also had the peri peri hanging kebab with buffalo loaded fries. The chicken was good, well seasoned. 🫑 Was amazing. However the fries was over done and too much buffalo sauce. Made the fries very soggy and messy. Flatbread was too hard and dry.

Nice place, good food, but the waiting time was excessive (over an hour). Complementary tap water was offered.

a lovely restaurant with a range of botanical inspired cocktails and excellent food, we had a date night and tried the hot board which I would highly recommend. the burgers and salads are lovely and the experience as a whole was amazing

Fantastic New Years Eve with friends at The Botanist. The food and service was amazing, live music to enjoy. Had a perfect table location for our needs, not overly busy. Would definitely come here again.

Very slow service, fries over cooked. Chicken lovely.

Having eaten here before we were looking forward to my wife's birthday celebration, the restaurant wasn't even half full but our starters took over 40 mins to arrive, when the mains came one was cold and another arrived at least 10 mins after all the others, another main had his side of bread arrive at the end of the meal, to add insult to injury the service charge is automatically added, sorry but we won't be rushing back till things improve.

Das Lokal ist ganz hübsch, um aufs Klo zu gehen muss man leider immer raus in die Kälte. Leider waren viele Getränke nicht verfügbar. Preise waren unverschämt teuer. Kein Wunder das fast niemand da war. Die Kellnerin war nett.

Great food. Fast service. Lovely atmosphere.

We were today treated to a Brum day out by our daughter and son in law at the German Market and here for a late lunch booking. The market was great, this was a disaster! We were seated by the main doors, not in the dining area. This was totally inappropriate due to the cold influx every time someone entered, left, smoked, or even visited the external toilets. No-one came to collect our drinks order prior to food choice. After 10 minutes a waitress took our starter, mains and drinks order....in that sequence. 10 minutes later our starters arrived.....still no drinks. They arrived later. After 1hour and fifteen minutes, and complaints to the maitre de about service the mains finally arrived. My main contained a cold yorkshire pudding.....the waitress replaced it with an even colder version! My meal was very poor. My son in law waited at the bar for more drinks, to no avail due to a lack of bar staff. We ordered no desserts.....why would you? As this was a treat by our (mature) kids I held my temper and paid our dues without fuss.....however this was in reality the most pathetic service, quality of food and dining experience that I have endured (over 2 hours) this year. The bill showed a reduction of 20% but not one "manager" had the guts to speak to us about this whole sorry episode....this highlights our (your) importance to them. SHOCKING! Asia, In response to your reply....I would suggest that NINE days after the event is far too late for any sincere or accurate investigations into what happened NINE days previous. Batch apologising is not a personal or professional touch.

The dinner was good and very tasty. We got the hanging kebabs and really liked it. But what I did not like was that we were booked in for 4pm-5:30pm even then the waitress told us we would have to leave earlier cause there were people coming for our tables for the next booking. We couldn't even order desserts because they said it will take time and for which the table is not free. So we had to almost leave at around like 5:08ish. Obviously way earlier than the time we were actually supposed to leave. More or less we were shooed away from the place.

Went for food and drinks had to sit outside waiting over a hour for food and it come out cold the forgot the kids food what what made her upset very disappointed

Came here because we heard the vegan/vegetarian options were good. However when ordering, we were told they ran out of the vegan roast, I asked them to come back later so I could look at the menu again. She came back to take the order and there was no vegan platter or vegan meatballs either so had to settle on my fourth option. The only vegan meal they had available was the burger. Service was also incredibly slow, food took about 40 minutes to arrive. Very disappointed.

A work Christmas do. My food, the turkey kebab was lovely but some of the group were disappointed with the sea bass. The staff worked hard to get everything to us altogether and we had a great night. Just not quite 5*

Would not recommend! Booked here for a special occasion as we’d previously loved our visit to The Botanist in Cardiff. Unfortunately Birmingham was not the same experience. We were originally seated for food in the packed bar area and asked to move as we felt like we were in a nightclub. Upon moving, we waited 45mins to receive an alternative of a £30 pre-booked bottle of Prosecco (which they had run out of, hence the alternative). We received cold and dry main food orders and no one checked on us to see how we enjoyed the food. The live music was incredibly loud, too loud to chat, and unfortunately we received unwanted cat calling comments from another table of diners. A terrible meal here but luckily other hospitality in Birmingham redeemed the night. Birmingham ‘The Botanist’ could not be more different to the wonderful restaurant in Cardiff. Thankfully management knocked £30 off the bill; worth a shot if you have the same experience in Brum. Avoid!

Had dinner with 3 colleagues - very much enjoyed the Christmas dinner kebab and there was a busy fun atmosphere despite it being a rainy monday night! Staff very helpful and friendly (only criticism was forgetting to bring us some water for the table)

Waitress spilled a bowl of oil all over my arm (pre theater visit) and we were harassed by 3 different waitresses from 6.30 pm onwards reminding us they needed the table at 7, basically suggesting we didn't have time for dessert. So we settled for coffee which I had to neck since the 3rd waitress arrived again at 6.54 saying they needed the table. Shame, because the food itself was really nice.

The Botanist has really gone down hill. Every other year they had much better service and good drinks. This year they had only one person manning the bar and other staff had no clue what was going on. Available drinks had so much more ice than usual. Considering the temperature was sub zero.. the amount of ice and lack of hot drink options was appalling. Other bars do a much better job while being cheaper.

A group of seven old colleagues enjoyed meeting up for drinks then taking lunch together. Overall a very enjoyable experience with good service, ambiance and food/drink. What more can I say.

Second year in a row for staff Christmas Dinner. Food was excellent. Service was a bit hit and miss. Last year was brilliant. It all went a bit awry this year. However, the staff were great and the food was good. We will go back.

The only positive was the actual server. Some of the foods was burnt, took ages to arrive and less said about the two playing hostess the better. Never want to go there again, disgraceful behaviour.

Good bar looks amazing but very expensive! Nice cocktails!

Service wasn't good, waited ages for both drinks and food, other tables got theirs first, coffee was terrible, no Irish coffee as whisky out of stock plus no baby guineas as coffee liquer out of stock, not told this till after waiting ages

Shame the bands don't play till midnight anymore , it soon starts to empty when the live music finishes

The food was lovely, the waitress wasn't really listening to our order. The table hadn't been set and there was no loo roll in the gent toilet.

The food was, as always, very nice but....... Unfortunately the food was very delayed and one meal was forgotten. They were quick to rectify this although 2 people had finished eating by the time i got my roast lamb. The portion of potatoes and veg to accompany the roast dinners was really not enough and not worth the money. They did give us a round of free drinks and we didn't have to pay for my Lamb but, I won't be in a rush to go back. Coincidentally I was on the phone to my cousin from Exeter last night and they had pretty much the same experience in the Exeter venue. They were reasonably busy but, at this time of year I can only imagine it is going to get even busier.

There were four of us. The waitress said that if we ordered the starters and mains together they would come quicker. We didn't realise that they came together at the same time. For one of us the main came before the starter. Very chaotic! They had somehow got us down for 5 mains but that was sorted. Sad that the mains were going cold whilst we ate our starters. Never seen that in any restaurant before! The food was delicious - even cold. 'm glad there were only four of us! I I do not like the service charge on the bill but you can have that taken off on request. Cocktails very expensive and very little alcohol. You wouldnt get tipsy on them. Very refreshing though.

Enjoyed our visit. Perhaps being there on the lead up to Christmas was the wrong decision (24/11/23) but I think keeping tables in the pub area clean & clearing glasses at 6.30pm on a Friday night couldn't be difficult - table was booked & confirmed for 7pm-8.30pm - meal came, was eaten & at 8.05pm we were given menus for dessert, the server came straight back & apologised & said her manager needed the table for 8.30 so we couldn't have a sweet! The young girl was so embarrassed and agreed to let us have a coffee as long as we were finished before 8.30 .... we spent £73 with you - I think you should have let us have our dessert or knock something off the bill. Also, a manager should be speaking to customers, not leaving it to young inexperienced members of staff.

Nice rustic decor. Spacious layout. Clean toilets. Quick and friendly service

I had a very large party and was very limited for time due to having a theatre play at 19:30 at the hippodrome. And the service team was absolutely lovely and so accommodating. Theo made sure that everyone had their food and double checked ones orders - because I made mistakes when ordering online. And due to the way Theo and the rest of the team treated us, and the quality of the food we received, it allowed us to have an amazing evening.

Byłam bardzo zawiedziona tym barem. Bar w Coventry jest piękny, ten w Birmingham jest zwykłym barem który nie wyróżnia się niczym od innych barów. Wielka szkoda !

Popped into Brum to pick something up, so went for a couple of beers in the Botanist. At £6.30 a pint I will probably go somewhere cheaper tbh, if I can find that place

The food was ok but nothing special. The prices are good but after our lunch we’re still hungry.

Fish & Chips was delicious. Portion size was good. The onion petals were a bit heavy for me but it tasted good. Staff are very attentive, kind & accommodating. Great atmosphere. Overall lovely.

We called in here for dinner, after a trip to the theatre. It was our first visit to The Botanist. The staff were all lovely. The restaurant was very clean and very tidy. Our meal was delicious. We ate our meal at a lovely table in a very nice part of the restaurant. We particularly liked the fact, that the other diners seated at the other tables, were not sitting on top of us, as the tables are all spaced very well apart from eachother. It was a very tasty meal in a very pleasant restaurant. It was our first visit here, but it will definitely be a place that we will return to again in the future! 10/10

Not too busy, but not enough staff behind the bar it took a while to be served, especially with people who wanted crafted cocktails.....cocktail was ok, far too much ice. The atmosphere is nice, the toilets are a walk downstairs.

Having been vegetarian for 1w years. I Order the vegan bang bang noodle salad with meat substitute. Was told after eating it that they had given me chicken. Would never come here again and was handled badly.

Super endroit une très belle soirée

Service super et chouette endroit

We were seated as a party of 4 shortly after I asked a member of the team if they could turn the air-conditioning down as we sat right below the unit. He told me he was unable to adjust it. My dad had to sit with coat on the whole time we were there. One of the starters was brought out wrong and we waited 7-8mins for this to come out. Again I asked another member of staff to adjust the air-conditioning she said ok and came back to say it would take 3 minutes, sure enough it was still exactly the same. When the mains arrived we were told one of the plates were dropped and again it took 10-15 mins for this to come out. We had to ask for more cutlery and napkins and no deserts we offered. When the bill came they had taken off the main meal that was late off the bill but had the cheek to add a service charge. This was only noticed once the bill was paid. Very disappointed and killed the atmosphere of the evening for us.

A truly splendid experience, I felt myself catered well and beyond the farthest degree. This indeed coupled with excellent food, sublime service and a spectacular atmosphere makes for one of the most comfortable and valuable dining experiences of my life. Thank you all You excellent team

All round 5 star, staff are great here, very polite and helpful. Food is spot on, cooked fresh and the kitchen set up let's you see the food being prepared, always a bonus. Next time I am flying into town I will definitely pass through.

This place is nice. It's got that cosy feel where you want to hang out with your friends. The food is great, and the choice of beers is good as well. The staff were unfortunately understaffed and overworked, yet attentive but slightly absentminded, probably due to the workload. Eg, they were unaware of what is unavailable and would take the order and return to inform us of unavailability. They also forgot to bring us one dish that was ordered, which we finally cancelled. Would go back again and recommend it to all.

Staff were lovely and service good. My husbands burger was very good but my Katsu curry not so good. The chicken was very chewy, the sauce was warm and it arrived with a slight skin on !!

Personnel agréable et surtout délicieux

We were looking forward to dining here based on the menu and reviews. Unfortunately they didn’t have the item I ordered and no alternative. The waiting staff are very attentive, and the service is quick and slick, although the drinks order was incorrect.

Been to the botanist several times and always been good. We went today and ordered pint of esterella on arrival only to be told they only had Birla morelli and one other so ordered that. 10 minutes later waitress came and told us they had no draught beer or bottles of beer. So we got up and went elsewhere. A PUB WITH NO BEER IS NOT A PUB.

Lovley food. Very slow service, right from walking in the door. Asked for the desert menu after the meal, but never turned up. So we paid and left.

Loved our visit here, the hanging kebabs and cocktails were delicious. Will definitely be back

Food was amazing and it was a real shame it had to be let down by the drinks and service. Wrong food was brought to the table, drinks took 15 to 20 minutes to come, even for just a pint. Server's seemed more intrested in standing around than service. I watched our desserts get walked around the restaurant even though we was a meter away from the past. The cocktails for the price weren't up to spec compared to other botanists I've been too. It's a real shame that the front of house let down the back of house so much tonight.

had few drinks in there .was lovely

Amazing place I went there for a bday surprise for my hubby and he absolutely loved the food and his lil birthday platter 🥰

Good food and atmosphere. Excellent service.

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