The Botanist Ipswich Bar & Restaurant in Ipswich

Busy and friendly place. Really nice server. Drinks served quickly, good range of cocktails, beers and low/no alcohol drinks. One starter was undercooked but this was dealt with swiftly and replaced. We had the hanging skewers to share and it was plentiful and tasty. Toilets were a bit of a trek but it’s a big old building! A pleasant evening with nice food😊

Considering it was Friday night peak time the service was still excellent. Our waitress Jana was simply brilliant and helped our group with deciding what to have. Jana recommended the Korean hanging kebab with coconut rice and it was absolutely delicious. Nothing was too much trouble and drinks refills came frequently too. I also loved the fact that the manager Nick was clearly proud of his staff and was helping to serve up the food which I always think is a good sign when managers are happy to roll their sleeves up and assist with the smooth running of things at peek times. Thanks for a great experience Jana & Nick!

Leon was a wonderful server, very professional and informative and friendly. Thoroughly enjoyed his service. Food was incredible as always. Would always recommend this place.

A Sunday lunch with family , the food was lovely , our waitress serving us seemed to have an attitude she either didn’t like us or was having a bad day , drink spilt , food chucked on the table ..if it wasn’t for such a nice Sunday roast I wouldn’t bother coming back , the only pleasant server seems to be a younger man who is very pleasant … our waitress soon changed her attitude when the service charged was taken off , attitude deserves no tip unfortunately .

Best night out I've had in ages. Hundred percent on everything. Food. Music. Atmosphere. Security. All good in the hood.

Went out for a meal for date night. Love the decor, Lovely friendly staff, great live music and delicious food. Couldn't ask for more.

if i could give minus stars i would, we were a party of 8 who booked several weeks before we went. really looking forwards to going to try a new place. firstly they had no lime cordial 'we've run out', we place our order at 7.30pm, drinks arrive after a short wait. At 8pm our starters have not arrived, at 8.20pm we are able to ask the member of staff looking after us, ''we're having a few problems, it should only be a few more minutes' well what an understatement, at 9pm we asked again and asked to see the manager, she said 'oh lots of people want to speak to him' well i'm not surprised, we'd been sitting there for over an hour and a half with no food, the member of staff could have got a place in the olympics for the speed at which she could pass our table to avoid us, well lucky us along comes the manager, 'I'm sorry for the wait your food will be here shortly, we've had a few large parties, we will bring your mains as well if that's ok with you' we pointed out that perhaps they should only take bookings for the amount of tables they can serve efficiently, that is good management, you will know which table we sat at - look for the teeth marks where we started to chew the legs off the table. Anyway five minutes later the starters arrive, no main courses as promised, those who ordered the scotch egg got a weird sauce because they had also run out of HP sauce, i mean really, I'd ordered CRISPY mushrooms, well i know that you can forage for mushrooms but seriously i had so much rocket on my plate i only just managed to find them - i thought that at any minute a little forest creature would appear, we had also ordered 'onion petals' which sounded quite delicate, what arrived was a plate of onion wedges, onion had been chopped into about 8 chunks, poorly fried and certainly were not crispy, chewy yes crispy no. 9.45pm still no bloody mains - a table behind us who ordered food 30 minutes after us get their mains -absolute joke. we then have to shout to the waitress to get attention and then the manager reappears and has the audacity to say 'I've said sorry what more can i do, you can have some drinks' no thank you, he then offers a 20% off the food, no thanks we settle for 50% off food - which we still had not had so bit of a joke, his tone and stance was unfriendly and quite intimidating, he was the size of a body builder and this obviously intimidated some customers into not saying anything. we got our food just before 10pm which for most people is past their usual eating time katsu curry - dried overcooked chicken, undercooked rice, lukewarm curry sauce - more like cat sick curry. SHOCKINGLY BAD SERVICE AND A MANAGER THAT REALLY COULDN'T HAVE GIVEN A TOSS ABOUT THE POOR SERVICE, WE WENT OUT FOR A TREAT AND CERTAINLY DID NOT GET ONE THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH STAFF - AVOID THE PLACE IF YOU ARE HUNGRY OR WANT TO EAT DECENT FOOD WITHIN TWO HOURS OF ORDERING IT

First time we have been here. Nothing was disappointing. The friendly staff were very welcoming. The restaurant was well presented with tables not on top of each other! I’ve never had a hanging kebab and it didn’t disappoint. The sharing kebab was excellent. The lamb kofta, chicken & the prawn kebabs were all succulent. The mushrooms were whole with peppers were all cooked well. White wine was cooled properly in an ice bucket. Definitely will not be our last time of eating here.

First visit. The service, food and drinks were exceptional, Nick looked after us all afternoon and we will definitely be back.

Old Post office with loads of space. Can eat or drink in a quiet corner or where it's more lively. Really good service. Food was good as was the wine.

Went for Sunday Roast on a Sunday and guess what .. no Sunday roast dinners were available though they are on the Menu , just not acceptable to find this our after we had all sat down and ordered drinks

Service was incredible! Especially Oscar who was so accommodating to me and my friends, will definitely be back!

We came as a group of friends for dinner on New Year’s Eve. Our table was booked for 8:15. We arrived and were sat downstairs which was much more quiet and relaxed compared to upstairs which was for the new years event. Despite this, the experience as a whole was not great with poor service and food. We waited over half an hour just for someone to take our drinks order. Our food also took pretty long to come out and when it did we were disappointed. Understandably the staff were busy due to it being a busy night for the restaurant, however we still expected our food to be much nicer. We had a variety of things, including chicken kebabs, chicken salad and katsu curry, and every single one of us could not even eat the chicken it was rock hard. Along with this, the ‘pitta bread’ described as coming with the kebabs turned out to just be toast and we were not told this. Other things included the halloumi fries being rock hard and not tasting anything like halloumi. We have been to other botanist restaurants before and had great experiences so were pretty disappointed.

Fantastic staff . Hayden was our server , but had other staff come to deliver drinks and check all was well . Glad Tge food didn’t come super quick as it’s a sign it’s fresher. Food very good but goats cheese tart a little on soggy side and sea bass not tasting very fresh . The presentation was absolutely superb. The turkey kebab was good but small portion of potatoes and veg . Pate was incredible. Good selection of drinks but not really value for money . Would def return just for The amazing staff . Was interested in the new years deal until I read the small print!

Christmas girls night out….. as a person with allergies I checked the menu before hand and the filter option is crap on the menu online. So we went and assumed it would be ok. Got served very swiftly, it was busy which is to be expected the week before Christmas. Our server was INCREDIBLE, can’t fault her at all, there were lots of staff on the actual floor which didn’t seem to be a problem. We did have a wait on drinks however did become more quick as the evening progressed. We went to order and I could literally have ONE ITEM (allergy to fish and nuts) I couldn’t have chips as they seem to be frying fish in with chips which is cross contamination in itself. They are not accommodating whatsoever to allergies which is massively disappointing so all I can’t eat was a plain chicken burger with coleslaw. (Clearly NO food is prepared on site) My friends ordered steak which was tough as old boots and overcooked. We shared our concerns, the server was in no way at fault and worked her arse off all evening. Clearly that evening had a very weak kitchen which impacts the entire evening. Won’t be back which is such a shame..

Food was good, very helpful with the gluten free options 5* to our waiter Kaden and Nick for the hospitality

We were a group of 17 people on a very busy Friday night in December - the restaurant was full, the bar was buzzing, but you'd never have known based on the service we received. The staff were so attentive the entire evening, and everyone...

The worst place to eat out due to management. We had a friend’s birthday party which was totally ruined by the lack of communication and then followed by the appalling behaviour of the manager. When I wrote an honest review regarding the night the manager...

Came for food with my wife for drinks to celebrate our anniversary. First time we’ve been in a few months and the new bartender georgia did amazing considering she was quite new. Like always service was incredible and all the bar staff were fab. Never...

Food was really good when it got there eventually and our waiter was helpful. Food took a long time ~45 mins for starter, then we had to ask for our mains to be hurried along as we had tickets for something that afternoon (we had...

Waited an hour and a half for food at decorate a bauble and lunch promotion. Bauble materials cheap for decorating eere rubbish. Food when it finally arrived was good. But poor value. Many unhappy faces

Called in twice today (Tuesday) for coffee whilst in the town. Very pleasant staff particularly the young lady at the till, courteous, sense of humour and polite. So good to see, coffee good as well.

Wow fantastic service from Nikki and Maria. Could not fault anything that these ladies done for us! Today was our first visit! Why you ask ?! No idea but we will be back . Food and cocktails fantastic!! Thanks everyone

Good food but rather slow service Left an unopened bottle of Prosecco on the table - my friend dashed back to grab it to take home & it had been taken away & no replacement given! The unexpected bonus was some great live music from...

A great night with friends at the bar, with a great atmosphere made awesome by the music from Joe Keeley and Charlie King. I just want to know how they knew what was in my Spotify playlists 🙌 Thank you and I can’t wait to...

Came to watch Joe and Charlie play their set at the Botanist and had a grand time. An atmospheric place to enjoy a few drinks and great live music.

We had all pre ordered our food as we were a table of 10 out for our works Christmas meal. Never again!Table booked for 7.30 pm but it took 1.15 for the starters to arrive and it was pre ordered! Surely the idea of pre...

Came for a weekday lunch with friends and was very impressed with the comfortable and welcoming atmosphere. Our server Marie was warm and friendly. Our kebabs were tasty and I enjoyed a lovely cocktail that tasted like a holiday in a glass. (The berry colada!)...

Attended for a friends quiz. Food was amazing, staff was friendly and service was impeccable despite being so busy. Quiz was so much fun We will be returning Thank you

Food and drinks were great! We were served by Nikki who was lovely and very helpful. I’ll definitely come again.

Lovely food and wonderful service by Nikki! Seated quickly and friendly atmosphere. Will definitely be back.

great food quality, best kebab i’ve ever had, service by Nikki was excellent, very helpful and welcoming!

The food and atmosphere was amazing, served by Nikki and couldn’t fault her, she was really friendly and helpful!

What a fabulous venue right in the middle of town with parking nearby. Lovely atmosphere and great service. The menu choices excellent and we chose sharing kebab with chilli chips, best I’ve ever had simply delicious

Been here a few times now, every time it’s been amazing, I took my grandparents today & I booked a table near the lift and disabled toilet the staff was absolutely fantastic with my grandparents explaining the menu to them, cocktails are so nice &...

Great place for food and drinks and coffee. The bar staff are very friendly and helpful especially a woman called Emily she is great at interacting with the customers and makes a banging coffee.

Gorg cocktails made by tams. Unreal White Russians !! Beautiful friendly service and left feeling happy and would come back !

Such a let down. Booked a table for 5pm on Sunday before a show. It wasn’t very busy in the restaurant when we arrived. Ordered our food and waited and waited. People who came in after us received their meals and had finished as we...

Lovely last night at the botanist, great food and a wonderful musician playing there, which really was a nice touch as he was very talented

Had a great meal and good service from all staff with good atmosphere. The musician Joe Keeley playing took our song requests all night and was brilliant whcih created a great atmosphere - can we see when he is back playign as we love country...

Both the inside and outside was beautifully decorated. We went for drinks and sat outside, with great staff.

I LOVE The Botanist and can not resist their Halloumi Hanging Kebab! Delicious! As are their seasoned fries. The decor is fabulous, and the servers are so friendly. I've become a bit of a regular, and Marie was my most recent, super lovely server.

We visited here for the first time as we are not from the area. The speed the food came was amazing! And when it arrived , the quality was impeccable. We were helped by a waitress (we cannot remember her name ) who helped with...

The Place is too Expensive .The Cheese Burger £15.50 ?? Not even Cooked Properly . Chips are possibly Tesco's one . I am sorry Total Rubbish . Don't waste your money Vegetarian options: Vegan Board £17.95 . ( Must be very Special ones ) Food:...

Popped in here for a quick dinner before the theatre. Beautiful place, lovely food, excellent service from our lovely waiter

Beautiful setting and lovely friendly staff Food was ok but I’m fussy and probably should have ordered their hanging kebab as that’s their specialty. Pre show meal so convenient for corn exchange.

The best Sunday roast I have had in Ipswich. Crunchy roast potatoes, carrots, green veg and thick gravy and all gluten free. Lovely waitress, whose name I don’t know unfortunately. One drawback, a family birthday party whose children were allowed to lie on the floor...

Great bar, and perhaps some of the best atmosphere in Ipswich for a weekend. Staff are fantastic, and special mention has to go to Emily who during my last 2 experiences has provided very friendly service, great drinks and even better banter! It’s the staff...

Lovely fun evening playing musical bingo. Great host. Nice food. Good music and plenty of laughs. Xxx

The food was delicious and the interior of the restaurant was stunning. We had a hanging kebab and the bang bang chicken noodle salad and both were packed with flavour. If I had any criticism, the wait between ordering and the food arriving at the...

Nikki was amazing and went above and beyond to make our experience amazing! She was so friendly and relatable and made us want to stay and have fun, we had a bad experience with another waitress but absolutely loved Nikki!

Nikki was absolutely amazing with our service, so friendly and relatable! She made our dining experience so lovely and would recommend this place with her service. She literally went above and beyond for us.

Had a lovely meal at the botanist. Had amazing service from Hayden and Nikki. Both very quick and couldn’t do enough for us. We will definitely be back.

We visited The Botanist on a Saturday lunch time without a reservation. We were seated atraight away and our server took our order promptly. There was a wait for food, but as the restaurant was busy and we weren't in a rush this wasn't a...

Lovely food to go alongside a vibrant atmosphere with the live pianist. For a Wednesday night it was very busy which can only mean a popular place to eat. Starters were the star of the show, but couldn’t fault any of the food served to...

Another fab evening at the Botanist. Lovely atmosphere and super friendly staff. Quiz is great fun if you come on a Tuesday evening.

Been here most Tuesdays in the last year as the quiz night is fantastic and Mal is an excellent host. The staff are all friendly and welcoming , always a great atmosphere.

Great events including the quiz every Tuesday. Drinks are lovely and well made. Friendly staff and professional, very easygoing.

Really enjoyed the evening, great atmosphere for a friends birthday celebration. Great live music too. Waiter service was exceptional - staff very friendly & couldn’t do enough for you. Only slight downside for me - was my meal. I ordered the chicken skewer which was...

The best vegetarian/vegan food I have ever had - the flavours were just exceptional. Really relaxed atmosphere and friendly, helpful staff.

Bingo night is great! Food is also nice, and it's just generally a really nice atmosphere. Leon (or Leo) was super friendly as MC for the event and Charlie's love music was really good too. Would recommend for anyone wanting a good evening's entertainment in...

Musical bingo was amazing! food 10/10, music 10/10. leon was organising it and was absolutely amazing, so friendly and helped everyone get involved. 100% recommend- every first wednesday of the month!!

I went to the botanist to do bingo Leon was the bingo caller he was amazing free drinkssssss Had some food too was very nice had an amazing time

This is THE place to be on any night of the week! We had the pleasure of Wednesday night Botanist Bingo with Leon and Charlie! What a treat! ALL of the laughs, great music and free drinks thrown in for good measure :D we also...

Came on Friday with my partner. Food was great, drinks were top notch and service was excellent. Our waitress Jana went above and beyond to ensure we had a good time, she ran around to find answers for all of our questions regarding the menu...

Great meal. . onion pearls satay chicken cauliflower wings , skewers and onion bhaji burger very nice wine grt service grt defo recommend

Went here for a Birthday meal this evening. Beautiful venue but unfortunately service very slow, on top of this, people's meals were brought out ten minutes apart and our kebabs arrived cold. Was also disturbed by the awful noise of a very large party of...

Really nice place really good staff and friendly vibe. We both really enjoyed it. Food and drinks were good

Tams (our server) is incredible! Super friendly and personable, they really made our experience next level. Food was amazing as usual and atmosphere was great - especially the live music.

Me and my fiance came to the botanist and we were very impressed on a member of staff who's name was alina we came to see if it is a good place for our wedding party and we were incredibly shocked at how amazing she...

Friendly staff, good service and lovely food. Lovely atmosphere, clean restaurant and good range of events.

Lovely experience for my best friends birthday. 10 ladies, food was on time and lush! Bar staff were fantastic, so friendly and helpful, even put ice in the wine glasses to chill them. Great afternoon. Emily (Manager) popped over to check in and make sure...

fantastic friendly air conditioned venue, food and drinks service were spot on, and interesting tasty servings, jana and corey were superb, all the staff were

What a fab place. We hadn't booked on Friday night but the host found us a table even though they were busy and we had a lovely meal. The food was excellent. The menu had so many options that all sounded delicious! I had the...

The staff were so lovely and funny!! We had some delicious cocktails and I can't wait to try the food when I next visit, it smelt AMAZING 😋

Took my little cockapoo (Pippin) here with a friend. She was offered dog biscuits water and fuss by all the staff! She had a whale of a time! We had cocktails and hanging kebabs which were all fab.

Great service, delicious food and lovely Friday night atmosphere. Our server Tams was the best, so sweet, attentive and friendly.

Had an amazing experience, bar staff are so friendly and welcoming! The place is beautiful and the manager (Dom I believe) was on top of everthing! Best evening out I’ve had in a very long time!

Great place to eat! Good atmosphere especially on the weekends. Staff are really friendly too. Would love to see a halloumi side on the menu or a chocolate dessert!

Came here with my friends a few months ago and absolutely loved it! Food is brilliant and so different from other venues in Ipswich. Live music is always so good! Staff are lovely aswell and always very welcoming. Would definitely recommend.

We loved our meal here! The atmosphere, food and service were exceptional. We had the steak and Stilton pie, fish and chips and a few sides - all of which were delicious!

We attend the Music Quiz every Tuesday evening in the Bar Area in the botanist - it’s a nice friendly atmosphere with a great selection of drinks and the food is really good too. Would definitely recommend.

I've been here a few times with my partner, and we love it. There is a fantastic choice of cocktails to choose from. The staff are absolutely amazing and so attentive.

Tuesday night music quiz is great fun! Great atmosphere! Easy to play, great format. Thoroughly recommend

Great venue with great options of entertainment throughout the week, a bit too expensive though compared to surrounding venues

Came in for the Tuesday Music Quiz, love the vibes and the staff! The food is great, I had the Vegan Katsu Curry and the Onion Petals. I always get the nicest Bloody Mary’s from here and Cori made mine for me today. Recommend coming...

Came in and got a lamb kofta and it was amazing. Such a great atmosphere here, especially on the Tuesday when they do the music quiz. Everyone that served us were very pleasant and we were checked on throughout the evening. Would highly recommend visiting...

Went for a friend's birthday and it was so lovely, really clean, great menu and even the manager Emily came over to wish her happy birthday- such a lovely touch!

Excellent food fabulous service and wonderful cocktails! We visited on a Friday evening and they had a fantastic live musician playing in the bar. Will be visiting all the time to work through their lovely menu! Thank you Botanist for a lovely evening!!

Food was amazing, the sharing kebab was the perfect amount of food for just the two of us. A lovely and sweet chap in a funky shirt served us and we couldn't ask for better service! We'll definitely be back. Thank you for making our...

The cocktails are nice, but the food is mediocre and overpriced. I don’t think there are enough choices, especially where vegan mains and desserts are concerned. I’ve eaten here a few times and something is always missing from the order, or a menu item isn’t...

Beautiful restaurant, we loved the trees inside and the whole place had a calm, chilled feeling. The food we had was nice but a little over priced and underwhelming. Fantastic staff and decor

What a fantastic night at the Ipswich Botanist. The staff were simply brilliant, particularly the manager Emily and Cori who served us at the bar. There were 30 of us celebrating the departure of our dear colleague and the Botanist couldn’t have done more to...

First time visiting this restaurant since it opened last year and I wasn't disappointed, the meal was perfect from start to finish and the service provided by the staff was top notch. Shout out to the lovely waitress who sorted out a special cocktail I...

Had a fantastic birthday lunch for my friend. Hayden was amazing. 👏🏻 The food was delicious, as were the cocktails. And I love the cookie doughs.

This place is captivating, fresh and fashionable for anybody with a great deal of taste and class. A superb choice of cocktails, with a wide and varied choice of beers and wine, leaving plenty to choose from. The food is okay however, not exceptional. Dry...

Lovely meal at the Botanist. Good service and delicious food. Can recommend the Cauliflower wings and the hanging kebabs. Our party had pork, chicken, chicken & chorizo and vegan kebabs and all were great.

My friends and I came into the Ipswich restaurant today for lunch and were so pleased. From the moment we arrived Eleanor was friendly and of course professional at the same time. There was nothing to fault from our experience, we’ll be back. Thank you:)

Amazing and friendly waitress Eleanor made the experience wonderful ! She was fab and so helpful with everything :) Food was lovely too. Such a good experience.

We waited what seemed like forever for our food… we arrived at 7:30, ordered food at 7:50, starters arrived at 8:20 and mains an hour later at 9:20… Despite the very long wait the food was indeed very good, some of the best tasting chicken...