Morning:
8°c
Evening Standard rating
Recipe for confusion at The Botanist
Sebastian Shakespeare, Evening Standard 4 Jun 2008
When I phoned the Botanist to make a reservation, I asked for a table for two at 7.45pm. “So that’ll be a table for two at 8pm,” said the receptionist. Er, no, 7.45. Was she deaf? On arrival, it turned out all the staff were deaf — or so chronically distracted they didn’t bother listening to me at all.
I’d asked for a table for two (I was given one for four), I asked for two glasses of champagne (only one came), I asked for the wine list (the waitress forgot to bring it), I ordered a large and small glass of Chablis in succession (both were bafflingly the same size yet I was charged for two different amounts on my final bill).
The Botanist is run by the Martin brothers who set up The Gun in Docklands. It enjoys a prestigious location on Sloane Square and marks their first expansion into west London. It’s only been open for two weeks and judging by the packed house the night I went it’s already a hit with the affluent Chelsea crowd.
The dining room is attractive, with oak floors and comfortable cream leather banquettes, and at one end there is an eye-catching illuminated panel featuring some of the animals and plants discovered by Sir Hans Sloane in the Caribbean.
To be fair to the staff, the Botanist must have the worst acoustics in town. But this makes the inattentiveness of the waiters even more inexcusable. At no stage did any of them seem to write down our order. I have never been to a restaurant where you are served by so many different staff. Seven people attended to us during our sitting. After our first course, our side plates were cleared away and never reap-peared. Chairs were suddenly removed from our table without consultation. A cleaner periodically bustled past us sweeping the floor. It was chaotic and bewildering.
The general confusion extended to the cuisine. Some dishes had too many ingredients. My wife chose seared foie gras, smoked duck and orange salad, with caramelised shallots and fried quail’s egg (£14). The foie gras was good, if slightly overcooked, but there were too many competing flavours.
I had a Cornish crab and avocado ravioli starter (£8) adorned with a sprig of coriander that was going to seed. The Scottish lobster was sweet and succulent but expensive (£30) given the modest portion. It came with a salad which was not advertised on the menu. I needlessly ordered a side dish.
I thought I had got the hang of the acoustics by the pudding course. Enunciating every syllable I asked for an AP-PLE TARTE TA-TIN. Fifteen minutes later a waiter presented me with a chocolate tart. When my wife said she would like to eat her dessert at the same time as her husband the waiter said he hadn’t taken our original order and suggested she share her chocolate pudding with me until my correct order arrived. No apology was forthcoming. When my tarte arrived it came without a fork so I ended up chasing it around the plate.
Thank goodness we hadn’t gone there for a celebratory meal. We both left the restaurant feeling so angry we walked most of the way home.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (11)
The staff are charming, the location perfect and the food delicious. I look forward to my next visit.
- Kate, London, England, 11/07/2008 13:08
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I couldn’t disagree more with the above review.
I love The Botanist!
I have always found the staff welcoming and attentive, with delicious cocktails, a fab wine selection, and the décor is stylish and contemporary.
The food is fantastic my current favourite is the sea trout with mussels and samphire that I had the other evening, what a great combination.
I am looking forward to spending a Sunday morning sampling the yummy looking Eggs Florentine on the breakfast menu.
As a local I think The Botanist is a welcomed addition to Sloane Square.
- Dora, London, 11/07/2008 12:29
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I agree with Mr Shakespeare. Everyone has different experiences and each visit to a restaurant can differ vastly. My first experience was far more in line with what Sebastian found than with what any of the other reviewers found. Yes, it's a beautiful space. Yes, the food is fantastic. Equally, unfortunately, the waiting staff are disorganised and rather careless. I'm sure these will just be teething problems that are sorted out quite soon. The local clientèle won't accept the service as-is for very long.
- Amanda, London, UK, 12/06/2008 18:18
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Coming into London (especially Sloane square) is usually a dreaded chore for a middle aged man like myself.
Not so, now that I can have lunch at The Botanist, great decor, excellent food & wine. Staff were friendly & perfectly capable.
Well done.
- Clarkson, Oxfordshire, 09/06/2008 14:20
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I'm absolutely amazed by this review also, I have dined there on a couple of occasions as I live just around the corner and couldn't disagree more with this review, the place is always heaving no matter what day of the week it is, and I have found the service to be very attentive and the food amazing, very seasonal and good quality, I have had the foie gras and found the flavours moulded really well together, the design of the restaurant is flawless as well, the back wall looks amazing.
So I don't know who Sebastian Shakespeare is or what credentials he has to write, but in my eyes and seeing what other people have written about the place, he couldn't be more wrong.
So I think Shakespeares should stick to writing poetry, not writing about restaurants
- Gary, London, 09/06/2008 10:16
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A group of us went to the Botanist last week and had a lovely time. The place was heaving in the end, but that just made it more fun. The staff were extremely friendly and attentive: I arrived early and was given a table by the window in the restaurant as the bar was full, I also appreciated being given a newspaper as my date was late. We did have lots of waiters, but they were all attentive - none of them got anything wrong and all of them had some friendly banter. The measures of wine were extremely generous by the way. The decor is beautiful too. Afterwards two of us were peckish, so we stayed and had a couple of starters each - my friend's portion of crab ravioli could have been a little bigger, but what we had was delicious.
If you are going to Sloane Square, this is a great spot. I would definitely love to go again - it has a good mix of bright young things and old timers, in other words, plenty of ambiente.
- Lila Das Gupta, London, 07/06/2008 09:38
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I'm also surprised to hear this scathing review of the Botanist. I booked in for dinner with 5 of my friends last Saturday night and we all raved how fantastic and attentive the service staff were. We were pleasantly met on arrive and enjoyed a cocktail in the busy bar before being seated at one of the great window tables and enjoyed two courses. My partner and I shared the Chateaubriand which was excellent and everyone else raved how good their food was.
- Hayley, London, 06/06/2008 12:11
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Who is Sebastian Shakespeare and why should I care what he thinks?
In other words what are his qualifications for reviewing restaurants ?
PS Seb, if you ask for TARTE TA-TIN no one will know what you're talking about - try TARTE TA-TAN next time. Hint. It's a French word.
- Hermano Primero, London, 06/06/2008 00:11
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You've just described the service in about 75% of the restaurants in London. The service industry really needs to get a grip.
- Olivia, London, 05/06/2008 09:17
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I am very surprised by this review as my experience of the Botanist couldn't be more different. I have found the staff to be excellent and the food second to none (and also reasonably priced). The design is quite exquisite.
- James, London, 04/06/2008 15:43
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Classic ! Loved the review - no idea about the pub yet (and on the back of this probably will never find out!)
- Matt, london, 04/06/2008 13:39
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