Botanica - (Near , South East)

4 /5 Jaden Tse: I had a wonderful dinner at Botanica, which is very near to South Lodge. The restaurant shares the same building with the Spa, but there were people welcoming to the restaurant. I believe that we have to take a reservation on the website beforehand, and there is a sample menu on the website. I had Fried Gnocchi Balls and a Caesar Salad. The fried Gnocchi Balls were filled with kale sauce, a drizzle of vinegar, kale, and a few gnocchi balls. The gnocchi balls were well fried, but it was slightly greasy. The kale matches well with the dish, and was very crispy. However, the kale sauce did not have a pleasant taste as it was bitter. The Caesar salad has several large slices of chicken, and has crispy kale, large bread crumbs, lettuce and mayonnaise on the side. The salad tasted amazing: the kale was fried and was very crispy. The bread crumbs were crispy and tasted very nice with the fresh lettuce. The chicken was very tasty, and has a solid taste. ——————————————————————— The servers were very nice and welcoming, and the atmosphere was very calm. We could see the massive pitch from outside, and the lightings were very relaxing. Overall, I had a peaceful and delicious dinner at Botanica.

5 /5 Jade Ashcroft: Great food and such a lovely atmosphere! Everything we tried was delicious, but the focaccia bread is absolutely to die for so fresh and full of flavour. The service was just as good as the food too; everyone was incredibly friendly and welcoming. So clean too!

5 /5 Emma Eastham: The food is really outstanding! All meals we had were full of flavour and cooked to perfection. A regular of ours. Atmosphere is always warm and welcoming. Parking is free and there is plenty of it. Very clean with beautiful views of the countryside.

4 /5 Rob Prince: 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.