Recently The Botanist opened its doors in Worcester for the first time, having visited other locations I knew that I was in for a treat when I was asked to attend the opening of this new location with some friends. We had the privilege of getting to try out the food, some cocktails and take a look at the new venue - and for an opening event, I was impressed.
The Botanist is located at Cathedral Square, so once out of the train station we hopped into a cab to get to the location. Its a short drive from the station, and you could walk it if you are able bodied. As I have a disability, a cab was the better option. Next door to the Botanist you have Cosy Club and below you have All Bar One so its a really great location to make a day/night of it in Worcester. When we walked up to the location, we found the escalators and headed upstairs to the entrance, there is an outdoor terrace area which would be great to sit in on warmer days (which we enjoyed before the end of our evening), then as you enter you have the bar straight ahead, some booths and a section where live music can be played - when we walked in they were setting up to play music, which we got to enjoy during our visit, the singer was really talented. We were seated by a window, with what I'd call a cabinet of curiosities behind, there was an old camera I'd love to have got a better look at. As you'd expect with The Botanist there were the usual plants all around, and it had a really comfortable and relaxing vibe - I love plants around so for me, so it felt really comfortable.
Before I go anywhere I'm always scoping out the menu in advance, I like to check there are decent veggie and vegan options on the menu as I'm a long time vegetarian and can't eat cheese - so vegan options are always the safest bet for me when I visit somewhere new. On this visit we had three courses to try out; starter, main and dessert along with a couple of cocktails - this was a PR visit with no obligation to post, but I thought I'd share my experience.
For the starter I tried out the Crispy Mushrooms, they are coated with polenta and served with truffle mustard mayo. The mushrooms were indeed crispy, but I'm no mayo girl - I'll always be more interested in barbeque or ketchup - I know, such a refined pallet I have. I did attempt to try the mayo but its not for me, so I'd probably ask to swap it for something in future if I had this again. The staff at The Botanist were all really friendly and accommodating, so I'm sure swapping something out would be no issue.
It has become popular in recent years to make the majority of veggie options a meat substitute that has a similar taste to the item its supposedly like - for me this doesn't appeal as I've never liked the taste of meat, but I know there are a lot of vegetarians who do miss it - so for them there are vegan meatballs and the plant based burger - neither of these are for me.
Thankfully, there is also another item on the mains list - the coconut sweet potato pie. This is the main I picked out and thoroughly enjoyed. I do think the options are a little limited for those who are vegetarian and vegan but I hope that with time the options will increase, like with many other places. The pie had a ton of flavour, the portion size was great, presentation was lovely and I was most definitely already full before dessert.
For dessert I tried the Lemon Tart and it was different to what I expected, but it was very enjoyable, the other desserts on our table looked great too and I'd have a go at trying something else in the future.
With our meal we had a couple of complimentary cocktails from a section of the menu, then I tried out another at the end of the evening. Overall, I had a great evening, the company was enjoyable, the food was great and I didn't miss the last train back home (which is always a bonus!)
I'll definitely be returning to The Botanist to try out more of their cocktail menu, along with maybe another of those pies because it would be well worth the cost in my opinion.
This opportunity was especially enjoyable as it gave me the chance to catch up and reunite with an old friend from long ago and bring out friendship back to real life instead of just online and from it we are making more plans for the future - including a potential trip back to Worcester for more cocktails and a good old fashioned night out.
What I tried
Starter: Crispy Mushrooms
coated with polenta and served with truffle mustard mayo
Main: Coconut Sweet Potato Pie
with chestnut mushrooms, served with sweet potato mash and curry sauce.
Dessert: Lemon Tart
with raspberry sorbet and honeycomb
Have you been to The Botanist?
What did you think?
More from me:
I am Fat, Disabled, AND Worthy
The Importance of Trade Unions For Disabled Workers
I am Curvy Kate - Body Confidence Booster
