The Botanist in Birmingham

Amazing food and cocktails. One of our favourite places to go.

This is where flavor meets creativity

Shocking customer service. Made a booking for a large group (15+ ppl) weeks in an advance only to find that they have cancelled via email as they are now unable to accommodate, leaving us scrambling around to make alternative arrangements for a milestone birthday. Not sure why they took the booking in the first place and secondly why they thought it was acceptable to communicate the cancellation via email, shocking service!

Great food and exceptionally created cocktails in a beautiful, welcoming setting. Friendly and attentive staff. Great couple of hours spent

Beautiful place and delicious food!

Great food amazing service served by sam will recommend

Looking for something a bit different for our trip to Birmingham, my wife and I booked a festive meal at The Botanist in Birmingham City Centre. We were aware that First Dates from Channel 4 is filmed in the Botanist in Bath, so we thought it would be quite nice to sample some of the same food the singles do. We didn’t expect to be greeted by Fred Siriex or to be waited upon by Cici Coleman, but we did expect something more than than the miserable and non-communicative waitress who took us to our table with the standard menu, we had to ask for the separate Festive Menu even though we had booked a festive meal. We chose the Christmas Platter as our Starter which we both enjoyed, although the Korean Fried Chicken was a bit too spicy for my wife. We thought that the Famous Turkey Hanging Kebab was a refreshing change and opted for that as a Main Course. There was plenty of veg with the hanging kebab but the chunks of turkey and ham were really tough and should have much more tender. Our dessert was Espresso Martini Tiramisu which wasn’t really a tiramisu which should be served in a bowl, but more like a brownie with cream, all in all rather disappointing yet again. None of the staff made any effort to look happy, nobody checked if our meal was OK and the atmosphere was poor and not Christmassy at all. No crackers on the table for instance. Instead it was noisy and uncomfortable. The bill for this overpriced and underwhelming meal was just shy of £100. Not surprisingly, we will not be venturing back any time soon for a second date. It should also be noted that the toilet facilities were not up to scratch and difficult to access down two flights of steep stairs.

Lovely service, great food and friendly staff :)

The freshest ingredients, expertly prepared.

Amazing service from stefan, his customer service is amazing thank you so much! Merry Xmas

We visited The Botanist at Gas Street Basin for a staff Christmas do with high hopes, but the experience was disappointing to say the least. Despite preordering food and sitting down around 8:15 p.m., our main courses didn’t arrive until 10:45 p.m., far too late for a relaxed evening. This delay led us to cancel our dessert order entirely. While the staff attempted to make amends with complimentary drinks, it wasn’t enough to salvage the night. The late service dampened everyone’s mood, and plans to go out afterwards were abandoned as we all felt too drained by 11:30. The food was below standard and the poor timing and overall disruption left us unlikely to return anytime soon. Bar staff were prompt and made great drinks for us (which we eventually ended up ordering directly from the bar because table service was non-existent). Would not recommend for a group party as no one had a clue.

Had the utter misfortune to visit the Gas Street Botanist last week for our staff Christmas do. All of our food had been pre booked and pre paid in advance, however when we got there we were told that the people who had ordered cheesecake for dessert couldn’t have it as they had none left! We should have realised that this poor organisation was a sign of what was to come. Our starters were eventually served to us nearly 2 hours after we got there and our mains reached the table at about 11pm! I’d love to say that the quality of the food redeemed things a bit, but my ‘famous turkey hanging kebab’ was dry and inedible and I’m not sure it was even turkey. The veg was barely cooked and my friend’s festive pie had to be sent back because it was still frozen inside. After all that we decided that none of us wanted to hang around to eat dessert at midnight so we cancelled the rest of our orders. Avoid this place at all costs, particularly if you are a group of more than 2 as they obviously cannot handle anything larger. I will say though that the bar staff were great and make a fab cocktail.

Absolutely shocking from start to finish!! Table booked for large party at 7.30pm. All food pre-ordered and pre-paid. Starters were eventually brought out at around 9.20pm, after party organiser asked repeatedly where our food was! Main courses served around 10.35pm! I had ordered the Turkey kebab for main, as had many in our party. The ‘turkey’ was gammon!!! No mention of this at all when served! Meat was pretty dry as well. We chose not to have our desserts in the end…after all, who feels like dessert at midnight?!! However, despite pre-ordering all of our food, all those people who had ordered cheesecake were told that they had none left so they couldn’t have had it anyway!! Just terrible from start to finish and I can honestly say that I will never return.

terrible start for a birthday meal, sat in a patio with outdoor heaters, so loud couldn’t even hear myself think, all the drinks tasted the same. the food was BLAND told our server nothing was done and for the price of the menu i expected so much more. i’ve been before and was lovely but this time was an absolute shamble. the guy serving us was lovely bless him.

Incredible balance of flavors in every dish.!!!

Absolutely brilliant service at The Botanist Temple Street. We arrived for lunch for my 40th birthday and they were very accommodating with us even allowing us all to make a cocktail behind the bar after we had wanted to do the cocktail masterclass. Food was delicious and came out quickly. Had a great time and was the highlight of the day. Special mention to Justin, Luke and Brad who were all amazing.

Did the bottomless brunch with a group of friends- got attended to quickly and drinks were regularly arriving despite it being extremely busy Christmas period. Also everyone's food was so tasty, better than what we were expecting ! Good choice of drinks on the bottomless too.

The Xmas signature kebab was very dry. The waiter wasn't welcoming and end up screaming at guest for repeating where the toilet was. Drink took too long to arrive at end, customer end up leaving before the drinks arrives. The service definitely regressed from a year ago.

It was my friends 40th birthday and we are so glad we went to the Botanist as Justin the manager was so accommodating and made sure that we had a good time and even arranged for us to make our own cocktails behind the bar! The bar man Luke was amazing and knows how to make all the cocktails. Brad the waiter was welcoming. Would highly recommend. Thank you guys x

Stefan (sorry if spelt wrong) was a great server on our visit today - extremely friendly/funny and made us all feel welcome.

If you like waiting ages for your meal, and then being delivered a stick of raw roadkill then this could be the place for you!

Staff were lovely. The food was good as always. X

Booked their festive 3 course menu for 19 people for our Christmas work do at 5.30pm on a Thursday. Two days before they said they couldn't cater for that many at 5.30pm and pushed us back to 6.45pm (ie by an hour and a quarter). Arrived at that time, to be told the table before us (presumably the one they pushed us back to accommodate!) hadn't finished yet unsurprisingly. Waited another 30 minutes to be seated (nearly 2 hours after our original booking). We were not asked if we wanted drinks, when we eventually ordered drinks, they took 20 minutes to arrive with several missing. We then waited 1 hour and 25 minutes from our pushed back time (so nearly 3 hours from the time we originally booked) for our pre ordered standard shared starters to turn up, which contained pigs in blankets which were very obviously not cooked at all (they were pale pink). Most of the rest was bread and hummus which did not need to be cooked. We then waited another hour for the next course, during which time 3 of our party had to leave to catch trains having only eaten half a starter. When the mains finally arrived, the "famous" hanging turkey kebab was dire, and again not properly cooked. No gravy was provided until we asked and they forgot our pre ordered sides. Two more of our party left before the mains had been fully served, without their pre ordered desserts. For that, they intended to add 10% service automatically. No need to say more...!

Avoid !! Service and food absolutely awful I have tried 3 times to reach out to their customer service team each time have been completely ignored. Went for my daughters 21st and wow what a complete and utter disappointment had to wait 40 minutes for a drink went to bar ourselves throughout meal in the end . Food was absolutely shocking . Too much to write in a review but my advice is go elsewhere !!!

First and last trip visit. Pre ordered food for a table of 8. On arrival, appeared very disorganised and service was painfully slow. Food overall was average at best. Took them just under 3 hrs to serve us 2/3 courses with drinks. All of us were cold and resorted to putting jackets on. Dreadful experience.

Terrible! A pub trying to do food! Sack your restaurant manager - he hasn’t got a clue what he’s doing! Food was very late, main course was cold when served! The servers were great once the food was ready, but the kitchen needed more staff to get food out quicker!

I went there for a department Christmas dinner this week in a group of 17. As part of the organizing committee, we did have a few issues trying to make a reservation online (bots?) but somehow managed to do it, and we had all pre-ordered our menus. I was happy with the ambience and the dessert (the sticky toffee pudding was amazing!). However, I do think the appetizers could've been served better because it was all on one platter - and some of us who ordered vegetarian were not particularly thrilled with chicken touching our pita bread :(. Between the appetizers and the main course, we actually had to wait one hour. Not sure if this is standard for big groups, but we thought that the wait time could've been shortened. I had the vegan festive pie, which was decent but could've done with a bit more seasoning. The servers were very lovely though, all of them were so kind and enthusiastic, so that was definitely a plus!

Four of us enjoyed some lovely cocktails and a rest while looking around the Christmas markets. We met a lovely young man namesmd Regan who was just about to start his shift - he was so warm, friendly and gave great recommendations for cocktails! A rising star on the making, we feel! Thanks for your time, Regan!! 😊

Popped in for late lunch , food was excellent

Used to be such a nice establishment, sadly no more. Visited today for lunch and were left waiting near the door with several groups of others while (I am assuming) the maître d’ was walking around like a lost puppy looking like he couldn’t be arsed. We were matter of factly told there were no tables available in an empty restaurant, after standing and waiting for someone to look at us for about ten minutes. Your staff might want to work on their customer service. We won’t be visiting again.

Not a bad place for food drinks, though it could do with a bit of insulation/draft proofing 😉 Visited there for a Team Dinner one Thursday, Service was good and the food/drink was pretty good and all of the food came out at the same time, there was 9 of us, so that was great 👍 The Crispy Duck and Korean Fried Chicken Starters were great, the Hanging Chicken Kebabs were also really good 👍 Avoid the Coleslaw Side, it's pretty measly for £4 👎 The only downside of the Dinner (hence the 4 stars) was the heating (or lack of). We were sat inside near the front of the Restaurant and it was pretty cold, even when they put on the Wall Heaters 👎❄️. The total Bill price was pretty reasonable. Even with the chilly temp. It's still worth a visit 👍

Had bottomless brunch and out server was Sonia, she was amazing and so attentive to

I've been to the other branch in Birmingham and loved it, so I thought I'd try this one as its alot more central location ( note gave the other branch 5/5) Foods 10/10 just like the other site, the only thing that lets this branch down is the staff. 1 out of the 3 staff who dealt with us was really good! The other two were just not very friendly.... It's worth going just for the food! But I would recommend just going to the other branch ( about 20 minutes away )

Got shown to table sat for 20 minutes before I had to go and ask if they were going to take our order, it was a Thursday afternoon and was very quiet, staff too busy standing talking, then when food was put out to bring to table waitress too busy talking to kitchen staff, so sat on the pass for ages, so was just Luke warm when arrived at the table, we go to botanist all the time in Newcastle and is fabulous, very disappointed with this one and wouldn't go back.

Great cocktails, very long wait to be served. Nice decor, friendly staff.

Overrated. The staff don't want to work. We ordered via the QR code. After 20 minutes without receiving anything, we will ask the bar to find out where our order is. The person didn't even worry. She prepares our order and can't even bring it to our table. She just put the glasses on the bar without saying anything to us. To avoid, there are plenty of other bars/pubs that are much better.

Sunday Roast Pros: Veg was good; the staff were nice; they did adjust the bill for the beef (see below). Cons: Meat was very dry, looked like they had microwaved two weeks old beef (see picture); the potatoes were rather salty; the stuffing balls were extremely salty and dry; the Yorkshire puddings were charred around the top.

Bloody freezing. The downstairs restaurant is basically a poorly insulated shed. It was really cold. They also left the door open. We would have stayed longer but I couldn't feel my legs any more. The Chicken kebabs were bland & small. I wish I'd gone for the Duck.

I ordered the plant burger, it was amazing! Big portion sizes. Good service and a lively atmosphere.

Cocktails were good but we waited 20min and still nobody to take our order so we had to go order at the bar. Then when we wanted to leave, we waited again 15min AT THE BAR until someone came to cash us out. Please note: the place was empty ! Very poor service , disappointing

The Botanist in Birmingham was, at best, an average experience. The service left much to be desired—our server forgot part of our order, with one dish arriving a full 30 minutes before the others, leading to long wait times overall. As for the food, it was underwhelming. The burgers were overcooked and lacked flavor, while the chips had an unusual taste. The calamari was slightly undercooked, and our table, placed near the door in the outdoor seating area, made the meal uncomfortably chilly. Based on this experience, I wouldn’t recommend dining here.

Slow terrible service and cold food. Has to chase for everything. 25 mins for drinks that were just sat on the bar. An hour for food. It wasn’t even busy. The veg for the food was cold. The chicken was dry and over cooked. The waitress literally didn’t care. Wouldn’t go back. We spent £108 on 4 meals and drinks. Not worth it at all Oh and she put a 10% service charge on which I asked her to remove because it was not deserved at all. The manager knew we weren’t happy but just kept marching past us

Great bar, great atmosphere, great music, terrible service Left waiting at the bar for up to 10 mins while bar staff avoided eye contact, served people out of turn and spent more time cleaning glasses and talking to each than serving...a shame...management...training and performance monitoring required at the bar...a shame that the service spoils an otherwise fantastic bar.

If I could give more than 5 stars I definitely would I was being served by the waiter & bar tender called Sam & Alejandro and manager Mario. My experience with the food and service was amazing the quality of the food it's more than perfect definitely recommended I will be back for sure with more friends thank you so much guys..

Terrible service. Hours of waiting. Food okay

Nice environment, nice food and drinks

Staff are just so lovely and accommodating. Nice busy oldie world place. Cosy. Menu would suit most tastes.

A great selection of dishes including lots of veggie/vegan options. The dirty chicken burger (pictured) was one of the best burgers I had ever had. Great cocktail selection. A special mention to Maria for friendly service

A great selection of dishes including lots of veggie/vegan options. The dirty chicken burger (pictured) was one of the best burgers I had ever had. Great cocktail selection. A special mention to Maria for friendly service

We absolutely loved our experience. The waitress (Siobhan I think) could not do enough for us and was so lovely throughout. Thank you so much.

Love the food and the atmosphere!

A lovely meal and cocktails in vibrant atmosphere

We absolutely loved our experience. The waitress (Siobhan I think) could not do enough for us and was so lovely throughout. Thank you so much.

Good food and atmosphere, love this place.

Great brunch/ lunch with family service and the place were great. Unfortunately the shakshuka looked like it had been made a couple of hours ago and was left under a heat lamp/ on a hot plate with the 2 eggs really rubbery so maybe if you're ordering this specify how you'd like your eggs! Otherwise everyone else enjoyed their dirty burgers and we had delicious starters!

Visited mid day for cocktails for my Mom’s birthday. Really nicely decorated, friendly barman and great tasting cocktails. Will definitely return 🍹🍸

The ambience was nice and neat. However, the quality of food is very questionable. I ordered a medium rare steak & asked for a Tabasco sauce to compliment my steak when the steak arrived at my table. The waitress came back with Sriracha sauce and says this is the only sauce available. Tabasco & Sriracha do not taste any close to each other, restaurant and their staff should know this better. Anyway I took it, being a gentleman. I went for my first bite to realise that the steak was proper well done. I didn't dare to complain as I had the answer already from Tabasco sauce that I asked for. Also the Korean chicken 🐔 was dominated with tons of sauce. I couldn't taste any chicken, neither did my friends who ordered that.

Amazing and tasty food, absolutely loved the dirty burger and pan fried sea bass. It was so tasty, my husband and I were in tears of joy 😅😅🥲🥲 The ambiance is so rustic and beautiful 🤩 We are planning to go again this weekend!

Absolutely lovely staff and food Alice was an absolutely spectacular bartender definitely would go again 10/10

Great food but very understaffed. We arrived in a large group. We had booked and pre ordered a week in advance and the food still took 2hours to come out.

Went for my anniversary, nice place, nice food. Staff was amazing!

Good food and service unfortunately the chicken and chorizo hanging kebab and the sharing platter starter with scotch egg and chicken wings etc has been discontinued which were my favourites.

Food was okay , getting a drink was a different matter . Only having one person on the bar on a weekend was atrocious.

Visited this afternoon for Sunday lunch. My partner and I both had roast beef with a side of cauliflower cheese & pigs in blankets. The meat and vegetables were cooked to perfection and everything was SO tasty. The homemade Yorkshire pudding was a massive hit too. We felt the pigs in blankets could have done with a bit longer in the oven as the bacon was a bit soggy. We will definitely be returning, thank you.

Lovely food and ambience, late lunch. I must say the waitress Joanna was such a pleasure, very attentive throughout and made us want to eat. I will return and recommend to family and friends-thanks for experience.

Very nice place aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Took a while for the drinks to arrive even though there were a dozen people in the place. Place was really hot with no air conditioning on. Food was good but not worth the price paid. Service charge added automatically.

Visited on Thursday 25th July at 2pm. Food, especially the hanging kebab, was less than the standard i expected. Chicken was ropey and of very poor quality, the 'Hanging Kebab' was poor value overall. I got 7 or 8 pieces of meat, which was of 'party drumstick' meat quality, some green bell pepper slices and some yellow - that was it for the kebab. Boring at best. There was a portion of fries and a dipping sauce, but the fries were oily and not very pallatable. Very sub standard for £23. Within the online booking, there is a section for anything special. It was my girlfriends birthday, so i noted this down, but there was no mention of this during our 1½hr visit, again this was very dissapointing. The whole experience was a 2 out of ten.

Food was okay. Lamb Kofta was nice but came lukewarm, same with the Fries. My partner ordered a chicken burger which the chicken was just about cooked and still had a pink hue to it. It was tasty but again, lukewarm. Another friend had a Chicken Katsu where the chicken was, again, just about cooked. Also a non-optional service charge, only about 5% but I wouldn’t have paid it because of the quality of the food. Clearly, the food had been sat on the side for a while.

Lovely restaurant. Quirky presentation and food was amazing! Highly recommend getting sharing platters as you get so much!

Would give this place 6 stars if we could. Amazing experience. Despite being short staffed on the day we visited, nothing was too much trouble for Kim and the team - cheery and brilliant service throughout. Fabulous cocktails, great atmosphere, very good food. And when they discovered it was our daughter's 18th birthday that day, Kim surprised us all by bringing complimentary drinks for the whole family to toast the occasion, full of smiles and sincere good wishes. Really rare to be blown away by a visit somewhere, but that's one experience that's hard to beat - we will certainly be visiting again, and recommending it to everyone we know. Many thanks to all at The Botanist - see you again soon!

Well it's (sub)Wetherspoons quality with an edgy decorator and a premium bill. Overly salted food and you could eat and be done in 30 mins if the kitchen wasn't curtailed by microwave/deep fryer availability. Individual serving staff are fabulous but that's just the luck of the draw.

Somehow disappointed with the lack of real plants on "the botanist". Still good vibe for a pint and chat

Good atmosphere, wasn't too busy so you could still have a conversation with mates. The bar staff were friendly, only bad points were that it was a bit smaller than I expected, and the kitchen was not available for some reason.

Came in at a very early and quiet time of day which probably didn't do it justice, as I can imagine it's probably a lot livelier as the day goes on. It was still ok in there, very nicely done up inside. I didn't have anything to eat so can't comment on the food, just had a cocktail and a beer which were both fine.

Food is great but they do not answer the telephone. Tried 14 times with no answer. Not great customer service

I really enjoyed the Botanist. The food was delicious and the service was great too. Recommended!

Love this place for an after work relax, I can confirm all cocktails containing gin are glorious 😁

Food and setting was fantastic. Unfortunately when we paid the bill, an extra £13 was put on without me knowing. It was £75 when the card machine was presented to me but £88 came up on my card on my online banking. It was only when I looked at my credit card that evening I saw it. Very disappointed I was scammed

We did a cocktail masterclass here for a hen do , our barman Jack Wes exceptional he was very knowledgable , polite and funny ❤️xx

A group of 6 of us for a hen do did a masterclass here with Jack. And wow. He was soo knowledgeable really exceeded all expectations of the experience. He has amazing information and knowledge of all alcohol, mixtures and liquors from how they're made to how they work and compliment each other. Really blew my mind. He made it informative and super fun! This masterclass started off our day and I'm soo glad we had Jack because he lifted all our spirits and really got us in the mood to have an amazing day. Absolute pleasure to be around, I will be recommending this class with Jack to everyone I know! Can't thank him enough! What an asset to the company. Thanks Jack we will be back!

Went as part of a hen-do and had a cocktail masterclass. Our specialist was jack and can honestly say he made us have such a good time was so funny and informative. Lovely person and easy to get along with. The venue was downstairs in a private room which was such a good experience. Would recommend highly

Staff were great, however the food menu wasn't, we asked for fish n chips but fish was not available and there was nothing else on the menu we fancied so we went elsewhere for food. The place itself is lovely.

poor service .. waited way too long for food and waited almost 30min just for drinks.. food tasted nice tho.

Really bad bar service (not enough staff) are you trying to save costs, went up the road to the Head Of Steam and got served. Sorry, but you should know!

Food was ok. Nothing fantastic but nonetheless the less ok. Service was ok as well. Would I go back, yes, if someone else is paying

Sunday roast overpriced Poor service Food poor I wouldn't visit again

Not what it looks like on the website

Rachel my server was absolutely amazing u guys should give her a pay rise!!! She is not only amazing but so polite. She is an asset to this resturant!

Beautiful tasty food., great portions, lovely restaurant and a wonderful waitress. Well worth a visit

Beautiful food and service was top class. Will certainly return.

The service was slow, the food was average. Watch out for the service charge

Had a wonderful evening at The Botanist Restaurant! The ambience was fantastic, creating a relaxed and inviting atmosphere perfect for a nice evening out. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, which significantly contributed to our enjoyable experience. Marlena, our waitress, was very patient with us and ensured we had everything we needed. Joanna, the manager, was attentive and made sure our visit was pleasant. The food was delicious, exceeding our expectations. If you’re looking for a place with a great atmosphere, delicious food, and friendly service, The Botanist Restaurant is definitely worth checking out.

We came here as a group for an intimate birthday party. The food was amazing and worth every penny. Joanna was super friendly from the start and Marlena made sure we were well looked after. I would definitely recommend The Botanist to anyone who wants to have a cozy night out dinner.

Magnificent place by the canal. We loved it and had more than one drink in the sun

Ordered the sharing camembert but the bread was rock hard. Hanging kebabs were mediocre, service not great 😒

Fantastic food atmosphere great great staff

The place is beautiful, both its exterior and interior. The food was not bad but a bit lacking. We ordered a sharing plate that contained what they call "hanging kebab" with three skewers of chicken, kofta and prawns accompanied by fries, hummus and coleslaw. The worst thing was the time it took them to serve us even though there were hardly any customers.

Clearly this venue is not for us. We arrived on time but was advised table not ready due to a hen party which was running over. We were directed to the bar which was around 4 rows deep and very rowdy female parties there. Could not bear to think of staying a moment longer so went.

Very pleasant visit. Great food and very hospitable staff - travelled all the way from Norwich too. Thank you

Superb hanging kebabs (the standard chicken is all you need if you are a meat-eater, go for loaded fries with buffalo sauce with them), gorgeous building, buzzing area, top service. Perfect weekend night out with mates.