The Botanist

Reviews

• Natalia K.

  star star star star star 10 June 2026

  I've been here a couple times and it never disappoints. If you want a delicious tasting mixed drink this place does it right! Fresh herbs and fruit make some potent and refreshing beverages.
  
  The Botanist has plenty of bar space, comfortable seating inside, and a nice patio area. The bar has a comfortable warm feeling, one can easily relax here for an evening out.

• Jason L.

  star star star star_border star_border 3 June 2026

  We were looking for a place near our hotel to eat and came across the Botanist. I'm not sure if this is the case for many establishments in the UK but they don't allow football shirts to be worn by patrons. Having come straight from the Manchester United game, I was forced to keep my jacket on during our meal which was a little unpleasant since the restaurant can get a little toasty. I thought this restaurant would be lenient since we were in the dining area and not the bar area but it was to no avail.
  
  The vibe of this place is pretty cool. There's a patio area that people can sit and mingle in. There's a spacious bar area where people can congregate and there's also a decent-sized restaurant area where all of the tables are located for diners. Music was playing the entire time we were there and it's interesting to hear how much American music was played.
  
  We ordered the famous hanging kebab and I got the lamb kofta which also comes with seasoned chips. Personally, I think the hanging kebab is more of a novelty. It's pretty cool to have your kebab just hanging for you to pluck but in terms of price and what you're getting, I think it's just average. You're definitely paying for your food to be hung that is cool to snap for social media. While I thought the pieces of lamb were prepared well, I thought the dish was lacking something to pair with the meat and I'm not quite sure the seasoned chips do the trick. While the chips are good, I was hoping for something more.
  
  At the end of the day, it's pretty cool to have a hanging kebab. It's more about the experience here at the Botanist.

• Saffy K.

  star star star star star 25 May 2026

  Not only did we get 50% off but there was a gin festival on. What a pleasant surprise! We got to sample lots of local gins, and for free. Win win!
  
  I've eaten at the botanist on several occasions, at various locations and I've always found the food to be tasty and the venues are charming. I love the quirky decor and ambient lighting.
  
  This particular location is very well situated in central Manchester. The bars well stocked and the staff friendly. I went for the hanging halloumi kebab and it was delicious. The novelty of it all is good fun! I also took advantage of the buy one get one free drinks offer with a couple of G&T's, I ordered one of the brands I'd sampled.
  
  Overall a great night out.

• Aaron S.

  star star star star_border star_border 24 May 2026

  The Botanist is a small chain of restaurants with 10 chains around the United Kingdom, having had a previous good experience in Alderley Edge, I decided to call in here while in Manchester, with this branch being on Deansgate.
  
  It is quite a large store with a good amount of seating.
  
  The staff seemed nice enough, there were two staff members on the desk who got me seated, and where one failed, in a way another delivered, for example when I asked for a gluten free menu a member of staff didn't hear me, only for the other women there to hand it to him, which meant service went a little quicker.
  
  They do have a decent guide for allergens,featuring most of the menu other than specials such as the Sunday Roast, which comes in both Beef and Chicken, but they had run out of stock of this anyway on my visit.
  
  I decided to order 1/2 a Peri-Peri Chicken with their "Perfectly seasoned chips", it was presented quite interesting in a tray, in which my friends fish and chips was also presented.
  
  It came with a flavored Peri-Peri sauce as well as it being on the chicken, but this wasn't very nice and was far too hot, like Manchester City's start to the season under Pep Guardiola.
  
  The chicken was quite messy, it was quite a big piece, and it did have a good amount of chicken on, but is just got really messy easily.
  
  The portion of the chips wasn't as good, and they were okay, sadly they were nothing better than average,a  disappointment after they seemed excellent at the Alderley Edge branch.
  
  The staff didn't seem as friendly either, to come over and make sure everything is okay, and simply only came over to ask if I needed more drinks, despite my drink being 3/4 full and my friend's being around 1/2 ull
  
  Most of the chicken quality was quite nice, although parts of the breast were quite bland, stringy and not as nice at all.
  
  They also added £1 to the bill as a Charitable donation for Bernardo's without asking, which was slightly annoying, but as I would have given a tip of around this figure anyway, I was less annoyed and just counted this as a tip, meaning I paid the exact £31.20 total of the bill with no extra tip, as I felt annoyed this had happened and they still seemed to expect a tip after that, however despite my meal being good, I decided against that and to give them exact change, which must have shed a stone or two from my back pocket.
  
  The decor as mentioned above is quite nice and it is quite interesting and it is typical for The Botanist, as seen in other branches I have visited. In a way, as with some city centre branches of most chains, it seems to go down-hill slightly, as it does here, this branch is still quite nice but only deserves three stars, which is slightly generous.

• Hannah M.

  star star star star star_border 24 May 2026

  I like the Botanist, it's one of the few chains that I would head to by choice.
  
  The decor is pleasant, like you're an old little green house (I get that that's the point, don't worry) with little tiles, wood, and really rather pretty light fittings.
  I signed up to the botanist mailing list, getting the happy incident of getting a free bottle of prosecco on your birthday, so it became an easy choice for my birthday meal with one of my friends.
  We ordered fairly quickly as the bubbles arrived, my friend got half a chicken, and I ordered the salmon, I was told by the waiter to beware, as it didn't come with much on the plate incase I wanted anything else with it, and knowing it didn't really go, but not really caring, ordered a side of fries. It was not long after this, that my friend for various reasons, bailed out of the bottle, and got to topping my glass up.
  It wasn't long before our food arrived, which was excellent considering how busy it was, my salmon was pink and perfectly cooked, with gorgeous veggies, and I really really loved the rosemary fries. And my friend realised that half a chicken is double the quarters you get in nandos...
  
  Considerably tipsy by this point, we ordered puddings, her going for the pudding hanging kebab with pouring sauce, and me the trifle. She thoroughly enjoyed hers, and mine was a piece of nostalgic beauty! Really lovely.
  
  We had a little faff with the bill, but other than that, I couldn't fault them.