I love a good meal out, in fact, our friends & family are always winding us up about how much we like to indulge on trips to our favourite restaurants. You see, when you have an unhealthy relationship with food (#relationshipgoals) it’s hard to pass up any opportunity when invited along to review somewhere, especially when food of all epic proportions is involved #ilovefood. We were asked by The Botanist in Leeds to come and try their brand spanking, new menu for the summer months and without hesitation I was like “GIMME ALL DEM FOODS. I AM THERE. WHERE DO I SIGN UP?” because, girl loves food.
You’d be forgiven for walking straight past The Botanist, Leeds. It’s hidden down the side of the Trinity Centre – hidden pretty much out of sight. So when we are checking our sat nav it’s a little bit off the radar, but once we found it, it was actually hard to miss with all the cast iron tree’s and petals growing almost from the ground. It was a summers day so the outdoor garden was pretty busy. We were greeted by a lovely team who were quick to take us to our table in what can only be described as what looked like a green house. The horticultural feel ran through the whole place, it kinda, nearly inspired me to get my hoe out when I got back to my own garden. Pleasantly seated in a very well-lit area (girl, ‘cos a table with good lighting is required for us bloggers #bloggerprobs101) we took in our surrounding and decided what our poison would be.
After much deliberation, I settled for a Raspberry Mojito (FYI, HEAVENNNNNNLY) and James poured through the Anthropology of Ales and settled for a bottle of Red Stripe which is a Jamaican beer (I tasted it & my god, it was definitely a drink you would want on a hot, summers day.) Both alcohol infused we got down to business deciding what we were to eat.
There were some mouth-watering choices for starters, ranging from baked camembert to a basket of wings soaked in sauce. I was trying consciously to make a healthier choice so opted for the tiger prawn & avocado salad, y’know so I can take one of those photos where I’m laughing in to my salad ‘cos it’s so bloody funny… or not. James went for the calamari and my god, was it good. My choice was lovely too, the presentation of it could have looked a little better, we all know a blogger loves a good flatlay insta shot & rather than it being in a glass, it should have been served flat on a bed of leaves. Having said that, it was deeeelicious and there were plenty of king prawns (some places can be a little stingy!) and that made my belly pretty happy.
For mains I was again, completely blown away by the vast and enticing dishes on offer. Everything sounded great and for me a good selection of food is great, too many, and you rock the boat but to me, The Botanist was getting it right on all levels. James was toying between Fish & Chips and the Steak Pie. After asking our lovely waitress (who I now feel terrible for not getting a name of, so if you are reading this, thank you, you are a gem!) she advised the Steak Pie was a good choice. Finished with well seasoned chips, mushy peas and gravy, Mr C said it was pretty darned good. The pastry wasn’t too thick which made it much easier to eat. I of course, went for an old time favourite, Steak. I love steak. It’s one of my favourite meals, in fact, I’m surprised I don’t look like a steak to be honest. I asked for it rare & it came cooked to perfection. The chips and peppercorn sauce just topped it off nicely. I’m licking my lips thinking about it now.
There is ALWAYS room for desert. Even if I am about to pop. Mr C first of all reluctantly said he couldn’t manage one, that was until he saw sticky toffee pudding on the menu. I was finding it a little harder to decide because I was too-ing and throw-ing between so many, and eventually the winner was proclaimed. The baked cookie dough was crowned the desert champion. We both tasted each others and quickly nodded in agreement that these were pretty damn good. We chose good.
Finally, I just had to try another cocktail from the extensive list because, cocktails? Duh. Whilst I sipped on a passionfruit & basil crush, Mr C put his hands round a big cup of coffee. Black, no sugar. He had to listen to me say over & over again, “oh my god, that was so delicious. That was so good. Mmm, wanna try my cocktails, it’s shamaaaaze-balls!” You know, you get my drift. I have to say, initially when I was first invited I was a little skeptical as I had been invited to a similar cocktail bar that also does food and the experience wasn’t that great. But, The Botanist completely blew it all out of the water for me. It really was somethin’ else.
I gotta say, that if I was to go in to Leeds for food, this place would be very high on my list to go to, in fact, I’m already trying to round up my girls for a little weekend of shopping and cocktails and hopefully incorporate a little sneaky pit stop to The Botanist for some food and of course a few little drinky-poo’s to wash it all down. It’s definitely somewhere I would highly recommend to anyone else as well. So, thank you to The Botanist for inviting to me review your food. I had a truly wonderful time & it was also a great way to celebrate our 2nd Wedding Anniversary a few days early!
Bee xxx
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