There’s definitely a chill in the air, and as I wandered in my fluffiest jacket to The Botanist in Alderley Edge, I wondered what it would bring to their seasonal food and drink menu.
I know, I have a Botanist far closer in Manchester, but in this case, I was going as a plus one to Keeley. The menus are the same. The only difference was hopping on a train to somewhere far greener, but with a greater number of fancy cars. Three Lamborghinis and a Bentley for those interested on the walk from the train station to the bar.
Oh, and the light in the venue. I’ll apologise for the photos now, it’s taken some effort to get something vaguely acceptable.
We timed it well. Not only because both the new food and cocktail menus launched that night, but just after we arrived it started to get really rather busy – especially for a school night.
We began with nibbles – the pork crackling called to us, and the salty spicy flavour along with the sticky chilli jam kept our taste buds occupied whilst we made our selections.
We began with a deli board. A selection of nibbly bits, served with warm fluffy bread. The breaded Camembert was crisp on the outside, but oozed cheese on the inside. The pate was rich and creamy. The aubergine caviar was a little on the under-seasoned side (a quick few dashes from the shaker that accompanied our pork crackling soon fixed that), but the crispy pork bites more than made up for it by being crispy, fatty, sweet sticky bites of meat.
Onto mains and we went for rather different hanging kebabs. I selected Halloumi – interspersed with chunks of charred pepper and onion, and finished with a pouring of garlic butter.
Whereas Keeley went for the Surf and Turf. Chunks of steak and fat prawns separated by chunks of onion, peppers and whole chillies. Two notes to make about these, firstly if you’re not a spice fan, please be aware that the chillies are hot, as Keeley found out the hard way. Secondly, stick with the fries or sweet potato fries. The fat chips are distinctly disappointing – floury, dry and heavy. They needed smothering in gravy (honestly, it would soak in beautifully) rather than a smattering of good seasoning and garlic butter.
To pudding. And my was it pretty.
Nutella doughnuts, mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiched between two waffles, apple and cherry fool, and in that plant pot beneath the Lotus biscoff soil (yes, you read right), sits a huge salted caramel muffin, ready for warm sticky salted caramel to be poured over the top. Add in some dry ice, and the scent of Bakewell tart, and this is no dessert for amateur dessert lovers. This is pudding.
We couldn’t finish it. And we tried. Take a friend or two to help.
Away from the food, the cocktail menu held some treats.
The Pineapple Mezcalita, was sweet, sour and smoky, and disappeared from my glass dangerously swiftly. The Miracle Bulb offers a little Botanist theatre. It’s made using Empress Gin, which changes colour as the two components are mixed together. Expect to see that on Instagram a lot.
The eye opener was the non-alcoholic cocktails. They’ve long been an afterthought, shoved at the back of the menu in many bars, or in a separate box all their own. At the Botanist, they’re there, in the main menu:
So you can have the boozy, or the non-boozy version. It feels so much more inclusive. Just because someone chooses not to have the gin in their cocktail, doesn’t mean they should just be left with plain mixers, or syrupy presses. And at The Botanist, they’ve embraced it.
I had the non-alcoholic version of the Rhubarb & Sage Spritz. It was herbal, earthy, a little tart. It was everything I’d have wanted in the boozy version. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything, I had a well garnished cocktail, that just didn’t happen to have any alcohol in it.
Overall, some hits and some misses. But this was only the first night, and it may be that some tweaks are needed.
As for me, I’m thrilled I’ve got a place I can take my non-drinking friends, where they won’t feel like they’re missing out. Nice work Botanist, nice work.
