The Botanica Vaucluse — Restaurant in Sydney

We booked for a 10am breakfast with another couple and were admittedly 30 mins late. We called ahead of time and informed them of this.

Upon arrival, we were told that they need the table back by 11:30am which as i understand is incorrect as there is a 2hr seating (therefore we should have had the table until 12 noon). Regardless, we thought we’d have a full hour so that should be enough for an enjoyable breakfast.

We were done by 11:15, yet the entire 45 minutes we were there, we were constantly interrupted by staff hovering around the table seeing what they could clear from the table through out the entire time. Every few minutes they would look over to see if we were done or straight out ask us if we were done. This made the whole experience very rushed and made all of us feel very uncomfortable.

Even though we were told we had the table until 11:30am on their own accord, we got up and left at 11:15am as the staff kept standing around our table making us feel uncomfortable. Again, this was felt by all of us at the table and not just one of us.

The food is also not ‘fine dining’! It’s the most basic and tasteless breakfast we’ve had in a very long time. As all of the other reviews have said, you only go once for the decor and photos and that’s it.

If they want to keep their customers they really need to learn better customer service and improve their food offering. Plenty of nicer places you can go to. Would not go back.

Response to Botanica’s Response: Your response correctly captures the exact essence of the vibe we felt on the day! Arrogant and rude! Instead of investing your time reviewing “CCTV” footage and being so defensive, your time would have been better spent passing on the feedback for the poor quality of food to your chef and training your staff to not bother guests by taking away their dishes when they are not finished and rushing them. Your business will never improve with the defensive and entitled attitude that is clearly evident in your response. As for the “General Manager” personally contacting me…this is so misleading. You make it sound like someone actually called me and we had a conversation. Let’s clarify. A standard run of the mill email asking for why i had left a negative rating on google was sent to me by your business. Do you really think that I notice or care what ‘job title’ it came from on the email signature? As far as i’m concerned we were made uncomfortable and rushed. We’ve dined at far better restaurants and cafes and were never made to feel this way. I do not believe my comment are “inflammatory” nor “unwarranted. You don’t get to decide if our feelings are warranted or not! This is how your staff and management made all of us feel and i suggest you work on that. Judging by the 3.7 rating you have others feel...

One word to sum up my experience… DISSAPOINTED!

I wine and dine for food. Food is number 1 priority especially when in a location such a Vaucluse. We had the special occasion set menu for $89 with tomato and mozzarella for entree followed by a choice of chicken or whiting. I went with the whiting and is was rubbery. The other ladies at the table said the same and one said she has scales and a bone in hers still. Apparently the chicken was okay.

Thought the dessert would make everything better being a nice chocolate cake with sorbet. Looked appetising but the first taste and it was dry and as though it had been sitting in the fridge for days. The sorbet however was the winner of that dish.

A positive note, the service was amazing. The ladies were topping up our waters etc and always smiling. We weren’t once asked how was the meal which I was surprised because I would want to ask the question if plates weren’t empty.

Lovely location, lovely decor and setting but unfortunately for me if the food isn’t up to standards you’ve lost me. I can cook food at home. I wine and dine for a delish meal and The Botanica unfortunately didn’t do it for me sorry guys. There are much better places to eat in the eastern suburbs for the same price.

I gave a 2 star because without great food whats the point. If great food and service a little horrible I would give a 3 star because you go out to eat for the food. Horrible everything 1 star. 4 great, service great. 5 star exceptional at...

Extremely unhappy with the poor level of customer service and food quality. Such an aesthetically beautiful venue with so much potential. Such a shame that the service and food didn’t match. Seems to be a visit once for Instagram pics and that’s it. Amongst not being happy with the quality of food ( a $60 two course set menu for breakfast) consisting of a flavourless açai bowl that was basically a soup and a very thin piece of toast with hard avocado and extremely over cooked poached eggs, which may as well have been hard boiled. Looking around the table it was pretty consistent with the over cooked eggs. The staff were extremely hard to get their attention and not once asked how the food was or if there was anything we needed. Fast forward to paying the bill, we were over charged by $20 pp for the bottomless Prosecco, of which we were initially charged for 18 when only 5 guests had this package. The seats were stained, yet comfortable. The bathrooms had no toilet paper or hand towels. The over all experience was terrible. The staff also advised us of a $15 cleaning fee as one of our guests accidentally dropped a cupcake on the floor. This is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. To then automatically charge a gratuity fee when there is absolutely no way a tip was deserved is wrong. As I can see from a lot of the previous reviews. There seems to be some common issues with your venue and you should really work on that if you’d like to receive better reviews and...