The Botanist — Restaurant in London

To preface the review, from a general perspective, I appreciate the importance to be aware that poor service in busy times is more a reflection of management and establishment hiring policies rather than a staff-level issue.

tl;dr the food is average at best, and the service is poor. We arrived 30min before our dinner booking, and it took staff a disproportionate amount of time to approach us, and then a further period before we could be shown to a table (since we were early we asked if there were any tables at the bar if no dinner tables were available, or if it would be better for us to return later, but it took a long time to get a response).

Table service was delayed - we ordered drinks to the table and while the bar staff prepared them, they were skmomy waiting at the bar to be delivered to the table. We noticed them in passing and brought them to our table ourselves. To underscore, we didnt particularly mind if we had to go up to the bar to order drinks, but there was meant to be table service except that it was hilariously delayed.

The food was average. It was not bad, but considering the prices (~£170 for a table of 5, no starters one drink each, 3 deserts to share) it really was not what we were hoping for. I personally had the burger and it was cold and extremely dry. The other food was average, but in all honesty the burger was pretty poor.

Finally, when we received our bill we noticed that it had been marked as none of us having allergies. None of us did have any allergies, but we were never asked if we did. For there to be an assumption that we had no allergies is an extremely worrying symptom of the overworked and understaffed atmosphere of The Botanist.

I will say that the overall atmosphere of the pub was amazing. The ambience as an isolated experience is a full 5...

We received such poor customer service at the Botanist at Kew that I felt compelled to write this review. If I could have given 0* then I would have. I gave 4* for the atmosphere because there was a live band playing jazz.

I booked a table on 12th April at 4:30pm for my Mum’s 81st birthday dinner after a day at Kew Gardens. We were running late and called the restaurant 8 times to notify the staff, but there was no response. We arrived at the restaurant at 5:30pm. The lady apologised for no one answering the phone, but as the restaurant was empty there was no issue to seat us.

Our party of 6 ordered starters and mains at the table. Our starters arrived and we had to ask the waiter for cutlery and napkins. Our mains started arriving and we had to ask the waiter to clear our starter plates and ask for new cutlery and napkins. No one came to ask if our food was ok. If they had then they would have noticed that my main did not arrive. I went up to the bar and told them. The waiter said he would check. The waiter did not come back to me and by this point the rest of my party had almost finished their food. I then went back up to the bar to complain and the waiter apologised and said there was a mix up in the kitchen and that there was a shortage of staff. There was no point in eating at that stage so the staff refunded me my meal. We originally wanted to order dessert so we could sing happy birthday to my Mum, but we abandoned this plan. We were at the table for 45 minutes listening to the jazz band and no one cleared our table.

I was so disappointed that we received this poor level of customer service. I would have been annoyed on any occasion, but even more so given that it was a birthday celebration. I will not be returning or...

It's a good job the food here is excellent as the service was not up to scratch at all. orders were made at the bar but staff who should have still come to offer some basic service such as clearing dishes or providing condiments were absent throughout our booking. They all seemed like they had no interest in being there Items were delivered to the table using a different name to the menu causing confusion (roasted celeriac was called a vegetarian steak) and the waiter made us feel stupid for not understanding what he meant even though he was using a different name to the menu. Another member of waiting staff while clearing a now vacant table adjacent to us dropped 2 items on the floor spilling the contents of the pots on the floor and instead of stopping to retrieve these items he just carried on walking to the bar area. thinking he would return to clear up but he didn't. The dropped items remained on the floor for at least 10 mins when a female server spotted one of the items and picked it up. The spilled contents and other item remaining on the floor until we left. Something that casts doubt on overall hygiene of the place. As I said the food was very good and we all had different dishes that were great but instead of being a 5 star establishment it's barely a 3. it's also £7.50 a pint of goose which is insane and has to be one of the most expensive pints in the borough. Def room for...