The Botanist Bar & Restaurant Ipswich Reviews Summary

Atmosphere and Decor

Pros:

• "The building is absolutely gorgeous and used to be an old post office, inside is just as gorgeous and huge, spread over several rooms and even has a cellar bar."
• "A really lovely eatery in the center of the older part of Ipswich, located in the town square in a beautiful old building, extremely spacious, with a bar and restaurant area as separate rooms, large, spacious and pleasing shabby chic interior."
• "The Botanist Ipswich is a very welcome and needed addition to the town, this dog-friendly establishment is located in the heart of the town next to the town hall and opposite Lloyd's bank, it has injected new life, flavor, and fun to Ipswich."

Cons:

• "Unfortunately, we met on a Saturday night and The Botanist Bar was packed. If you don't mind the loud noise, it's a nice place, but it took almost an hour for our food to come out, mainly because it was so full of people."
• "On arrival, there was no one to greet us. 2 bar staff ignored us, someone else was taking photos of the bar. We wandered aimlessly for 3 mins until one bar tender said 'Have you a table?'"
• "The environment was very cool, and from those that had cocktails, I've been told that these were great. The staff were very friendly, but the food really didn't do it for me, especially for the price."

Food Quality and Variety

Pros:

• "The food was fresh and extremely tasty. Quick service and the place felt comfortable."
• "A really lovely eaterie... the food is well presented and delicious. Highly recommended and very reasonably priced."
• "The food as always was fantastic, and most food available. However, the service was slow and over the course of our visit, we had about 5 different people serve us."

Cons:

• "Lovely setting and my husband loved his prawn dish but I was a bit disappointed in the vegetarian dish I had and there wasn't much choice for veggies."
• "The food was good and tasty, but took almost an hour to come out, mainly because it was so full of people."
• "Pretty decoration and the starters were very tasty, especially the calamari! The food is very expensive for what it is."

Service and Staff

Pros:

• "Staff were friendly and more than helpful to accommodate changing our booking last minute."
• "The staff are excellent, the food is well presented and delicious."
• "The service was second to none. My friend's steak didn't come quite as ordered so a fresh one was cooked for her immediately, with no fuss, and the staff went out of their way to put things right."

Cons:

• "The only small negative I do have is the waitress was a little too over attentive."
• "New review: after an absolute disgusting phone call with a member of staff who laughed at me because she couldn't understand me. I asked her to cancel my booking instead of what I needed and she was then sarcastic and rude."
• "The food as always was fantastic... However, the service was slow and over the course of our visit, we had about 5 different people serve us."