The Jolly Botanist Reviews Summary

Interior & Decor

Pros:

• "The interior is quirky, comfortable and eclectic."
• "It has a quirky unique decor inside which is very welcoming and comfortable."
• "The place is beautifully decorated and clean."
• "Decoration is classic with mixed seating and great food options with very large portions."
• "The place is spacious with a nice vintage decor."
• "Ambience was nice, stripped back floors and exposed brickwork."
• "A cosy atmosphere and a brilliant selection of gins, all expertly made by knowledgeable staff, this is a real secret hotspot in Edinburgh."

Cons:

• "Outside, however, is noisy and dirty with a busy road and bins."
• "On walking in you were hit with an overwhelming smell of vomit!"
• "They also turned down the lights to just about pitch blackness rather than leaving it at the enjoyable ambience they had before, which kind of ruined the atmosphere, thought we were getting kicked out."

Service

Pros:

• "Really beautiful place with amazing cocktails and helpful staff."
• "Great service, lovely gin menu, friendly and attentive staff without being intrusive."
• "Service with a smile! Very knowledgeable about the drinks, great recommendations."
• "Staff are friendly and helpful. With a great knowledge of the many drinks they have on offer."
• "Young irish lady Jess was a credit to the bar."
• "Customer service was excellent and something that is always my barometer for stars."
• "Very enjoyable early evening experience, friendly attentive service and special mention to Nina, very friendly, bubbly and informative."

Cons:

• "I was so disappointed with the service for food."
• "We were sworn at & belittled by a member of bar staff."
• "Rude staff on the phone. Called to book table, was told there were none, and as I tried to ask whether it’s reservation only or walk ins she hung up on me."
• "Arrived and seated, told last orders in 40 minutes. Ordered at 2215 and walked out at 2235 with no sign of our drinks coming."
• "Staff are half asleep, forgetting the first order by the time they've written down the last order."
• "Horrible service 😞😞 I'm a Asian waiting for service nearly 40 mins."
• "The service is more or less cheerful but incompetent."

Food & Drinks

Pros:

• "We opted for the 'scottish tapas' for a little bit of everything. It was all cooked to perfection and every dish was as delicious as the next one."
• "The drinks are reasonably priced."
• "The atmosphere inside is just brilliant and really reasonably priced too."
• "We tried the Scottish tapas, meatballs, belly pork and squid were all amazing, way more than we hoped for tapas being honest, highly recommend the food option."
• "Great range of gins, each of which listed with which tonics and garnishing they should be paired with."
• "Jack the bartender was such an amazing mixologist."
• "Had a lovely meal here, the small plates were outstanding the cured salmon and monkfish cheeks were a personal fav."

Cons:

• "Dont order steak pie if you are hungry. Looked great served with delicious chip and veg, however veg like bricks and steak pie has 3 whole bits of meat in it."
• "The place, though, lacked the atmosphere for a great event - lighting, music and seating didn’t really work."
• "Nice bar but they definitely use the gin thing opportunistically. They serve it in non-gin glasses and they recommend the cheapest rather than the best."
• "Gin and tonic are served in a rocks class filled with tiny ice cubes, such that by the time it gets to you, the gin's already diluted 1:1."
• "Chicken and leek pie was a bowl of oily yellow water; the steak and Guinness pie was literally a bowl of boiled beef."
• "To serve that with a bowl of underdone chunky fries (no salt!) AND a bowl of boiled potatoes and carrots (also no seasoning) is a joke."
• "Prices of drinks are ok, prices of food a bit too high in my opinion."