The Botanical At Kew

My second time to be in this place and the restaurant’s ambience has improved a lot. Got a reservation at 13:00 but they allowed us to get in at an earlier time. Great customer service and definitely food has been prepared to its perfection and having a seat overlooking the pond and the glass house was a plus factor. I also tagged along a friend and she was over the moon with the place and the food. Although it is not for budgetarian, treating yourself sometimes is not bad.

Staff and service were wonderful. Food was lovely and fresh and VERY reasonably priced.

A beautiful place, both in terms of decor and wirh a wonderful view over the lake and great palm house. We had afternoon tea, but unfortunately the cakes were vegan and the custard tarts tasted gritty and the chocolate cake dry. Also at £37 per person it is pricey.

Like many other reviewers I cannot recommend this venue. I am a member and was able to get free entry for a friend, as we had heard that there was a new restaurant at Kew. The setting is wonderful and the restaurant has been thoughtfully designed. I have no problem in paying over £50 per head for a two course lunch if it is a special experience, but this was not. Most restaurants offer some form of lunch deal but here at the Botanical Brasserie they want to squeeze every last penny from you. £5 to pay for a vegetable extra a few sprigs of broccoli please! The food was nicely presented but tepid in temperature, as I assume it had been sitting around in the kitchen before being brought to the table. I returned both starter and mains to be warmed up. No alcohol and a bill of £115. I won't be returning.

We were one of the first Afternoon Tea tables in the Botanical Brasserie that day, so we were expecting nice fresh food options. The initial service on arrival was good, and a window table was cleared for us to enjoy the view. Unfortunately it went downhill after that. Our Afternoon Tea was brought to the table. The teapots had one tea bag in them, and even after brewing for quite many minutes, the tea was very weak, with no flavour and no colour. Not at all like the well rounded blend with a full flavour that is advertised on their menu. The finger sandwiches were freshly made, but it would have been nice to have just a plain ham sandwich as an alternative to the Coronation Chicken filling, rather than ham with mustard, or a wider choice. The scones were warm, but quite small. The Mini Tea Cakes were very clearly defrosted frozen cakes, looking very sad, not freshly defrosted at all. These mini cakes were soggy, the cream on the tops of them should have been removed, the piped stars of cream were not fresh at all. The square of cheesecake had a soggy base and was not fresh-tasting. The blueberry sponge was just wet, not spongy at all, and sprinkling with dried flowers to cover the wetness did it no favours. I have attached a couple of photos. This single three layered tea offering was priced at £75 on the menu. Can you honestly say that it is worth that money ? The Brasserie appears to be a smart, pricey eating establishment, but for those prices I would have expected better quality and at least homemade fresh mini cakes .