The Botanist, in Kensington, is a popular restaurant and bar favoured by the Made In Chelsea type crowd. Right on the corner of Sloane Square, with floor to ceiling windows making it feel open and almost on the street, it’s an ideal place to relax with a cocktail and watch the bustling world of Chelsea going on around you, as the Sloane rangers come and go in a blur of gilets and sweeping hair.
The food is simple but good quality with traditional Anglo-French dishes and is generally similar to what you’d expect at a really good gastro pub, maybe slightly better. The Evening Standard said: “The Botanist isn’t so much a brasserie as a chic, rolling restaurant — a triumphant culmination of owners Tom and Ed Martin’s gastropub empire.”
Accessing The Botanist should be OK for less able people and wheelchair users. There is one shallow step to get inside but they do have a portable ramp to help you if necessary. There’s plenty of room to move around inside and, although there are further small steps inside, the portable ramp can again be used to overcome them. One reason that the ramp may well be needed is to get up the step to go to their adapted toilet. So, the access isn’t perfect and may be a bit of a hassle at times, but they’ve looked for ways to solve the problems and at least they do have a fully equipped toilet.
We give The Botanist a provisional 2 BBS Ticks because it’s stylish if not spectacular and they appear to have tried to make it more accessible.
