With exciting new places opening up in London on an almost daily basis it can be easy to forget about old favourites, but when my friend Gemma suggested Sunday lunch at The Botanist in Sloane Square I was keen to revisit one of my much loved locals. When you walk past The Botanist, there’s always a lively buzz, people spilling outside on to the pavement; stylish Made in Chelsea girls, people in suits coming for after work drinks and couples heading to pretty Sloane Square for an evening drink.
Sundays at the Botanist are much quieter, we were surrounded by families, couples having lazy Sunday lunches and small groups enjoying brunch. There were five of us for lunch, Anna, Gemma and Gemma’s cousins Ally and Amy, the ‘A’ names were in the majority today…
The Botanist serves a British / Modern European menu with a great selection of choices and with it being a hot day a few of us were grateful for the lighter options.
Gemma got cracking with a whole lobster with garlic and tarragon butter and fries…the lobster had perfectly cooked succulent flesh, though we all agreed breaking into a lobster was too much hard work for a lazy Sunday.
Anna went for a gorgeous summer salad with kiln-roast salmon, peaches, feta cheese and pine nuts. There’s something about fruit in a salad that’s just so summery and I loved the vibrant colours of this dish.
Though my grilled lemon sole wasn’t so photogenic, it was perfectly cooked and only needed a small amount of extra seasoning…plus I added to the colour with a beautiful tomato salad on the side…
But the piece de resistance was Ally and Amy’s rump of Cumbrian beef Sunday roast…
‘I hope you girls are hungry’ I said, taking in the Yorkshire pudding that was approximately the size of Ally’s head…
And that was before the accompaniments arrived! With the challenge set, Amy and Ally set about climbing their Everest and rather impressively the girls finished pretty much the whole thing with only a few vegetables left over. The girls immensely enjoyed the meal, the only negative being the delay in bringing the horse radish.
All in all it was a wonderful Sunday lunch at The Botanist in Sloane Square, and a little reminder that I should visit old favourites more often!
The Botantist
No. 7 Sloane Square
London
SW1W 8EE
020 7730 0077
