Botanist

This was the most exquisite dinner experience I’ve ever had! My boyfriend and I came for an anniversary dinner with the intent to experience the best that culinary practice had to offer and we were met with just that. To start we shared scallops, then moved on to our respective meals of duck and strip loin (dish description in image caption): everything was cooked to perfection, the food was visually stunning, and it left you wanting to avoid drinking lest you wash the lingering taste away. All in all, it was an incredible experience to try some food I’d never had before (duck/scallops), have that food exist in its best possible preparation, and also see “average” ingredients be elevated to taste so delicious! Truly the best restaurant I’ve ever been to.

Quick Summary Great ambiance and decor. Great food and love their sustainability project. Highly recommend a reservation. Food- 5 stars We got the prix-fixe menu that came with a cocktail and a 3 course meal. It did feel a bit strange to have 3 courses because it gave off a tasting menu vibe, but was still very enjoyable. The first 2 courses were fantastic. The first dish was a white fish that was cooked perfectly and I very much enjoyed the creamy sauce with truffle topped off. The second dish was the duck breast and it was cooked perfectly. Every bite was incredibly juicy. The only slight disappointment was the dessert to end the night. There was hardly any crumble and it was mostly airy mousse that we were eating, which was my only critique. The brilliance of the first 2 dishes outweighed the dessert Service- 5 stars Fast and attentive Bottom Line Botanist was a terrific experience from beginning to end. The Fairmont that its located in also is a fun experience as there was live music and a lively bar environment in their lobby bar.

I had my anniversary here and it was an experience to remember. We came here for the brunch and it was fantastic. The staff were extremely friendly and professional. The food was fantastic. The beef tartare was delicious and seasoning was on point. My steak and eggs were beautifully. The mill chocolate peanut butter bar had the perfect amount of peanut butter without being over-powering. The environment was amazingly refreshing. This might be my go-to for further celebrations!

Did the 3 course brunch, the food and ambience was good. Decor is award winning so I mean no complain, definitely one of my fav go to places but I personally do think that the service can be stepped up a bit. The water glass was topped of only once at the end of the meal and the server came to check if we wanted more alcohol like 3x. Overall, definitely worth it but just the little thing that could step it up.

We had the tasting menu for Valentine's Day at the Botanist restaurant with the featured wine pairing. Honestly, with the pandemic and all, I was glad to finally sit back down in a nice restaurant after so long. All the food was good with my favourite going to the smoked and charred seabass, and the root salad with tomato water. The truffle shavings, unfortunately, were tasteless for the most part as I tried really really hard to taste some earthy goodness, but couldn't get any fragrance from them (either summer truffle, or a not so great batch), and they ended up being a pretty garnish on the pasta in the end. Mind you, the pasta was still good, and I'm inspired to make it at home some time. The live dinner jazz piano music was also a great addition to dinner, and I had a good chuckle with the music selection for the night with pieces coming from several anime movies and video games such as Studio Ghibli mixes, Sailor Moon, Super Mario 64, and Final Fantasy just to name a few. Our server and sommelier were great and took time to chat with us at times. We were well taken care of and they were very polite. In the end, we spent 3 hours for dinner and had a very relaxing night. Although, this was the most I've spent on a meal in Vancouver, ever, it was a good welcome back into the fine dining scene that I've been away from for too long.