Breakfast is served: A Review of The Botanist’s new line of early morning grub

Cheltenham

The Botanist, since its opening in Cheltenham in December 2018, has shown that there is definitely the demand for a new bar and restaurant in the Brewery Quarter. They pride themselves in making high-quality cocktails and gin pairings, but I was recently invited to try their new breakfast menu and see whether you should leave the cereal at home.

The Botanist Cheltenham, as the name suggests, has a Kew Gardens Greenhouse feel with elaborate theming and plants everywhere. I enjoyed the fact that this botanical theme also made its way into the food and drink, with fresh fruits and vegetables being a key part of many of the items on their menu. I had poached eggs and avocado on toast, this would be a good test for The Botanist. Poached Eggs, Sourdough, Avocado, these are the current buzzwords of breakfast and it would be interesting to see how The Botanist makes their breakfast different from the others. Reading the full description, I discover it comes with spring onions, grilled tomatoes and red chillies, points for the originality and hopefully the flavours work well.

The food arrives and it’s presented very well, they could have easily just stacked everything on top of each other but I appreciated the small details such as sliced chilli and spring onion scattered on the plate. It helped break up the shape of the meal so it wasn’t too centre heavy. The food also had a nice smell to it which most likely came from the spring onions and sourdough. For drink, I went with a fresh orange juice, it came ice cold with a slice of orange in it and it was refreshing and not too acidic. Presentation is great

I always get nervous when cutting into a poached egg, I’ve had a mixture of yolks runnier than water and very nearly hard-boiled. But as I cut into the egg, it was done perfectly. Not too runny that it falls straight to the bottom of the plate but runny enough for it to pour out and cover the toast. The avocado was creamy and soft but not mushy, it held its shape but you could still slice it with a spoon. The bread was crispy and did not fall apart unlike some eggs on toast I’ve had before. The spring onion, chilli and tomato helped give a crunch against the creamy avocado and the egg. Texture is spot on.

The chilli did have a slight kick to it when eaten on its own. I love spice and really enjoyed this but if you are not great with spice, it’s something to note. The dish was seasoned well and I didn’t add any more salt, just a little pepper for the egg. The tomato helped cut through some of the creaminess and was a much bigger part of the overall balance than I had originally thought. Trying the tomato on its own, it was juicy, refreshing and felt more like a salsa because of this. The spring onions were much more subtle but did, in certain mouthfuls, bring the strong vegetal taste that they are known for. I was pleasantly surprised as all the ingredients and flavours not only tasted well balanced, but on their own too. The egg was great on its own and so was the avocado, so there is no one way to eat this breakfast. You’ll enjoy it regardless. The taste was very good.

Would I go back? Yes, definitely. The Botanist Cheltenham seems ideal for a Sunday morning breakfast for any excuse you can think of. While I only tried one item on the menu, the Vegan breakfasts look very appetising and definitely give off a botanical feel. The classic full English seems to be worth a try as well.

This review of The Botanist Cheltenham is brought to you by Kofi Skingley on behalf of www.glos.info.

 

More details about Breakfast is served: A Review of The Botanist’s new line of early morning grub (External Link)

 

The Botanist Cheltenham

See all listings from The Botanist Cheltenham

Newsletter
To sign up up for www.glos.info weekly newsletter, please click here.

Please mention www.glos.info when contacting this advertiser.