Restaurant Botanic

Restaurant Botanic offers a refined dining experience that truly celebrates seasonality and craftsmanship. I visited to celebrate my anniversary, it has been a place I’ve always wanted to try, but the timing had never quite lined up until now. The setting is intimate and elegant, making it ideal for a special occasion or a long, considered meal. The food is thoughtfully curated and beautifully presented, with a clear focus on high-quality, locally sourced ingredients. Every dish was exceptionally well prepared and cooked to perfection, highlighting the kitchen’s technical skill and respect for produce. However, for my personal liking, the menu leaned a little too heavily on greens, and there were quite a few emu-based dishes. While I appreciate the intent behind showcasing native and seasonal ingredients, I would have loved a bit more variety across the courses. Service was professional, knowledgeable, and attentive without being intrusive. I really enjoyed the wine pairing, and I opted for the non-alcoholic pairing, which was just as thoughtfully curated and complemented the dishes beautifully. I would absolutely suggest doing a pairing if you visit. It is certainly on the pricier side, but the attention to detail, creativity, and execution made it a memorable experience overall. A standout fine-dining destination in Adelaide, even if not every element aligned perfectly with my personal preferences.

We recently dined here and overall the food was quite good — the plating in particular was impressive, with each dish presented in a very unique and thoughtful way. Service was generally friendly, though I did notice that when our table became dirty no one came to clean it, while the table next to us was wiped down promptly. Perhaps it was an oversight, but it was noticeable. The most disappointing part of the experience was when a cockroach crawled across our table in the middle of the meal. We informed the chef directly, and he simply brushed the cockroach onto the floor without any explanation or apology. For a fine dining restaurant of this level, the lack of acknowledgment was just as surprising as the incident itself. It really affected the rest of our dining experience. Honestly, this is not something you would expect at one of Adelaide’s top fine dining venues. (Photo attached) Additionally, getting into the restaurant was confusing. Our GPS directed us to a different entrance and we ended up paying for parking, then walking nearly 15 minutes because the surrounding gates were closed. We even called the restaurant but were told calls are only answered between 10am–3pm, which felt unusual for a fine dining venue. Eventually, we realized that the confirmation email did mention the correct gate, but it was easy to miss. Making this detail clearer would really help, as the Botanic Garden has many entrances and missing it significantly reduced the overall experience.

This would have to be one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had in Adelaide let alone elsewhere. Perfectly matched wines with the food and the service was amazing. The winter menu was to die for.

We spent Sunday at Restaurant Botanic enjoying wine, service and most the dishes. Honestly, I couldn’t fault the venue - it is operated like a machine with super engaging and informed staff. The dishes were wide ranging in taste and texture but all consistent on bite sized morsels. There were a few where the botanic or vinegar or sour taste was too much. Overall, it was a nice, one off experience in Adelaide

Sunday afternoon celebrating Bessy's birthday at Restaurant Botanic was an incredible adventure! We had the pleasure bravely experiencing the unexpected culinary journey we never had before. We were truly impressed by their masterful use of Australian native ingredients like crocodile fat, emu egg, and marron claw, creating a delightful array of savoury and sweet surprises. A standout highlight was the garden-foraged tea, sourced right from their backyard! We loved blending our own custom mixes and having them served in exquisite teaware.‌ Huge compliments to the chefs for their talent and experimental spirit, and a big thank you to the staff for making us feel so welcomed with their attentive service. A truly unique and memorable high tea!

Situated in the Adelaide botanic Gardens surrounded by peace, nature and birds, this little tucked away restaurant provides quality food, I ordered the tuna morne croquettes and a apple puree and fennel chicken. The chicken was cooked well, moist, bit of crisp in the skin, the taste of apple and fennel were subtle and worked well as a dish. The tuna croquettes were crisp and had a very tasty mayonnaise to go with. All in all. I rate the food.

Visited in Sep 2024 for lunch The meal the Restaurant Botanic was by far my best dining experience during my trip to Adelaide. The multi-course menu is an eclectic journey of flavours made mostly using local produce and ingredients sourced from the gardens that surround the restaurant. The meal is a well planned mix of meat, seafood and vegetarian courses. The overall dining experience took about 3.5 hours and I’d say that it is quite well paced given the number of courses. For drinks, I went with the non alcoholic pairing and it was quite good. This place is a must visit for a fantastic fine dining experience if you’re in Adelaide.

A very unique experience. As the name suggests Botanics is definitely the theme of this restaurant and it's menu. Which personally I found to be at times challenging. Over the course of a few hours which never felt rushed, a very wide range of dishes were fed to us. There were none that were too difficult to palette but some that were a bit more floral than I perhaps was used to. The larger protein portions were all very tasty but I would say on the smaller end of fine dining tasting experiences. Overall I walked out feeling a little confused. It was certainly interesting but maybe not what I would say is delicious. Well worth the experience however.

Disorganized - adjective - functioning without adequate order, systemization, or planning; uncoordinated. This describes how I felt about the service at this restaurant. I am unsure why there is such a huge amount of hype around this place when the staff were quite inattentive and did not work systematically. Forgetting orders, misplacing cutlery and getting the bill wrong is certainly not what I expect from a 2014 award winning restaurant yet all of these mishaps were part of my visit. When paying a decent amount for lunch (at least $55 for 2 courses), I left with a sour impression rather than a positive one. After receiving the incorrect bill (which said our food cost $0.00), I was tempted just to walk out, I mean the bill said we don't owe them anything, but in deciding to do the right thing, there was quite a wait to get the attention of the staff in order to have them correct their mistake. You would think that they would check the bill before they hand it to the customer. Around 20 mins spent waiting for the bill and another 10-15 for the correct bill meant there was a lot of waiting to do. The views were nice but it was difficult to appreciate them when you were trying to get the attention of the staff. The food was a bit bland. I had the asparagus with quinoa and while it was nice, it was not amazing by any means. Dessert was good but nowhere near worth the asking price. Presentation was clearly the outstanding element here as opposed to taste. I recommend Serafino in McLaren Vale if you want to dine fancily. The staff there are great. Unfortunately for the Botanic Gardens, a lunch I was looking forward to turned into a lunch I would rather forget.

This is the second time I've been here to eat. I came with work and took advantage of the Festival of Food deal which gives you a tasting plate for an entrée, a choice of main and petite fours for dessert. Drinks are at your own expense and most restaurants that participate in Festival of Food also do cheaper prices for sides and desserts. So - this place is pretty fancy. It was a cold and stormy afternoon and it was really lovely coming in from the wind into a nice cosy restaurant. I loved that I could still look outside and see the horrible weather but be nice and warm because I was inside. I'm a vegetarian and most of the time, if you tell the chefs ahead, they can adjust the entrée tasting plate to accommodate for this. We got three little tasty morsels to try each and the chef made two adjustments for me. All very tasty. My carnivore friends got the beef shoulder and the chicken for main. it was beautifully presented and I'm told it was tasty. I got roasted celeriac which isn't something I'd normally order but it was the only vegetarian option available to me. It was okay but to be honest, probably needed a bit more seasoning. I do love salt though so perhaps it's my tastebuds and not their food. Dessert is when I shine :-) I shared a 70% chocolate delice with my friend and am very glad I did - it was great but incredibly rich. I don't think I could have finished a whole one! We also got a chocolate mousse type thing as part of the Festival of Food. I wish I had known as I could have got my chocolate fix through that instead of ordering another dessert. Whoops - accidentally had two chocolate desserts! :-p The atmosphere and setting is great. Can't fault it. The staff were very attentive and knew the dishes very well. The best thing about this day - the absolutely delicious bread we were served with butter made in-house! Food is a bit pricey but this place is good for a special occasion.

Massively overrated. Yes the food is tasty and presented well, and many of the vegetables and herbs may be sourced from the Gardens, but the prices are incredibly high. This may be the opinion of someone from a middle class upbringing who's used to larger, heartier meals from the cafés of Rundle St; but my richer friends have made this restaurant out to be much more than it is. The beef was tasty and incredibly tender, and the kingfish was cooked perfectly with good sides but the tiny serves left me hungry with one meal costing the same as three meals elsewhere. I can see the appeal if you want to go to a classy restaurant, but I can't see myself going back even if someone is paying. And as usual for a restaurant of this style the coffee is mud.

Another Adelaide restaurant in such a fantastic location that they don't think they need to try. The service was slow, the portions tiny (the waitress even advised is to order a few side dishes in addition to our two main courses as the serves were very small). We ordered side dishes AND stopped for a bite on the way home. The food tastes pretty ordinary. They managed to cook some chicken until it was dry but undercook some fish! The menu is as limited as the serves are small. I envied the people up in the 5th floor cafeteria of the RAH next door, tucking into their 'roast of the day'. At least they'd leave satisfied and would only spend a few dollars.

Or small group came here for a Festival of Food lunch. The atmosphere is lovely, overlooking all the greenery that's in the middle of the gardens. The food is quite nice. Well presented and the taste quite ok, but not what I thought outstanding.

The Botanic Garden Restaurant is a multi-award winning restaurant and catering venue in the Botanic Gardens specializing in Modern Australian Cuisine. The Restaurant is open for breakfast on Saturday's Sundays and public holiday Mondays only and is open for lunch from Tuesday to Sunday. The Fare is very much fine food, with wonderful service and finely set white tables in the pavilion like structure which overlooks the lake in the centre of the Botanic Gardens. Evening Meals are by appointment only, as the restaurant effectively operates as an event space. If you have the cash, I am sure that it would make for a fantastic venue to host a function of some sort or other, but I imagine it would be pricey.