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The Botanist, Leeds

Pub added by Old Boots
67 Boar Lane
Leeds
LS1 6HW
Phone: 01132053240

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


ROB Camra left this review about The Botanist

Owned by the same group who also have The Oast House & Alchemist in Manchester (New World Trading Co). It's a similar concept to Oast House with a kitchen open to the outside area and ale dispensed from barrels behind the bar. Well described previously, so I won't bother. The Ilkley Lotus IPA was in excellent condition, but expensive. As Bucking Fastard has nicked my comment about Jack Whitehall (we were in the pub at the same time), I won't bother with that either, it's just taken me a couple of months to get round to reviewing the pub. I like this place and Ms CAMRA would love it.

On 1st February 2014 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3216 recommendations about 3127 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Alan Winfield left this review about The Botanist

The Botanist is set back from boar lane so is easily missed if you dont know where it is.
Once inside the front area is set aside for diners,this area was packed early Saturday evening,the main bar is in a room to the rear which is down a few steps,this room was oblong shaped with the bar facing,i could not see anything else in the room as it was packed out with young upmarket drinkers.
I had a drink of Phoenix Arizona which went down well while stood up at the far end of the bar,there were many other real ales on the bar that i failed to note.
This pub was far too busy for my liking and i could not get a proper feel of the place,but i did think i was about 20 years too old to fit in here.

Pub visited 24/1/2014

On 24th January 2014 - rating: 6
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve of N21 left this review about The Botanist

Interesting place and well described by previous reviewers. Somehow the distressed old garden centre interior feel works for a trendy City Centre bar and I would not have credited that three sieves could be used so well as lampshades if I hadn’t seen it myself.
Unlike the others I did not go for the Ilkley Lotus IPA but for the available Beartown Brewery Peach Melbear at £3.60 a pint or £1.80 a half which was perfectly reasonable for a Londoner but may be a bit higher than the norm for Leeds. Good that I tried it but the aroma of peaches and elderflower came through strongly and was a bit too flowery for me. But then I probably have missed the target demographic of this place by 20 years, and its been a while that I would seek out yuppy bars with uniformed braces wearing young bar staff..
Now I wonder what ever happened to my Time Manager ?

On 8th December 2013 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Real Ale Ray left this review about The Botanist

On approach we thought this was an eatery only, what with the amount of people dining in the front. Once through the doors, we entered a modern bright lounge and bar. As BF mentions, it is reminiscent of an upmarket garden centre. We went for the Ilkey Lotus IPA, seems to be a regular beer here.

On 30th November 2013 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3376 recommendations about 3376 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about The Botanist

You enter down a few steps where to the right is an open kitchen frontage with external tables and chairs if you want to eat al fresco.On entering the building there was a strong smell of fish,not unpleasant but a reminder than food is probably the main draw here.The interior is reminiscent of an up market garden centre,wrought ironwork, pastel shades and that remarkable chandelier mentioned by PSM.However there is also a bar with the same selection of ales as on the previous visit.My Ilkley Lotus IPA was outstanding and probably worth the £4 price tag.The bar staff are young and keen ,much designer stubble on show with one barman bearing a striking similarity to Jack Whitehall.I felt more like his dad.
I am sure this place will appeal to women,and a meal with your loved one might earn you brownie points unless you get distracted by the many glamourous singles and yummy mummies that gather here.For the drinker,top quality ale but I can't imaging staying here for a heavy session,despite the talent on show.Always worth popping into if on a crawl however.

On 23rd November 2013 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about The Botanist

This is an interesting craft beer style bar, hidden away behind the Holy Trinity church on Boar Lane. The pub has an unusual stylistic theme centred around gardening, which could perhaps have been deduced from the name, but is nonetheless still unexpected. You enter into a bare boarded room with walls painted in light shades and a lot of decorative metalwork touches. The servery runs along the back wall and has an interesting wavy shaped counter with an upright piano at the far end. Some high benches with stools fill the space opposite under some small picture frames and a crazy chandelier made from old bottles and glasses. A modern etched glass screen acts as partitioning from the front part of the pub which is similarly styled with a good amount of standard table and chair seating, ideal for those wanting to eat. To the left of the bar and the front area there are two more rooms which have a lot more character thanks to their quarry stone flooring ,wooden beams, wall panels and heavy duty door frames. These rooms have a heavier emphasis on the gardening theme, with one looking a bit like a garden shed replete with gardening tools, flower pots and the like. There is a decent looking area outside the front of the pub, which is set far enough away from the road to make it a pleasurable space to relax. I visited late on a Tuesday night and was surprised to find it still pretty busy, with loud music playing and a young crowd in.
Four ales were advertised on a board behind the bar, each dispensed from a tap on the bar back rather than a handpull. The options on my visit were Ilkley Lotus IPA, Phoenix Arizona, Cumbrian Legendary Loweswater Gold and Beartown Peach Melbear. I, rather naively, opted for the latter which, despite being in good shape, really wasn’t to my taste and the overwhelming taste of peach was quite off-putting. There were plenty of keg fonts on the bar, but they seemed to be unlabelled, so I’m not sure what these were dispensing. I noticed a bottled beer menu (or ‘almanac’ to use their own words) – a beautifully put together document with hand drawn images of each bottle accompanied by tasting notes. Separate cocktail and wine menus were available as well and food is also available but these menus had been cleared away by the time I arrived, so I’m not sure what sort of fayre is available.
This is quite a fun pub which didn’t seem like an obvious choice for a drinking session but would certainly be worth a visit for a couple of drinks or a meal. If the gardening theme really grabs you, they have a sister pub in Alderley Edge which might be worth checking out too.

On 1st November 2013 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Old Boots left this review about The Botanist

An interesting rustic and gardening (!) themed bar on the edge of Leeds' new Trinity Centre. A multi-space cellar bar with an outside drinking area under a canopy and decorated with cast iron plants. At the back one area is greenhouse styled. The counter is rear centre and is home to a series of non-proprietary keg fonts, the cask ales are served from "barrels" behind, there are two taps to each of the two barrels but I have no idea about the means of storage and dispense here. The beer quality was OK, a touch warm and nearing the edge of acceptability. There is a pretty good bottled beer list in a book titled "Almanac" on some of the tables. As described below there is eclectic lighting throughout along with modern but in some cases rustic furniture. It's a good wheeze as a theme.

On 18th August 2013 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 3209 recommendations about 2920 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Will Larter left this review about The Botanist

The Botanist is a new bar on the edge of Trinity, the new central Leeds shopping centre. It is reached by an unobtrusive entrance, down some steps behind the Holy Trinity church on Boar Lane. The decor features lots of recycled timber and gardening-related artefacts, giving this cellar bar the ambience of a garden shed. Eccentric touches are provided by an ad hoc chandelier created from glasses and decanters, and a light-shade put together from several sieves or riddles.

On the bar are several fonts but no hand pumps, the real ales being dispensed from two large barrel heads on the bar back. The barrels themselves are presumably concealed somewhere behind this, and are connected by tubes to the taps, there being no apparent involvement of gas in the dispense. We had Ilkley Lotus IPA, Cumbrian Legendary Ales Loweswater Gold and Phoenix Brewery's Arizona, the other real ale available being Beartown Peach Melbear. There was a problem with pouring the IPA, and by way of apology for the delay the barman brought out a free tasting tray of three thirds, which was a nice gesture. One of these was the Beartown peach flavoured beer, of which just a sip was enough for me, but the other beers we tried were very good.

This is an interesting addition to the Leeds city centre scene.

On 30th May 2013 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3699 recommendations about 3440 pubs]