Children’s Menu at The Botanist

The Botanist has become one of my favourite local haunts, a cool, quirky place in the centre of Alderley Edge. A great venue for a relaxing working lunch or catching up with friends over dinner or just to pop in for a cocktail to get the weekend off to a good start. I have done all of the above but I have never taken my children there, until now and now I have, I will again.

The Botanist invited Lil’ H and Diva G to come and try out their new kids menu, so a different kind of Friday night was planned. A change from the usual end of week flop on the sofa and brace ourselves for the weekend endurance test that is ballet, tennis, swimming lessons and usually one, if not more, birthday parties to attend. The kids and I spruced ourselves up and went out for Friday tea.

I’ve always loved the quirky eclectic collections that create the aged-potting-shed interior theme at The Botanist. I love the look and feel it creates. It had never crossed my mind just how much that provides for the younger, ever inquisitive minds of children, there was just so much to look at and discover. Here are my two checking out some butterflies:

Great choice, value & beautiful details

Clearly a lot of thought had gone in to the fact that children would be the diners and what would engage them. Made me stop and think about how often we had eaten in allegedly family friendly restaurants when actually the meal was just the same but a smaller portion of an adults. At The Botanist the kids meals are accompanied by small knives and forks, presented with children in mind, designed to put a smile on their face and that they did.

The menu offers all the popular choices chicken, fish, burgers, sausages but you’d be very mistaken if you interpreted popular to mean usual. The difference is in the detail, and details there are, as what arrived at our table was great fun. Lil H’s scampi came in a basket with rice paper butterflies on the lid and side salad, Diva G’s mini burgers were just the cutest and her beans came in mini flowerpots and they both came with ketchup in a wheel barrow. What is not to love about that? Don’t worry you aren’t paying extra for these finishing touches, in fact at £5.95 for a children’s meal with an ice-cream dessert that brings the unexpected to your table it’s cheaper than the far less exciting children’s menu at Pizza Express. Fantastic value for money and my kids really loved it.

I was permitted a small taster of each and they were delicious, I am a huge fan of The Botanist’s menu with hanging kebabs being my favourite but the empty plate and basket is all the testament any parent needs. The best was saved for last which arrived in the form of dessert. This wasn’t just any old kids ice-cream, this was The Botanist’s kids ice-cream, with a touch of Heston. A wooden tray arrived with a mini beach bucket containing their scoops of ice-cream placed on a beach of crushed ginger biscuit sand with chocolate and sweetie pebbles. Amaze!

Happy kids, happy mum. Did I mention The Botanist makes fabulous cocktails? Even happier mum! The Botanist is a great place to meet up with friends with the kids, as well as without the kids.