The Botanist Didsbury Bar & Restaurant

I liked very much the decoration of this place, they were agricultural antiques from old times on the wall.I also really enjoyed the fireplace especially because the weather outside was very cold. Also, when we went there they were many people and we really enjoyed the quietness. As for food, I didn't like the garlic bread, but I liked the mashed potatoes, the chicken kebab and the pork kebab. In general I would recommend this place for drinks and for some finger food especially in winter time.

We had the pleasure of attending the Didsbury branch, I recognised the building from an old pub that used to be part of the fabled "Didsbury Dozen" drinking challenge, memories which are distorted and beer-hazy. The inside, however, was unrecognisable with charming wooden decor and garden theming. A huge chandelier dominated the downstairs area but from above, where we sat, we could make out all the trinkets amongst the festoons of beads and the canopy decorated with gardening tools. While browsing the menu we were asked if we wanted any nibbles and my eyes were immediately drawn to the pork crackling with chilli jam. Oh boy was it good, the crackling was served warm with chillis and spring onion! I love crackling and scratchings, jade even got me a prom scratching advent calendar once, well these were the best I've ever had. For starters I asked for a recommendation as the baked camembert was unfortunately unavailable, and was suggested the cauliflower wings. Did I choose cauliflower wings over chicken wings? Yeah. Did I regret my decision? No. They were marinated in Frank's hot sauce, with delicious buffalo flavour and crunch. Since when did cauliflower get so sexy? We need to thank the vegans for that one. My brother ordered the garlic mushrooms, which to his delight arrived served in a trowel! What stole the show with this starter was the Marmite Margarine, which spread on the wholemeal toast tasted incredible. For main course I opted for one of their famous hanging kebabs and was recommended the five spice duck with hoisin sauce. If you swipe all the way along you'll see a short video of the sauce dripping down the skewer The duck was fantastic, quite rich and tender and with enough five spice to lift the meat but not overpower the sauce. I didn't think there would be enough here but fill me up but there was, the sweet potato fries nested at the bottom of this contraption were gradually drizzled in the Hoisin sauce and juices from the duck. Needles to say I enjoyed that. My brother decided to get the Chicken and Bacon pie with mash, mushy peas and gravy. The pie was swelling at the bottom with Gillian and the crust was perfect and on the inside it had that delicious stodgey-texture that you want from a pie. There's three pies on the Autumn menu, the others are a lamb and mint, and a steak and ale. Not gonna lie, I had pie envy seeing it resting on a throne of mash with a crown of mushy peas. For dessert I enjoyed the bread and butter pudding with Nutella and Biscoff. This has to be the best dessert I've had in a long time. As soon as I spotted Biscoff I knew I was getting this. It is not your usual bread and butter pudding as it is made with croissants as opposed to bread! It was served piping hot so the nutella and the biscoff butter cream were gooey and melty, a proper taste sensation. If I could only have one dessert for the rest of my life I think I'd choose this

A great place to spend an afternoon. We went on a Saturday, around midday. It was fairly quiet, so had a choice of many places to sit, which is always good. Staff were very friendly, food arrived well presented and hot. The price of food is reasonable and the interior is very nice too. All in all, a very nice place to go and worth a visit.