Botanica Restaurant and Gin Bar Portsmouth VA

Andrea Dupont

I had been looking forward to experiencing this place in my new neighborhood! Just returned from Paris and wanted to prolong my French immersion, unfortunately it disappointed ! The food was ok but our server ruined the experience, she rushed us the whole time, barely explained the menu , then totally ignored us. I know good servers are hard to find but for a high end restaurant she did not compliment !

Steve Kokker

A highlight in a city filled with culinary highlights. Billed as a French-styled bistro, it fits the bill in its miniscule proportions (seats about 32 maximum, not counting a small patio), and especially in the refinement of the menu. While some diners might at first find the smallish portions on their plates rather...mmm...French...they will soon discover that this level of quality outweighs lesser places which serve twice the quantity. The food has been painstakingly sourced (the burrata for example is on par with the finest France offers though it's from a specifically chosen farm in Vermont), and very evidently blended and cooked with a self-respecting dedication to bring out the very best in the raw ingredients. A sign of fine, natural ingredients and attentive, caring cooking is that the body feels light and satisfied after eating - not stuffed, filled, bloated, heavy, as with the vast majority of fare in the vast majority of all restaurants. This feeling is so common we don't even notice it. Here, you leave sailing - sated but having gifted your body food that is worth every penny. A suggestion, for a specialised gin bar, would be to offer some form of a tasting set - 3, 4 or 5 1oz servings of different kinds of gins. It might be complicated to set up at first, but considering that there are gin enthusiasts out there and that the specific tastes of gins are unrecognisable in a cocktail mixed with many other ingredients, it would be a massive draw to have such an option available. Otherwise, it's a nice thought that there are a dozen or more different gins, just to know that they are there in bottles at the bar, but blended with rose and juices, it makes almost no practical difference which is used in which cocktail. But to give people interested in the taste potentials in the wide world of gin an extremely rare opportunity to sample different kinds - now that would be a remember-for-a-lifetime opportunity!

Paul Delabruere

This is a very nice restaurant, but they manage to balance it with a modern, comfortable, casual vibe that makes it inviting and fun. The food was beautiful and very special, and the cocktails are spectacular.