The Botanical Garden Re-Opens With Sunshine, Gin & Great Food

The sun was shining – and rightly so – for the re-opening of the Liverpool Botanical Gin Garden, and it was as if the Juniper God was smiling down on us as we celebrated this auspicious occasion. Nothing really has changed; the clientele is a good eclectic mix and the atmosphere is exceptionally friendly with a really cool vibe. The doorman who greeted us with such cheerfulness seemed to have graduated from the British Butler Institute.  

The Botanical Gin Garden – it’s special.  It has to be statemented that the drinks and food are absolutely top-notch. As is my usual strategy, with reviews I always ask the staff what they would recommend, in the sense that their recommendation fully represents the food and drink manifesto of the establishment. And in the very helpful and supremely affable Richie, we were given a personal tour of the highlights….

Richie is, without doubt, a Caravaggio of the cocktail. Full stop. He created for our tasting pleasure, the Genever Jamble, the first cocktail I have ever had with blackcurrant jam as an ingredient. Next off the easel was a New Bird Cooler, which resembled an alcoholic fruit salad doused in Sipsmiths and Beefeaters – which it was. To round off our complimentary tastings, Richie brought out the big guns, the most excellent being the Sipsmiths VJOP (Very Junipery Over Proof), which did exactly as it said on the label. The G completely approved, as did I.

Now comes the pivot. However fantastic the drinks were, the food (from new tenants Ta’amiya) was just as good. The G and I sampled an absolutely tremendous Mechout Lamb Wrap, chips and The Marrakesh Express, which the holy trio that is Crosby Stills and Nash would fully endorse. Absolutely exquisite.

Nestled in the Baltic Triangle, the Botanical Gin Garden is a slight trek, but the fainthearted shouldn’t be discouraged. You will be entering, especially on a hot sunny day, or a sultry summer evening for that matter, a fortress for gin lovers – an Alhambra. It is a Liverpool venue to be visited again and again, and to be cherished.

Steve Kinrade