Botanica Garden Café
61A Bay Rd
Waverton Sydney
Botanica Garden Café used to be a nursery and with its wonderful and interesting “nookks and crannies” you can clearly see that it has kept that “natural” ambience.
The venue really is so cute, beautiful and leafy. There is so much character abound and it is a real “oasis” for children and adults. The décor is quaint and quirky – so many interesting things to see, like the hanging teapots suspended from the roof in one of their many areas. And on one wall where we sat there was a plant with a garden “tap” above it. The tap does not work – it is just a decoration. No matter where you look there is “something” different and unique. Even in the WC, Mlady literally stopped as she walked in. The toilet roll dispenser resembled a camera. How novel is this! It looked like one of those “instant” camera’s where you take the picture and the picture comes out and develops straight away. Amazing – where do they find these things! Even the fridge had “eyes”. Take a wander – this is an amazing place, and the children will love it too.
Botanica Garden Café can do buffets, functions and sit downs and their menu has a good variety of interesting options to choose from. They have been open for four years and can cater for 50 people.
We started with the all-important coffee. Being our first for the day we ordered large. Really like the mis-match of bright cups and saucers which is all the rage at the moment. Ah – that’s good. The coffee is good here. Mlady (no surprises) had her usual weak soy cappuccino and Sir (again no surprises) had his usual – skim flat white.
Mlady had the Wake and Bake and had some chorizo as well. It was made up of – soft-baked eggs, asparagus, glazed mushrooms, house-baked beans, smashed potato, salsa verde and Napolitano sauce in a pan with buttered toast. This delicious dish arrived in a frypan. It looked delish, smelt delish and tasted oh so good. This really was a great way to start the day. So many flavours and tastes. Such a yummy and hearty dish. Really enjoyed all the combinations and dipping the toast in the frypan to soak up the sauce – divine.
Sir had Malaysian toast – Pandan French toast served with homemade Kaya (coconut and Pandan) jam, seasonal fruits topped with rose water and lychee cream and toasted almonds. This was such a pretty dish. Pandan has a unique taste that can make it quite difficult to determine. It can be described as “coconuty”. We like Pandan and we also like its vibrant green colour. Pandan goes so well with many other ingredients. It really went well with this tantalising dish. It was so visually appetising. So beautifully presented, pretty as a picture, shame to eat it – but we did and we sure did like this. Lovely subtle flavours all complimenting one another.
We also had to drink - a ginger beer and sparkling peach iced tea served with strawberries, lemon and mint. These were both very refreshing and we both enjoyed.
Next, we shared PHO – Beef noodle soup. It was described on the menu as – An aromatic Vietnamese beef broth slow cooked for 6 hrs, served with rice noodles, thin sliced 48 hr slow cooked beef brisket, sliced medium – rare beef, quail eggs, served with Spanish onion, shallots, coriander, bean sprouts and Vietnamese mint. This really lived up to its description. It was a delicate dish with a truly flavoursome broth that you could eat like a soup – delish. It was a light meal with a lot going on which made it very tasty. The beef was so tender and the quail egg tasted like a tiny boiled egg – very cute.
We also shared Bait and Beets – Whitebait, beetroot and corn fritters served with pickled leek, sundried tomato and cress salad, tzatziki and beetroot reduction. Again, a dish that was so appetisingly presented and tasted so good. The beetroot reduction was so vibrant in colour and the coolness of the lovely tzatziki, combined with the soft and slightly crunchy crunch of the corn fritters – YUM! A lot of delectable goodies in this dish.
The food here is truly delicious and their menu has plenty to choose from. Chef and co-owner Nathan has created a scrumptious cuisine of varied dishes that have great combinations and flavours.
Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Botanica Garden Café. Thank you to Stephan for looking after us. Special thanks to co-owner Ann for this invitation and for taking time out from her busy schedule to chat with us.