Botanist

The Botanist was an outstanding restaurant and dining experience. Located on the second floor at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel, it was a beautiful open floor plan where you can watch the Executive chef prepare your meal. Despite to open concept, noise levels were minimal

The menu featured fresh, local ingredients on the Pacific Northwest masterfully prepared with beautiful plating and presentations. There were so many great choices on the menu, I couldn’t decide what to order. We ended up starting with handmade tagliatelle with wild mushrooms and shaved black truffles, and beautifully prepared tripe with celeriac foam. For dinner, we ordered aged duck breast with wild mushrooms and local vegetables, and seared beef strip loin with king oyster mushrooms and ricotta gnudi. Everything was great.

They had an extensive wine list with wines from around the world, highlighting sustainable organic or biodynamic wineries. The selection of wines by the glass were chosen to pair with one or more of the dishes.

A great experience and I will definitely be going again.

Our waiter Brendan was the best! He was so fun and attentive and knowledgeable. Everything was beautiful and lovely and the food was great. Highly recommend.

The roasted dry aged duck breast was the best main I've had to date there! Always enjoyed having dinner here and will look forward to coming back!

Anniversary

Perfect place for a quiet date.

Truly impeccable 10/10 fine dining experience

This is a birthday dinner. They start to say happy birthday with a all staff signed birthday card to greet us. Really impressive . Our waiter Chris is very nice and friendly. Definitely will come back and recommend to our friend .

The degustation menu worked very well with wine pairings especially by the talented sommelier Stephanie. She recommended some very lovely Canadian wines. Stephanie is a wonderful storyteller that keeps one spellbound. The ever so talented chef had pushed the boundaries of using local produce in a playful and delightful manner. It was simply divine in terms of taste. And Larry, bless him, was so genuine in sharing his experiences. We were lucky to meet Vikram, from our hometown, which brought a warm cozy feeling of home. Truly amazing.

The duck main that I had was amazing. I’ll go back for the duck. Service was excellent. The chicory salad was nothing special and had way too much dressing. The gin cocktail I had was very good. Overall an excellent experience. Thank you!

We went for breakfast. Seated promptly at our table. We were quickly asked for our beverage orders (coffee, earl grey tea), both served quickly and in large carafes, which was nice. We ordered the smashed avocado toast with a side of crispy potatoes and the steel-cut oats. The avocado toast was good, particularly the sourdough bread, which was quite flavoursome. The potatoes were underwhelming and had only been warmed up, so were more soft throughout than crispy. The oats were largely disappointing -- served with a nice chantilly cream and some other toppings, however, in such a small amount that the oats quickly became a bland-tasting exercise in chewing. The overall decor and ambiance of the restaurant was nice, if lacking in a cohesive theme. Our general experience was good, but we were disappointed as our expectations for this restaurant were higher. We would not recommend this place to others looking for an exceptional breakfast experience in the city.

Excellent food, a little out of the ordinary. Just a tad noisy in the room. Chair uncomfortable for shorter people.

Our server was exceptional - great experience with everyone involved. Food was very good. The service is what stands out the most.

The kitchen is really world-class.

The service is not -- more what I would expect at a trying-to-be-upscale family restaurant than a fine dining experience.

there are no kids menu. a bit disappointed. choices for kids are limited.

Maybe an off night or understaffed kitchen but food and drinks took forever to come out. 2+ hours for 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and a dessert (not cause we were slow eaters).

Level of cooking not up to the ambience very poor execution and chef doesn’t know how to construct flavours with his ingredients

My wife wanted an espresso drink that is not in the menu. After explaining to the waiter how to make it, their first attempt to make a Gibraltar was close to spot on. Thank you for the Gibraltar. Thank you to the avo toast (best in Vancouver by far). And lastly, thank you for the birthday card.

Lovely food but experience marred by poor service. Went for brunch. Very noticeable black hairs on table when we arrived which we dealt with. Coffee splashed on me when poured, nothing said by server. Cream for coffee forgot twice. Slow to bring drinks. Never checked to see if we needed more coffee (we did). Forgot an order of toast. One person ordered scrambled eggs, got poached . Never came by to ask how food was, didn’t come by to see if we wanted more drinks ( we did) until all the meals were eaten so too late. Took forever to get bill. Sad service.

Vacation stay at hotel.

Food and service we’re incredible. Highly Recommended

The meal was excellent. Service fantastic Would definitely return when we are back in Vancouver. Must do restaurant

Despite having 2 people cancel last min on an 8 person reservation, we were seated in a semi private area with greenery even up above! Fantastic food and service!

Overall great food and service. A bit on the pricey side, but you will not be disappointed. Great decor.

It was one of the slowest service I've ever had. It took 40 minutes for our order to be taken another 25 minutes for the food to arrive. We ordered a juice got the kids and it was never put through. We requested an extra bowl and plate, and it took about 10 minutes for each to arrive.

Comparing to my last experience, the restaurant was busier therefore the service did lack attentiveness which is understandable. Although the dishes were flavorful it lacked consistency. In my previous visit, the duck breast was prepared with a crispy skin and this time the skin lacked texture and was semi soggy. Additionally the sirloin we ordered came cold. I hope that in my next visit they're able to continue to serve dishes up to standard.

Friendly and accommodating staff

I would perhaps for dinner but not for brunch. The brunch was sub par and the service was disappointing. The room is stunning but I feel like you are paying more for the atmosphere then the actual product.

Had a wonderful time at Botanist Dining. My favourite was the grilled duck breast with “dancing mushrooms”. I love the way our server drizzled the creamy butter sauce on to the dish while explaining what the ingredients were on the plate. Ended the meal with amazing hazelnut chocolate / citrus ginger desserts. Thank you for the hand written card & yummy desserts! We will be back soon!

Yes, overall the food was good. My Burrata & Beet salad was outstanding and the flavour on the dressing for the lobster was outstanding. The lobster itself was...lobster. My wife's Chickory salad was initially WAY too salty. They admitted it. Then they substituted it with the same salad with barely any dressing. So yay, no saltiness, but no flavour as well. That was a waste of $18. And showed a fundamental flaw in their recipe.

Her sablefish with black bean sauce was fine. But a little too black bean top-heavy. Have to admit that they had a very nice gluten-free rice cracker and warm bread to start.

Service was great and friendly and no complaints there. Very good on that score.

Overall the value isn't really worth it in a city of great restaurants. The service was good, the food was uneven and the prices are on the high end of the city. You are paying for being at the Fairmont and a beautiful downtown hotel. But I suspect for most this is the type of restaurant you visit once or bring visitors to, but wouldn't be clamoring to come back again. And that is the way we feel.

We had a reservation for 1pm. We were running a few minutes late from the spa upstairs and we asked the spa to alert the restaurant that we would be down shortly. We arrived at 1:10pm and then subsequently waited for an additional 20 minutes to be seated. The menu was also very limited (bad on my part for not checking but I had been there before and didn’t feel it was as limited the prior time. That being said, the server was excellent and accommodated any allergies etc. food was good but not as impressive as my prior rxierjence.

Amazing service and delicious food! The room is beautiful too!

The fine dining prices set the expectations and fortunately both the food quality and inventiveness of the its preparation hit the mark. However, the service is more in keeping with casual dining where reaching over diners to place service items and clearing the table while diners are still eating have become the norm. With entrees in the $40 - $50 range, the lack of appropriate service standards is lamentable.

We came in for my boyfriend's birthday. He enjoyed his sable fish, however, I did not enjoy my mustard crusted chicken breast as it wasn't very flavorful. I was disappointed with the options for dinner and dessert. Hopefully, in the future more options can be available. Overall, enjoyed the ambience and the drinks were delightful. Also, our server was amazing.

Experiential cocktails are epic! Drink them! Experience them!

It was fantastic. The food, the vibe.... just amazing. Will be back soon!

We had the tasting menu and it was scrumptious. The room was beautiful. Wonderful time.

Average at best...2nd time I have been and wont be back

Beautiful decor and ambiance. Food was delicious. Duck and the lamb were our favorite

Just amazing food. The chef continues to surpass expectations and the presentation and flavour is exceptional.

Esta padrísimo el lugar y la decoración, mucho mas bonito en el area principal no en el area de garden. La comida muy rica y el servicio muy bueno.