The Botanist Ipswich
📍 0.3 miles from Portman Road
About this Pub
Why it's great for Matchdays
Right in Ipswich town centre at 1 Cornhill, The Botanist is a convenient pre/post-match meet-up. Portman Road is described as a short walk from the town centre and from Ipswich rail station, so the route is straightforward for supporters arriving by train. The venue serves food (including brunch and roasts), which is useful for lining up before kick-off, and it stays open late on Fridays and Saturdays (until 01:00), covering evening fixtures or post-match drinks.
Recent Fan Reviews
Popped in on the way to the theatre last night. It was happy hour, Christian made us 4 fantastic cocktails. I have to say these were the best cocktails i have had in a long time. Impressively made with alot of care and attention. Would definately return.
Wonderful service and hospitality from the Manager Gabby So welcoming and accommodating Thank you for a great lunch and evening cocktails at the Botanist. Cher concert here I come Will surely be back. Thanks for helping me survive my day of work!
Dreadful experience. Booked an early dinner (5.45) to celebrate my son's 40th birthday, with one of his friends, before moving on to an event at the nearby Corn Exchange. Visited earlier to drop off a balloon for the table. It wasn't there upon arrival & they had to find it. Spoilt the surprise. Ordered drinks & starters, which arrived arrived promptly. To be fair, food was good. Mains didn't arrive. At 6.30 we let waiter know we had to be out by 7.20 for a show at 7.30. He said food was ready & on its way. Still no food at 7 pm. By 7.10 we decided we wouldn't have time to eat it, so decided to leave. As we put coats on, food arrived. Explained to young waitress that it was too late. She went to who was presumably her supervisor (nothing indicated she was even a member of staff - no badge, & scruffy appearance). I heard her tell the girl to take the food "down to the staff table". I approached her and said we had to go. She was very rude. I pointed out we had chased the food & let waiter know the position, & said I didn't expect to pay for the 2 starter courses. She was very rude, saying, "well, you're leaving anyway". Totally spoilt the celebration for my son. Sent a complaint in the next day, but no response. Will never go back, or recommend this badly run restaurant.
TLDR: Very Slow Service, Poor Quality Food Preparation, Burnt Chicken, Stale Cous Cous, Excellent Christmas Tree Decoration. Visited The Botanist in Ipswich on 17th November 2025, and honestly, I’m shocked at how bad the experience was. We had a table booked for 4:30pm and were ready to order immediately. Despite this, our food didn’t arrive until after 5:30pm. And the reason quickly became obvious: the manager and another staff member were far more interested in redecorating a Christmas tree than actually running the restaurant. This left one young staff member trying (and understandably struggling) to take orders for the entire floor on his own. When the food finally arrived — two “Great Sharing Kebabs” — it was a complete disaster. The chicken was burnt, the cous cous was stone cold and tasted foul, and the overall quality looked like it had been thrown together by someone who wanted to go home early. We would have complained on the day, but after waiting so long, we just wanted to eat whatever was edible and get out of there, especially as it was meant to be a birthday meal. I emailed the restaurant afterwards to give them the chance to respond and put things right. No reply. Not even a generic apology. At this point, I can only assume they still haven’t responded because they’re probably still decorating that Christmas tree.
It seems we had a similar experience to a few other people who booked their work Christmas meal at The Botanist. Admittedly we all enjoyed the food, but it was overshadowed by the frankly shambolic service. We waited almost an hour for our mains despite the restaurant being pretty quiet, but to make matters worse, upon requesting our bill before desserts due to over-extending our lunch break, we then repeatedly asked to have our desserts to take away. At this point both waitresses disappeared for about 20 minutes, possibly to buy some containers for our desserts. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced poorer service in a restaurant and definitely won’t be eating here again in a hurry (ironically).