Botanica

Finally made it to Botanica after drooling over the amazing salads that 2 of my work colleagues brought in for lunch. I want to say ‘these salads are my food porn’, so I will :-) I was in heaven at Botanica and will be back again and again!

It is ALWAYS a good day when Mum brings home Botanica. Some of the yummiest salad combinations I’ve ever had. Sweet potato, avocado, cranberries, broccoli… you name it. All good. And the treats! Looking forward to visiting the store one day soon :)

A great lunch with friends was pulled together at the last minute with a couple of small mixed containers of salads from Botanica and I’m glad I got in early because as I was leaving the place was starting to get packed. Staff, as always, were friendly and I never felt rushed. I finally got my little hands on one of the famous Strawberry Crush Cupcake. I’m still NOT a fan of their icing, but the cake… oh WOW, moist, dense, sweet and so worth it. Their baked goods are really really awesome and worth the trip. A great healthy option.

On the corner of a leafy street in Red Hill sits a quiet, unassuming little shop front. Once you find a park and take a long, leisurely stroll into the premises (you will inevitably park a bajillion miles away) you will walk inside to find three lovely smiling faces above a glass cabinet filled with mounds of colourful salads.
I’m always on the search for Good Salads In Brisbane™ and thanks to a fellow Unilocalers advice, I made a beeline for Botanica one sunny lunchtime.
While I suffer from a plethora of dietary limitations at the moment including but not limited to being gluten free and allergic to orange, avocado, most nuts and several other common ingredients the staff here were very accommodating, knowledgeable and perhaps most importantly, set on getting me something I could eat without fear of anaphylaxis.
All of the salads were unfortunately out. The gluten free range starred several ingredients I couldn’t eat. No matter, we confidently moved onto the amazing looking pastries behind the counter. «I don’t suppose they are gluten free???» I said timidly, expecting the worst. «As a matter of fact, they’re all gluten free!» the staff said triumphantly.
I was amazed, and promptly set about selecting a tart for my lunch. As usual I was horribly indecisive, and ended up picking two tarts to sample. I simply couldn’t bare to leave one off my plate! One consisted of spinach and fetta, the other with juicy heirloom tomatoes and parmesan cheese.
Armed with a Tom and Emma Green Power juice from the expansive range in the fridge, I trotted back to my car to enjoy my picnic lunch.
Ah, the life of a sales rep. it’s so glamorous fighting for space with the middle console and gearstick, spraying crumbs and flaky pastry all over the car seat, balancing the juice bottle in your less-​than-​adequate cup holder fitted in the dash.
Besides the general challenges faced by dining in one’s car, I thoroughly enjoyed my tarts. The spinach and fetta won the round with the salty cheese complimenting the fresh, sweet spinach so well I almost finished the entire generous piece. I picked at the heirloom tomato and parmesan which would have been beautifully satisfying had the spinach and fetta not stolen the spotlight so thoroughly. There always had to be a winner at the end of the day.
However if I’m completely honest, the real star of the tart-​picnic-​show was the gluten-​free pastry. Having just started on my wheat-​free journey I can’t say I’ve had a huge variety of pastries either sweet or savoury, by MY WORD this flaky, buttery goodness was better than most wheat-​filled versions I’ve had in my lifetime. It was light yet firm enough to hold the tart-​shape and just melted in the mouth.
I plan to go back to Botanica the first chance I get. I would love to happen upon a range of gluten free salads minus my allergens, but if it’s not meant to be I’ll happily settle for a tart.

Who would have thought that salads could invoke excitement? They certainly do at Botanica! More than once I have gotten excited at seeing that my favourite salads were ready and waiting to be dished up from behind the counter (and contrastingly been incredibly dissapointed when they weren’t).
Fresh, wholesome ingredients combine in novel ways to satisfy even the most die-​hard salad hater. My favourites (I’m pretty sure they are everyone’s favourites as they run out the most) are the kale, a crunchy, peppery and very green salad which somehow manages to make kale taste devine, and the brocolli, which is raw brocolli coated in a cashew cream for a delicious bloat free pasta salad substitute. Both have inspired me to make my own versions at home but I can’t match Botanica’s vegetable genius. And when it is only $ 10 for a box that easily spreads to two meals, why try?
If you don’t feel like cooking dinner they are a perfect substitute for terrible fast food as they are open til 7pm!

I’ve been wanting to check out Bontanica for myself after having been served one of their amazing salads for dinner at a friend’s place. It’s just not over convenient a place for me to get to. Or so I thought. Turns out i’ve been driving right by it every Wednesday for weeks! Sheesh!
So, I popped in to peruse the selection of daily salads. And was not disappointeds in the slightest. Healthy lunch sorted without any effort, just a quick $ 10 out of my pocket. $ 10 is for the «single serve». I requested 2 selections and that was easily accommodated. When I got home & added some roast chicken breast to my mixed selections (panazanella & kale parmesan), I discovered my single serve was more than enough for 2 serves. YAY! Value!
I doesn’t get a 5 star from me because there was no signage in the display cabinets as to what the salads /​baked goods were. Granted, the serving girl was pleasant enough in answering my questions, but did look rather bored at having to rattle off the selections for the umpteenth time that day. Maybe some signage would encourage more meaning questions /​conversations with the staff rather than the mundane «What have you got today?».
They take EFTPOS, which is always important to me because I pretty much NEVER have cash.
I“ll certainly go again. Hell, I might even go back just to grab a salad and pass it off as my own at a dinner party. :-/

LOVE this place! Highly recommend. Being a gluten free vegan girl, it can be hard to find tasty food on the go but boy does this place deliver the goods. Also plenty of options on hand and good prices for the quality.

I only wish I could afford to eat here everyday! Every dish has been amazing!!! The broccoli salad has too be one of my favourite salads of all time! The staff are always very friendly and helpful letting you know everything that is in the dishes. Parking can be tricky sometimes but well worth the search.

Finally– a mega healthy, seriously grown up tasty selection of real food!
Decent serving sizes (sadly so unusual) so a box of goodies at lunchtime will really keep you going till dinner.
Friendly staff who know their craft. I cannot rave enough about Botanica.
On a sunny Brisbane day a quick drive down the hill to a fabulous park with tables is a lovely place to take your haul!

Excellent whole food (real food) salad bar. There’s nothing else like it, that I know of. Perfect for those who have food restrictions or allergies, as they have something for everybody. Including tasty baked treats. The staff are all very knowledgable and friendly. They give generous servings, and will fit up to 5 salads in the medium box. Perfect if you don’t know which ones you like. I will definitely be going back on a regular.

Botanica is sending me broke. The salads are delicious (try the raw brocolli one!) and the cakes are delectable. All baked items are gluten-​free, moist and not overly sweet, which makes them a perfect after-​salad treat!

I’ll admit it. What initially got me through the door was the amazing print design that I saw on the web. But the delicious salads are what will keep me coming back.
We sampled three different salads, and «different» is the key word. There are some other salad servers in the Paddington region, and despite the variety of ingredients, somehow their salads all end up tasting the same. From Botanica, each salad had it’s own distinct character, and it was hard to decide which one to finish on.
Friendly and knowledgeable staff kept everything up front looking appealing and fresh.
Can’t wait to go back and try some more!
Edited to add: I have been back 4 times this week alone. I’m upgrading my rating to 5 stars. Can’t get enough. (Warm raspberry/​white-​chocolate muffins right from the oven this morning. Yum!)

You heard it here first: Red Hill is about to become seriously cool. Secretly I’ve always thought it already was.
I think I was already in lust with Botanica before I walked through their doors with perfectly spaced and aesthetically pleasing typography, but it was definitely love when I walked out with a fresh loaf of sourdough and freshly-​made-​that-​morning Beetroot Slaw.
The brainchild of two ex-​private chefs for the Packers amongst other Australian celebs, Botanica is about one thing: Real Food. Daily made fresh salads, fresh loaves of bread, and small cakes. All take-​away and all presentable on a dinner plate to either proudly boast where acquired or past off as your own divine creations. My small beetroot slaw was a neat $ 10 and fed two as a dinner side as well as enough left over to make friends with an egg and some fetta this morning for breakfast.
Best of all they’re open til 7pm, meaning you can pop in on your way home for those times when cooking seems too much but a oil deep fried takeaway dinner is equally lacking in appeal.