This pure veg café and diner located in the heart of South Mumbai opens its doors to patrons offering their take on European, Asian and Indian food
Botanica — Café and Diner sticks to its brief of being a pure veg eatery, offering a medley of Indian, European and Asian fare. While it hits the right spot with its classic mocktails that definitely stays true to the its name — being botanically inspired, its food menu, however, has a few hits and misses.
Ambience
Botanica has a classic but contemporary vibe and looks inviting with its subtle lighting and cosy interiors. The space can accommodate over 65 people and is an all-day café and diner located next door to Canto near Opera House.
Food
The menu is a mix of European, Indian and Asian food from baos to pizzas, dimsums to sushi, you can take your pick from this all-veg menu. We dropped by for a preview of the sample menu. For starters, we tried the Asian
Delight Salad (Rs 320), smoked glass noodles with peppers and veggies tossed in a soya chilli dressing made it to our table. We loved the smokiness that added an edge to an otherwise okay salad. Followed by the Beetroot and Kokum Gazpacho (Rs 200), served here in a wide-rimmed glass with sabja and some chaat masala for that extra punch. The Edamame and Sweet Potato Dimsums (Rs 380 ) followed. These little morsels of flavour should definitely be your pick. Next up, we went with the Chilli BBQ Jackfruit Bao (Rs 380) a sweet-savoury filling that was served in a pillowy black bao, a good starter to go with your drinks. For the mains, we tried the Exotica Pizza (Rs 380) a thin crust pizza, topped with mozzarella cheese, bell peppers, jalapenos, corn and mushrooms which was strictly okay. We washed that down with two signature mocktails from the menu — the Oriental Mojito (Rs 250) and Butterfly on Flower (Rs 275), both impressed us as they were subtle yet spot on. For dessert, we picked the Basundi with Rose Caviar (Rs 300), an innovative take to an otherwise popular favourite. While the dish was interesting in terms of flavour and presentation and did tick the right boxes, it was good but not spectacular.
Overall verdict: If you are in town, it’s definitely worth a try! Vegetarians can add it to their list of new places to check out.
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