MY PUB: The Botanist, Cardiff

The Botanist in Cardiff is one of about 35 NWTC sites that include The Florist, The Oast House and The Trading House.

This site offers great food, drinks and live entertainment, and is less than 500m from its two main train stations and just round the corner from Cardiff Castle.

Here, general manager Sian Lloyd tells The Morning Advertiser all about the business.

The pub

We’ve just celebrated The Botanist’s fifth anniversary in Cardiff – which has flown by. In that time, the site has really nestled itself in the centre of the city, becoming part of the fabric of Cardiff’s social scene and nightlife.

It’s an impressive site, featuring two floors and a huge first-floor outdoor terrace. The biophilic design (filled with huge plants, beautiful hand-painted botanical murals and even a river running through the restaurant) creates a sense of harmony between the city and nature, which has such a great impact on our customers.

The publican

Before opening The Botanist Cardiff, I was general manager at Ten Mill Lane, a late-night cocktail bar. My career in hospitality started when I left university and wasn’t ready to leave city life.

I worked at Tiger Tiger for six years and knew the buzz of a lively bar and busy restaurant was where I wanted to be.

I’ve really been able to grow and develop since joining The Botanist, so much so that I’ve just been seconded to our Bath site, to oversee operations while TV’s First Dates takes over the restaurant to film its next series.

The trade

The Botanist is a city centre bar and restaurant for everyone and all occasions – somewhere locals can go for a casual lunch with friends or celebrating life’s big occasions and tourists can enjoy dinner and cocktails after a day of exploring the city.

Day to night, our offering evolves from a laid-back spot for a bite to eat to an upbeat social venue with unique cocktails, events and live music.

The concept has been so successful in central Cardiff, we recently opened a second site at Cardiff Bay.

The team

We have 55 front-of-house and 25 back-of-house staff. The team is dynamic and thrives on those busy, peak times.

All team members are given opportunities to grow and develop within the business and my passion is supporting people to achieve their potential and really enjoy what they are doing for a job.

The drink

Our botanical cocktails inspired by herbs, plants, fruits and flora are the reason that most customers visit us.

We’re currently in the process of developing our most inventive cocktail menu yet, launching this summer – what this space…

The food

Our love of plants, herbs and the changing seasons comes through our food menu too, which is also having a major shake-up this spring.

We’ll be serving fresh, colourful food inspired by the world of botany. Our famous ‘hanging kebabs’ are a customer favourite – they always turn heads when coming out of the kitchen.

The events

There’s live music every Friday, Saturday and Sunday to keep that Friday feeling going all weekend and we celebrate home-grown artists from the area.

Botanist Bingo, our live musical bingo event, happens on the first Thursday of every month and draws a crowd. It’s lively, loud and such good fun.

The future

Beyond bringing newness to our food and drink offering, this summer we plan to host a series of live music festivals on our beautiful terrace, to really showcase what The Botanist is all about – no pretence, just real connections, good times and pure hospitality.