Botanica At The Barn - Argyll Bute

Great for lunch, brunch and coffee. Delicious food, cakes and bread. In Millhgouse on road to Ostel Bay. Well worth a visit. Free range hens wandering in yard and wonderfully hospitable hosts.

We ate a beautifully cooked, nicely presented simple but delicious local ingredients, yellow split pea and leek soup, langoustines piled on toasted bread, baked in the restaurant. The place itself has a very cool, quirky laid back vibe. Great ambience. Book ahead and prepare to be flexible.Very different.

Very excited to give Botanica at the Barn a try for dinner, and had high hopes for special occasion. Unfortunately when you will charge fine dining prices, you expect a fine dining experience, and it sadly failed on this front. The food and service doesn't deliver a correspondent experience to the price. A langoustine dish had just six scrawny langos on it £21), and beyond this was quite unexceptional. Fat on the lamb chop mains was not rendered down, and served simply with potato £22). Napkins were not replaced after the starter course, and again the service just does not tally with the price point here. The ambiance/ temperature was quite cold for a September evening, and we were particularly displeased at the £4.50 bread choice and oil 2 small slices, very yummy but extortionate). It is a nice try, but is punching above its weight class. Very few locals noted due to the high prices. We left feeling hungry, and that it did not offer value for money in Argyll. Costs have increased, yes, but this was disproportionate pricey for the experience and professional service costs nothing.

Went there at 1030 on a Thursday. A handwritten sign on the road said “Open”. Drove up the pebbly drive only to be met with a second sign saying “Closed”. Would be good if the sign on the road reflected when it was open/closed.

Delicious dinner and lovely ambience. Staff friendly and good service. A great find. I had feta, sweetcorn and chilli spread on homemade sourdough, followed by bouillabaisse. Really yummy!