The Botanist, Newcastle | Festive Menu

Whether you've got a festive meal coming up, or you're looking for somewhere a little different to catch up with friends before Christmas; The Botanist's Festive menu is certainly worth considering. With all the usual flavours and a few quirks, I was very excited to head along for a taste.The Botanist has been open just around a year now (you may have seen this cocktail making post, or this VIP opening party) and is already one of the places to be in Newcastle. Their rooftop terrace is amazing too and judging by their instagram updates - it all looks super festive!
To start you can have tomato soup, chicken liver pate or a salad. All three were really good, the soup was creamy, salad had a great mix of flavours and plenty of feta (you can never have too much cheese if you ask me though!) but the pate really stood out for me.Moving onto mains; they're all served with roast potatoes and seasonal veg - yup, there's sprouts.  The roast fillet of salmon with minted peas and hollandaise was nice and the sauce didn't take away too much from the salmon, but I'm not likely to order fish for a main dish when there's other options, like steak or turkey. That's just my opinion though!
Speaking of steak, the sirloin was juicy, medium rare and that tomato sauce on top was incredible. I wouldn't usually order a steak for a festive meal, but this was a bit of a gamechanger; though not as much as the vegetarian option Pumpkin Ravioli. It was that good I went back for seconds (possibly even thirds, depending on who's asking) and I'd definitely consider ordering it for my main over the usual Turkey. Don't get me wrong, the turkey was great, but I was blown away by the ravioli and it makes such a change as veggie options can sometimes seem a bit of an afterthought.Onto desserts; my favorite part of any meal! It's only right to offer Christmas Pudding and this was exactly how you'd expect, rich and fruity. Orange and bitter chocolate truffle torte was rich, very filling and basically like eating chocolate orange in a cake form which is never a bad thing! My favorite had to be the Apple and Almond Tart with caramel ice cream; along the same lines as a bakewell tart and the right mix of sweet and savoury, I could've eaten the whole slice!
If you're considering visiting The Botanist for their festive menu, I'd recommend booking in advance! For lunch it's £22.50 pp and dinner £27.50 and for three courses, I think that's a really good price - especially if you'd ordered the steak since you can pay upwards of £20 for a good steak somewhere!
Have you got any festive meals lined up, or any recommendations?