Ramen Raff: The Royal Botanical, Leichhardt

Leichhardt is home to many amazing Italian restaurants. But in the middle of Sydney's modern Little Italy is The Royal Leichhardt Hotel. It has catered to the Leichhardt locals for many years. But around mid-2013, the second level of the Royal Leichardt Hotel went through some refurbishments and was transformed to The Royal Botanical. The "Botanical" part comes from the dainty mini botanical courtyard style area that they have. The place has a colonial look with touches of contemporary decor and fit outs. The current seating capacity is about 75 and eventually up to 130 after further renovations. The place has a very family friendly vibe that serves modern pub and dude food.

1kg Hot wingsWe smashed em Our lunch started on a good note! The 1kg of hot wings ($17.50) was sticky, all kinds of amazing and addictive. The chicken wings was smothered with sweet, smoky and tangy sauce. It had a bit of kick but not too strong to overpower the flavours.

Gnocchi with sage, wild mushroom, goats cheese cream and parmesan sauce

Their gnocchi with sage, wild mushroom, goats cheese cream and parmesan sauce ($18) was outstanding! The potato gnocchi was perfectly cooked. The cream sauce had a sharp flavour from the parmesan and the sage taste was subtle. The wild mushrooms and Kumara chips (thin sweet potato chips) was a nice touch to the dish. I could eat this dish everyday!

Bangers and mash

The bangers and mash ($16.90) is a classic pub dish that I will never get sick of! What makes their version special is the use of pork and fennel sausage. The fennel heightened the juicy pork sausage flavour and the sweet onion pea gravy complimented the sausage perfectly. The potato mash was smooth, slightly creamy and buttery.

Cinnamon donuts & chocolate dipping sauce

We ended our lunch with 5 finger-sized logs of cinnamon donuts & chocolate dipping sauce ($10). I would have preferred the donuts to be more fluffy rather than being on the dense side. Nevertheless, the cinnamon sugar coating was delicious! The chocolate sauce was luscious and not overly sweet.

The Royal Botanical is an ideal hang out place where I see myself chill with friends or family for hours. The food brings great comfort and the service is superb. Be sure to order the hot wings and gnocchi when you visit!

Ramen Raff dined at The Royal Botanical as a guest.

The Royal Botanical

Upper levem at The Royal Leichhardt

156 Norton Street

Leichhardt NSW 2040

Phone: (02) 9569 2638

Fax: (02) 9876 2323

hello@theroyalleichhardt.com.au

Opening Hours:

The Royal Botanical

Mon – Sun 12pm– late

Kitchen

Mon – Thursday 11:45am – 9:30pm

Fri – Sat 11:45am – 10pm

Sun 11:45am – 9pm