Brunch is the perfect weekend solution for those just a tad too lazy to get up early on a Saturday – and the food industry knows it.

Marlow’s laid-back, retro-inspired venue The Botanist is the latest to join the brunch wagon, and though most renowned for its array of experimental cocktails, this little oasis of calm is somehow the perfect place for it.

With its (admittedly a tad contrived) traditional charm and vintage feel, anyone visiting for the first time could be forgiven for thinking this place was primarily designed as a daytime meeting spot.

Though it does the lion’s share of its business after dark, the Botanist doubles remarkably well as a quaint spot for brunch, lunch or an afternoon tipple.

It is the ‘secret gardens’ that do it – three separate brick courtyard spaces out the back with trellis fences and traditional metal garden furniture straight out of a postcard from an English country garden.

The sun shone brightly on the hot, humid morning my wife Tori and I visited, and it is these conditions which do the Botanist the greatest justice.

Unlike many ‘bars’, where visiting in the daytime can feel like a disorientating, dingy guilt trip, it is easy to relax into the quiet, twee surroundings here.

Plus, it is calming, disarmingly so, when you consider the bustling shopping streets and traffic jammed streets of the town centre are the other side of the roof.

And so sipping on a carefully made cappuccino from an English bone china cup and saucer felt like the natural thing to do, and fully befitting of the al fresco surroundings.

The brunch menu is a solid, thoughtfully constructed selection, with twists on a few classics but with all the right ingredients there to satisfy the breakfast craving.

I ordered the ‘Breakfast Hash’ (£7.50), a one-pan concoction of sausage, chorizo, sliced potato, baked egg with homemade mustard served in a cast iron pan (don’t touch the red-hot handle like I did, please) and a side of toast.

It is a triumph, and with the juices from the chorizo seeping into the spuds, the whole thing took on a rich, smoky flavour which ticked all the right boxes.

Tori ordered the smashed avocado on toast (£5.50) very much the plat de jour in modern brunch circles – and it was as sophisticated as mushed up avocado can be, really.

But the egg draped over the top was perfectly done and the pop of heat from the sliced chilli gave the whole thing depth, and considering it is only just over a fiver, there’s nothing wrong with that.

Not to take anything away from the main dishes, but it was the spicy, tangy, homemade ketchup on the side that stole the show – so much so, I took a jar home with me.

Because we were feeling lazy and greedy in equal measure, we went for the blueberry pancakes to finish. Soft, fluffy and delightful – if not particularly warm by the time they reached the table.

So why go here when Bill’s does the same thing a few doors down? Well, as I mentioned before, the Botanist excels in its drink choices.

Judging it a little early for a gin cocktail (though only just), we chose from the excellent variety of non-alcoholic options, and both the cucumber and raspberry cooler and the homemade lemonade (both £4.50) were first class and truly refreshing - in every sense of the word.

The Botanist is a great place to hang out and does a lot of things right, and can successfully add ‘brunch venue’ to its list of plus points.

So much so, that despite it being only just noon, we were extremely tempted to dump the car and get stuck into the cocktails from our cocooned haven in the warm, bright, sunny garden. Next time, for sure.