Andover Garden Centre in Test Valley

Breakfast used to be very good but the one we had on Monday was awful, the 3 tiny mushrooms were like leather and the bacon was wafer thin and dried out. The hash brown hardly cooked and cold. There are hardly any staff and the waiting times atrocious.

Cafe. Is now table service. Serve tea pots and milk. No tea spoon, and no cups! No sugar. No tissue.

Myself and a friend went to Dobbies for a quick breakfast the other day for a change of scenery. We were greeted by a really friendly young guy who double checked we had signed in for track and trace and offered us a selection of tables to choose from. After we had sat down he gave us a menu and we were free to decide from a very nice looking selection of food, all what I would say to be very reasonably priced. We were in the restaurant around about 11am and it was starting to become a bit more busier as you would expect a Sunday lunchtime at a Garden Centre, though there seemed to be only 3 staff to manage the growing number of people, take orders, serve food, clean tables and serve from the counter for cakes and teas/coffees, far less than you would expect to see in a busy environment such as this. Nevertheless it was only a matter of minutes before another member of staff came and took our order, she was very well spoken, extremely polite and very well clear on how we could customise our meals to suit our specific tastes (removing certain things we wouldn't eat), and took our drink order. While waiting for our food, I noticed the number of customers still increasing and some that had already been seated growing agitated they hadn't been seen to yet, more so it seemed from people walking around to the other entrance at the back of the restaurant which is situated outside, surely it would make more sense to only have one way in and one way out, so at least then the few staff there can actually attempt to do their jobs better. After our food arrived , which was in a very good time, we were pleasantly surprised at how nice everything was. Very tasty breakfast, I think it spent more time being brought from the kitchen to our table than it did actually on the plate. Unfortunately though we still hadn't received our drinks, my friend ordered a coffee and myself just a tap water. About 10 minutes later, still no drinks and we were ready to leave at that point, so we found our server who was making what seemed to be an infinite amount of coffee by herself and let her know that we were going to be leaving, just in case drinks were delayed from the amount of people that were ordering now. It seemed though that there was a problem with the electronic tablet and our drink order hadn't gone through correctly to another screen to show it was waiting to be made, another member of staff overheard and offered to quickly make my friend his drink in a takeaway cup which he greatly appreciated. Overall I think this could be a very nice restaurant to visit with friends or family for a nice meal. However, my first and short time here, it is very apparent that some changes need to be made and I will list what I think below. More staff. By the time we were leaving it was becoming more obvious that the few staff there were becoming swamped with people, they were still going above and beyond to do their very best, but I can't help but feel it was fighting a loosing battle. No matter how friendly and nice people seem, you can always tell when stress is starting to kick in, and that was becoming very apparent, very quickly, I feel very sorry for them having to be in that situation if it is a constant affair. Technology. Sure, it's great when it works, but in a busy environment like that, as soon as things start going wrong it's going to back up more orders and cause more problems. If it doesn't work, or is too temperamental, get rid of it, what's wrong with writing peoples orders on a notepad. One way in and one way out. Give the staff a bit of a fighting chance and keep things simple. If someone has personally seen and sat people at a table, they're going to know they need service. With people coming in from 2 different directions and then getting agitated at staff because no one saw them sit down 20 minutes ago, you're just making more unnecessary problems for yourselves. I would definitely visit again, though I hope these few things do get fixed.

A frequent visitor and offers good value for money food. Service is with a smile and always welcoming. They have managed social distancing well. I recommend this cafe. Easy parking and acces via the garden centre.

We went for a look around the garden centre and thought we would have a cup of tea and cake before we left. We went to the cafe at 1530hrs and stood and waited whilst a young lad who worked there but looked very confused stared into space. When we eventually got his attention he told us the Cafe was shutting at 1600 hrs and that he could not serve us as we were too late to get tea and cake. Very disappointed by this and the manner in which the young lad spoke to us...I informed him that he was very rude but never mind as I have now seen previous reviews of the cafe and now glad I didn’t spend any money in there!!

We loved our Lunch time meals, the Fish & Chips were gorgeous!!! So lucky we have this on our doorstep with very friendly, efficient staff. Thank you

The food is excellent, and very reasonably priced. The restaurant has a comfortable open feel and was very clean.

Wife and I popped into the Andover Garden Centre for a Sunday lunch - always excellent food and we were not disappointed. Two cuppa of teas and job done. Clean and simple dinning environment and a very pleasant service - welldone. Price for two meals and two teas was as expected and inexpensive. Will visit again.

Visited this place on the way home for somewhere to stop and have something to eat, whilst the general appearance looked OK the food was not. Thankfully staff offered us a 2 meals for £12 rather than £9.95 each was a promo. Ordered Cumberland Sausage and mash with vegetables and a lasagne, well these were not very well prepared more stuck in a microwave for no more than 10 minutes and it arrives looked like the wife's sausage and mash had been taken out of a ready meal box and cooked and the lasagne was sitting in grease in the dish. Would be fair to say disappointed in a long way, found out that there was a new chef on the day though to be fair if I was that chef I would have refused to send it out. Have been to other dobbies garden centres and had better meals. Won't be going there again.

Queue to order. Inept staff taking orders. Wait of 30 mins and when asked how much longer food came immediately and had obviously been prepared but left on side in kitchen. Below average baguettes/sandwiches. Potato and leek soup had grassy, not leek taste - likely packet soup. Rip off prices e.g. £3 for a single mince pie, £4.95 for bowl of packet soup. Avoid at all costs.

I had not heard good things about the cafe since Dobbies took over, so we went to see for ourselves. It looked o.k., at least the cold food was covered now . It seemed very badly organised, with five people behind the counter and little action on the till with a short but very static queue .Several people returning because their order had arrived wrong or incomplete. We eventually settled for just a coffee, but even then the till was not working properly. Perhaps we should have listened to our friends and given this place a miss.

We randomly popped in here when we just bought a house in Andover and celebrated with some lovely Easter cake and a mini bottle of Prosecco and have gone back to get bits for the new house! Does what it says on the tin! Cant beat a lovely Garden Center! Thanks

I’ve been going to this garden centre for years and used to really enjoy it, however I have noticed a decline of late and not gone as often as I used to. I thought, after being told by staff that new owners Dobbies will have it quickly up and running and wonderful, that it was worth another go, so I went a couple of times in the last two or three weeks and again a couple of days ago. Sadly, the menu in the restaurant that I used to love, has shrunk and all the staff seem to have changed. The older, more experienced staff have gone and it is full of young people who although were polite enough, seemed to be struggling to know what they were doing. There was a soup but no mention on boards what it was, menu choices are very limited now too although they have added a couple of new dishes that I haven’t seen before. One good point was they offer a full English breakfast that is gluten free, offer nice gluten free bread with sandwiches and have some nice oat milk if you are dairy free, but a sad lack of choice for real gluten free cakes - is it possible to make a gluten free scone or tea cake I wonder, that would be really nice - I could join in with my friends then for an English Cream Tea :). The stock in the rest of the garden centre is very boring at the moment too. Over the last few weeks they keep saying new stock is coming, but it never seems to arrive. Gone are the days, it seems, when garden centres were independent and had gorgeous restaurants - such lovely places for people to go, especially older people or mums with their friends, or people like me who like it as a place to get a good meal and do a little quiet work for an hour or so or meet with a friend for a chat. This garden centre used to be a place for reasonably priced, tasty meals and exquisite cakes and cream teas. It was also a good place for gifts, gardening equipment and lovely plants, I wish it was still as good now.

Andover garden centre was once an outstanding cafe as it was independent before Wyevale installed they're own poor equivalent. Having visited Dobbies in several other locations we were excited to see what they would bring, having bought out the centre, to this substandard venue; the surprising answer is even less! Requesting a hot meal from the menu at 1435hr on a Sunday, money was taken and we were waiting for our drinks when a staff member approached us and stated they stopped serving at 1430hrs and so we couldn't have our meal. There was no, and I do mean no, cake available to accompany our coffee and so I requested a refund. I can only assume the staff had all received bad news as their attitude was less than helpful. Reluctantly we were refunded, but only for the meal. On asking for the rest i.e. coffees, I was challenged as to why, requiring me to point out that there was nothing remaining to accompany our drinks. We were fully refunded, we were also extremely disappointed that with the Dobbies name above the door such a terrible service was received. No stock and no customer first attitude.

First impression was not great. We arrived for an afternoon tea for 6 people however 2 of our friends had pulled out, so the organiser who had booked tried to contact the garden centre yesterday and the day before in order to cancel these 2, 2 but no one ever answered the phone.... 2nd negative: the organiser had mentioned that one of us with vegetarian, however it seemed a big issue on the day as no veggie food had been prepared. We were told “we did not know”. 3rd negative point: the “chef” came to our table and said that it was not great that he did not know that there would be 4 afternoon teas only and that now (I quote:) “ we are going to waste 2 afternoon teas. They are prepared in the morning, so we should have been told earlier” (not something you should say to the customer!!! And if someone had answered the phone..................!) He was not happy to fix veggie sandwiches but managed to do so in the end (coleslaw and cucumber). That being said an afternoon tea is only £7, hot drink included. Food was okay. The lunch menu and cakes looked appetising. Some members of staff are very helpful; some are a bit on the lazy side: it seemed we were bothering them when we asked them something..... Not sure i would go back again.

Stopped here to meet a friend. It's a good garden centre with plenty of the usual items. The plants looked good quality and there were a of interesting garden items on sale. Not sure if this is a Dobbies or Wyevale garden centre as there are signs for both companies. Decided to sample the restaurant which was busy. It took a long time for the queue to move - I must have been waiting 20 minutes, I think this was due to new inexperienced staff serving. Had an excellent coffee and a fresh scone which was excellent. Nice atmosphere in the restaurant. Didn't think that the items were over priced.

I visited the garden centre with family over the weekend and we stopped in for some lunch. I expected there to be a limited menu and didn’t expect too much in terms of quality. Much to my surprise it was exceptional. I opted for the fish and chips and every component upon the plate was delicious, service far exceeded my expectations and the price was very reasonable. I’m shall be back.

Meet here regularly to catch up with friends. It's large enough for big groups but seating is arranged so that you can also sit out of the way in a smaller group. Easy parking. Good coffee.

We stopped here on a coach drive back from a canal boat trip in Hungerford....visited the cafe which seemed to be busy with a long queue to get served....as we moved along the counter many of the prices looked eye-watering.....£1 for a single Tunnock biscuit bar....£2.10 for a cup of tea was very high and why bother putting it in a teapot which only held a single cupful anyway........no sign of any additional top up hot water.............we notcied some plant prices...£10 for 6 Fuschia hybrid plants, on sale for £3.99 in Lidl or £4.99 at our local Otters Nursery..........I know Wyevale were unloading some of their centres to trim costs but we will avoid like the plague in future.

The best fish and chips for miles around - a long wait in a queue that moved very slowly. Please manage your young servers so that they are efficient and effective.

Had lunch there hot food was dried up because it had been kept hot for too long. Expensive for the miserable offerings.This place has gone downhill the food used to be really good better places to eat nearby. Won’t be going there again

£16 for 2 toasties and 2 teas. Couldn’t believe how bad the service was and the awful toasties that were burnt with practically no cheese. Felt ripped off. Only go here for coffee and cake.

Went on 27th December and the food was fine as it often is. But the ‘clean’ cutlery was as filthy as the look we got from the blonde lady we handed it back to! I have found the cutlery before to have dried food on and have seen people fish the cutlery out of the containers and leave them out on the side so I would have thought the message would have been received loud and clear by now!

Got a few plant pots but wanted some pet stuff which they didn't have. Only bird feed no domestic pet stuff for sale.

i have been a regular visitor to this Garden centre for many years now and must honestly say I have never had a bad meal there, it is freshly cooked and the service is always with a smile, and they don,t even have a plate for tips which they should have.

My husband has broken a bone in his foot. As this Garden Centre had wheelchairs thought we would go and have a look around! Then a coach load of people arrived, so we ended up in a queue for coffee for nearly half an hour! And the cafe knew the coach was coming for coffee!,

The afternoons teas, especially if on offer, are usually quite good so when we received the offer from Wyevale off we trotted. Not a welcoming greeting from the staff member who served us and we distinctly felt we were putting her out by ordering the full afternoon tea. Service was prompt though so that was pleasing. The selection was acceptable, however the scones were not. Plain heavy scones served with blackcurrant jam does not hit the mark in my book! We noticed that other full afternoon teas were being served fruited scones which looked much lighter and not so brick like so perhaps we were unfortunate. All in all it was ok, it won’t put us off but we will only have that on the offer which was 2 for £12.

The food is fine here and they are very welcoming to dogs...but the queue for food moves so very slowly. Today there were no trays available and one member of staff ambling around very slowly picking up the odd plate from tables. She really needed a rocket!! Shame.

No matter he time there’s something for uou scones are good meals are tasty 😋 staff friendly and efficient special prices for oldies very good place. You can book ahead too

Busy Sunday afternoon have a bite with the wife. Lots of people enjoying the patio area of the garden centre. Well kept clean and tidy with a warm friendly welcome. Salmon and leek quiche with new potatoes and salad. Cheese and tomato on brown bread. Both taste great.

We regularly visit Andover Garden Centre as we find it to be one of the best in the area. Excellent quality plants and exceptionally tasty fare in the Cafe. Special favourites are breakfast and fish & chips.

We arrived on Thursday at about 9.30am it wasn't that busy. We waited 40mins for two adults and one child's cooked breakfast. My partner then asked when the food is coming, another 10mins past but the lady did compensate with a free coffee.

Booked a Groupon Afternoon Tea deal (2 for £10)...excellent value at that but coffee tasted ‘stewed’ and tea was only like warm. Wouldn’t pay the full price for this.

We liked the coffee, had a nice freshly cooked cheese scone and enjoyed it, the cafe is convenient to visit while shopping in the garden centre.

Like the man ahead of us we arrived in time for the 11.30 breakfast cutoff deadline. We were all denied by a staff member who would have been a shoe-in for the East German security forces during the Cold War.

Ordered two jacket potatoes, one beans and cheese, one chilli and cheese. Although busy, it wasn't packed. But it took over 50 minutes for the food to come out. During this time, people who ordered after us, had their orders sent out first. When it did arrive, what a disappointment. If the chilli filled a desert spoon, I think I'd be generous. The plate was basically filled with the cheap parts, grated carrot, chopped onion, the smallest tomatoes I've ever seen. and cucumber shavings. When I queried this, I was told it's all portion controlled. TBH it's a tasteless joke, just like the food. But then, they don't really care about customer service.

Booked on line days before hand for me, my mum and my sister. Chose our dishes, so the staff knew days before hand, was 2 prawn cocktail, 1 soup,2 roast dinners, 1 cheese tart( not difficult; would think it was made before hand).

I went for lunch with my Mum today as we know other branches of Wyevale’s food is nice and fairly reasonably priced. Normally we look to have a nice time there but at this branch it was a different story...

A lovely place to sit a while, as looking round the garden centre and shops can inspire the need for a break before final purchases are made. The area is clean and easily accessed, with inside and outside areas depending on preference. Food is tasty, however can run out of some choices in busy seasonal times, alternatives are sometimes on offer, but really enjoyable otherwise

We thought it might be nice to have one of the "Valentine's afternoon teas" , so at 3.00 p.m we dutifully queued for our tea and cakes , loads of staff but very slow. Collected the pot of tea and table number and sat and waited for the cakes , and waited and waited .

Visited the café on wed 10th had a lovely coronation chicken & water cress sandwich plus coffee. Lovely Decided to call in again on Sat with my wife Oh were we very disappointed. we had coffee & tea whilst we waited for sandwiches, Coffee was luke warm, tea was very weak. We waited nearly 30 mins for the sandwiches although the café was nearly empty. About to go and chase when they arrived. Coronation & water cress turned into curry sauce with lettuce.!! no chicken to be found Cheese & spring onion sandwich turned into two types of cheese and virtually No onion. A bowl of chips were also luke warm. We mentioned this to a very young waitress who was very polite and apologised. All this cost £17 -55. Sorry WYDALE we will not be returning as the food was not value for money

I often have a jacket potato, gluten free soup or a gf cake. Service is generally quick and the food is flavoursome. They have a good choice of food from light snacks to a full meal and are reasonably priced. They have offers for the over 60s

Got here about 11.15 on a Thursday morning. No signs in restaurant for breakfast so we thought we were too late, but we asked Crissy and she said no problem. One full English and one bespoke breakfast ordered. Happy customers. When they arrived about 15 minutes later my wife and I were most surprised at the size of the meal. 2 large plates with loads on. Full English was bacon, egg, mountain of mushrooms, hash browns, 2 big sausages, beans, black pudding and 2 pieces of toast. Bespoke was just as much too. Excellent food, good service and good value. Well done.

called in for coffee/bfast today - needed to make some business calls

Come on guys 20 minutes to ladle soup into a bowl. Just not acceptable.

Decide to have breakfast prior to shopping here today, Saturday 21st at around 10 am. It was not busy and order 1 Americano, 1 latte with a shot of vanilla and a 10 item breakfast plus toast and jam for my partner, who wasn't very hungry. So in all not a hard order to fill.

We called in to the garden centre for a couple of bits and bobs and while we were there thought we would have a small snack for lunch

Having had a wander round the extensive displays of seasonal plants and flowers have a look around their extensive shop there is a lot on offer, then if you're feeling a tad peckish it's a great place for a generous serving from the cafeteria, I recommend it.

No recomendaría este lugar por las siguientes razones después de mi experiencia de hoy (4 de nosotros tuvimos una comida en el almuerzo):

Viajando desde el sur este de vuelta a Devon es una conveniente parada para una bebida y pastel. Era un día caluroso y el restaurante era una sauna. Las tartas eran cálidas, así les daba. Necesita tomar algunas medidas para enfriar las cosas. No nos visite de nuevo, pero no cuando está caliente

I have been here loads of times to meet friends for coffee. Service good, reasonable prices for tea / coffee

Stopped on route between meetings as I find garden centres generally pretty good at fresh lunches. Sadly Andover isn't one of them. Arrived at 2pm so not peak lunchtime and didn't get my food until 2-45PM. i had only ordered lasagne and salad it arrived so over cooked it was dry and hard at one end. The red hot lasagne bowl had been place on top of the cold salad so was now totally cooked and wilted. Everyone was waiting for food or missing dishes.

Great restaurant, try the fish and chips, you will not be sorry, lovely small restaurant serving very good quality food at a reasonable price

Beautiful sunny day and it was busy. Had to queue for a table but not long before we were seated.This is a popular venue. A garden centre plus with restaurant serving snacks , full meals and afternoon tea. The have a licence too.Mainly large posh sandwiches and fries but I went for a platter with a glass of Pinot Grigio on the side. Very nice and lots of it!Service efficient and table service and the waitresses were friendly and pleasant.Not especially cheap at £50 for 4 but it was nice. And the afternoon teas looked spectacular!

Garden ok staff polite, but coffee shop is very clean, food is very good cake is very good kids love it but staff don't seem to listen black coffee came to me white coffee and it does take ages for them to serve you weekend staff we think but slow as they were cake went down well, kids ate theirs before we could so must be nice.

The food is okay, most of the staff are okay, the tables are rather close together but okay - basically a bit ordinary but, well, okay

What immediately stood out about this restaurant was how friendly and helpful the staff were. We had the standard code and chips, which was very good and is reasonably priced.

good value standard Garden centre food. Service is very slow and was commented on by others. Polite staff though not exceptional.

We've visited the Restaurant twice in the last few weeks and both times the service as been awful. The first time they 'lost' our order for hot lunches and only after chasing them it arrived, over an hour later! The second time a similar thing happened although they denied it, and again the food took almost an hour to arrive, and even then it wasn't really edible - the chicken was extremely dry and overcooked, and the batter on the fish looked like it had been cooked and reheated several times it was so dark and hard. When we complained about the service and asked for a refund for the inedible food, the Manager was extremely rude and said that they didn't give refunds, and turned her back on us and walked away! We have subsequently complained to Wyevale's Head Office who have taken the matter up with the Manager, but she has been 'economical with the truth' in her response to them, stating that it was a very busy lunch period and all customers were told there would be a delay with their food. However, it wasn't at all busy that day and we were most definitely not told of any delay. I think someone is trying to cover it up rather than get into trouble for the appalling customer service. We shall never be returning again.

This place is so appalling the staff are rude and if I'm honest completely useless the manager is disgraceful and it's a no wonder the place is as it is, way over priced one pot of dairlea dunkers £2.50 half a tuna wrap on its own no additional salad£5 and for the wait I expect a lot better.. dirty cutlery near on every folk I picked up was dirty.. never again!!!

Went to use a groupon given to us for xmas.Afternoon tea was lovely. Cakes and scones were really good. Sandwiches could be a little more luxury!My only complaint would be that our tea and coffee was served striaght away so we had finished our drinks by the time afternoon tea arrived.

Came here on a Sunday with mu husband and 2 year old daughter. There was a fairly long queue at the cafe but I wasn't really expecting not to queue. It became apparent quite quickly that the staff were either very slow and inefficient or there should have been more staff on shift. We were told when we ordered our food that there was a minimum of 30 minute wait on all food orders - no reason given. We decided to wait as there were limited other food options of crisps, cake or biscuits. When our food did eventually arrive it was just ok. I had ordered a wrap which was supposed to have red pepper in it but there wasn't any. My husband has a cheese and ham toasty and my daughter had a cold cheese scone. It was all alright but the wait, the price and the average quality of food certainly won't encourage us back again.

My 5 year old attended the Halloween pumpkin carving activity which was was well organised and presented and which she enjoyed very much. I then went for a afternoon tea with my daughter and two of her grandparents. The food was tasty and appeared freshly made but service in the restaurant was frustratingly slow. There were several members of staff behind the counter but most of them seemed to be busying themselves without any obvious agenda and were not acknowledging customers or doing anything to manage the rapidly growing queue. I can recommend the groupon afternoon tea deal but would suggest redeeming elsewhere if you are in a hurry.

Visited for both garden plants and coffee with light snack, and gifts.Absolutely disgusting prices on plants!!! So expensive. But being the only specialist garden centre they have he monopoly and do double to triple the cost of even basic plants, let alone garden ornaments and gifts. We sat for coffee and plain chips on there own, it was not overly busy on a Friday afternoon. We waited over 45 minutes yes, over 45 minutes for three small plates of chips again disgusting.

Being disabled I sat in the coffee shop whilst my wife purchased items from the garden centre. We have been several times before and as usual started the visit with a drink. The coffee shop was poor because the time my wife waited to get 2 drinks was appallingly long. Whilst I sat there I noticed that although there were not a lot of people getting served it seemed to take forever to serve them. Don't bother visiting the coffee shop if you are in a hurry.

We like all Wyevale Garden Centres, this one is our closest, their prices are reasonable and stock levels are pretty good.

Very slow service. Very limited choice. No healthy options. Tasteless ham and cheese toastie with minimal filling. Limp and old salad garnish. Half a bowl of greedy scotch broth consisting almost entirely of pearl barley. With a coffee over £13. We were passing through so caught unawares but find it hard to understand why anyone who know has visited once would visit again!

I don't like to give poor reviews, but it was awful. I had Ham Egg and chips. The chips were burnt. My Girlfriend had Macaroni Cheese. The Garlic Bread was burnt and the pasta was really oily and lacking any flavour.All this with two drinks came to over £25 and for that kind of money I expect a lot more. Won't be going back anytime soon.

The breakfast here used to be superb. It has gone down rapidly. Bacon which was overcooked and obviously prepared well in advance. Sausage, more like half a sausage. A shrivelled up mushroom, half of a tomato, under cooked black pudding. To add insult to injury I said I didn't want the egg on fried bread could I have an extra slice of toast instead. What did I get a fried egg on a half slice of toast. Would not recommend at all and will not be planning a return visit any time soon.

Popped in for a coffee, big mistake! After queuing for 30mins finally get served. Staff are slow and to be perfectly honest untrained! They only seem to employ children who are left to figure everything out! Having worked in this industry all my life I'm appalled that a national garden centre finds this acceptable! The wait for food was 40mins God only knows why!!! I would never visit again!

We were visiting area and wanted to grab a quick lunch so called inThe restaurant/cafe is in the Wyevale Garden Centre which is a nice little garden centre - as you would expect from a WyevaleThe restaurant is nice and bright and has lots of seatingMenu includes sandwiches, soup, paninis, toasted sandwiches, cakes and afternoon teaThey have side orders including chips which is great for a treat with a sandwichThere are plenty of staff although service behind the counter ordering is very slowWe ordered a Wiltshire ham & cheese toastie, Tuna & cucumber sandwich and a side of chips with cup of tea and a waterThey were better than we expected from recent reviews

Service is very slow, so you need to allow plenty of time for your visit. Food ok, jacket potato could have been better.

It's been 2 years since my last review of this cafe.I gave it one start then so it has improved. I said two years ago it was OK for cake and coffee and that is what we went for, well tea and cake anyway. The cake was a bit "eggy" but OK. The milk shake was OK. We gave up waiting for the tea so had our money back - yet again. We don't really enjoy going here, food-wise.We go for a laugh. I can't believe they are still in business!

Came in today with my dad after being round the garden centre. We had an awful experience a few years ago, and I said 'no hot food then we won't have to complain!!!' So we decided we would do cake and a drink. As we arrived there was 3 slices of cake left.... On a whole table around 1pm you'd think they would have more available! I got a slice, My dad sat down and I went to the till point to order drinks, 3 members of staff behind the counter and took me a few mins to be acknowledged! I ordered a milkshake - at £3 and an 'ice cream' milkshake I expected a lot better!! A black tea (the poor young lad serving me didn't know what this was) and a Bakewell tart - which came with custard on it even though this wasn't described on the board behind the till(we didn't complain about this but just incase you don't like custard!) the boy looked at me blankly, asked a girl about it, then went behind the drinks area and asked another girl, then behind into the kitchen and didn't say a word to me I was just left there, he came back and said they didn't have any, I asked about a pineapple upside down/sticky toffee if they had those, he went away again. Another customer next to me said that it shouldn't be on the menu if it isn't in store! He then came back and said they did have bakewells, so I got my table card and went and sat down. My Victoria sponge tasted like egg, and was extremely wet and soggy!! Not a nice experience for £3 a slice!! My milkshake then came out - not impressed with that one either. I had finished all of mine (around 15 mins after I had got back to the table) the bakewell came out, which was actually hot and very nice! But no tea.... The bakewell was finished... No tea. So I took my reciept and again was ignored for a good few minutes with no one waiting or being served!! explained to the young lad, he responded 'sorry you can take it away' I explained I had to go so please could I have a refund, again he went out the doors without saying anything, came back and said the manager would be out in a minute, so I waited. She came out and 'apologies' were her only words. Bashed around on the till and then 'put your card in' came round to me to sign for my refund and that was it. Terrible food, terrible customer service and the delay you're better off ordering, walking round the whole of the garden centre and hoping it's ready when you return! Poor young employees need some better training, I have worked in a retail environment for years and leaving customers with no explanation, and not even acknowledging they are there is terrible. We won't be returning even for a cake now!

We thought we would give this restaurant another try as we had been for tea with the Easter Bunny and had been given food for our son which contained allergens. (See review on Garden Restaurant page, which is same restaurant) My husband and I ordered a cheese scone each and a drink and a milkshake for my daughter. The cheese scones were dry and tasted of flour and not cheese. On top of that we waited 25 mins for our daughters milkshake despite asking for it twice. By the time it arrived we had finished our scones and tea and our three year old was no longer interested. The milkshake itself was very runny and not like a thick milkshake we expected. We brought our boy with allergies a fruit shoot and packet of crisps as we knew they could not mess up packaged stuff.

This used to be a regular lunch stop if in the area. The food has always been good.My husband and I stopped for lunch yesterday. First disappointment was they had stopped doing the fab carvery sandwich. We both had a panini as the sandwich selection was fairly limited. The panini's were very bland. We found the service friendly and based on this we will probably go again. Hopefully it was just a bad Monday!!

Letztes Jahr waren wir nur im Gartenmarkt gewesen, diesmal auch im Lokal. Eine Enttäuschung, leider...Unfreundliche, lapsige Bedienung von mehreren jungen Leuten. Sandwiches alle nicht gut geschmiert (unappetitlich), Macarons- weit davon entfernt. Cafe dünn, bekam gleich den von meiner Frau hingeschoben....Preis total überteuert!Gartenmarkt immer gerne wieder, Cafe nein danke!

We had Groupon vouchers for afternoon tea and had booked in advance. At first our booking couldn't be found but we ended up having to share tea for four amongst 5.Service was appalling.........When the food eventually came, the sandwiches had started to dry and the fillings were somewhat uninteresting. The deal included unlimited tea to drink, but when we requested a second pot, it was merely refilled with hot water without additional teabags. So weak that we had to ask for more teabags. Staff were all very young, apart from the manager, and needed more supervision. However, they were always friendly and polite.

I am writing this review on behalf of a friend who does not have this app!We arrived at the cafe to find about 3 tables occupied, great we thought!We got to the till to order two lattes.My mother paid and went and got a table!I stood for 5 minutes before even being acknowledged, this shocked me, given there was 3 members of staff stood there!I was looked upon and asked what I was waiting for, and kindly explained my mother had ordered two lattes and I had been waiting for this!The girl went off, and noticed a young lad at the till point, BITING HIS NAILS!He then proceeded to serve a scone to another customer without washing his hands! SHOCKING!!!The girl re appeared with ONE DRINK, holding it by the rim of the mug, not the handle! YUK! I kindly explained that it wasUnhygienic to hand a customer their drink like this (as I work in a cafe myself) She looked shocked and scurried away to rectify the situation!I stood a further five minutes, and finally got what we ordered!The hair on 3 of the girls was tied loosely, and all very long!! To summarise, there seemed to be no management around, and was like a free frawl! Customer service extremely lacking, and will most certainly not be attending the cafe part again! Garden centre brilliant, cafe was dirty, and lots of untidied tables (was not busy and staff stood around)Customer service course perhaps?????

Enjoyed a lovely sit down with cups of tea and lovely homemade cakes. A lovely break after looking around the garden centre and with so many books to look at, spent more than I sjhould have,but had a lovely afternoon out

Very disappointed with this meal, the staff were rude, the tables, floor and glasses were dirty, the food took forever and they had run out of mostly everything! When asking the waitress to top up the jug of water as it wasn't fresh and clean, she was rude! The coffee and food was cold by the time it arrived to our table. Not happy and will not be returning.

I often meet friends at the Garden Centre for coffee and a chat. The food is fine, service OK, the cakes are nice but a bit expensive. I have a voucher for lunch so am going to try that tomorrow

Have been to better Garden Centres for Breakfast. Scrambled egg wasn't good and fried bread oozing fat... bad choice on my part, with stick to coffee and toast next time. (sorry)Staff very pleasant.

It took 35 minutes to get two over priced toasties today. There seemed to be plenty of staff needing some supervision. This was far too long, I doubt we will return.

Waited for a while for our food to come, when it did, it was good but didn't come with the correct food, asked for our toast we ordered and didn't arrive until after we had finished eating! Disappointing after hearing good things.

We went here for lunch today. The breakfast menu was out instead of lunch menu which lead to confusion. There were many unclear tables so not much choice where to sit. Were told a 20 minute minimum wait for food. Cutlery & water glasses & jugs did not appear clean. Staff working all appeared under age of 20 years & were not organised, in control of professional. Food arrived & was ok for all meals. However, garlic bread was buttered bread with lumps of garlic on, absolutely raw! Overall it was fine for a coffee but wouldn't go there to eat again or go out of my way to go there.

Very good sandwiches with plenty of fillingExcellent Scones, clotted cream and JamCappuccino was good

Great food reasonably priced - I love to eat here with friends or my husband for a quick lunch during the week or a treat at the weekend. Staff are friendly and helpful. Not as expensive as many garden centre cafes around.

I have been to this restaurant a few times and usually it has been ok on this occasion it was very disappointing. The food is ok but the service very poor. Without even telling us I overheard someone in the queue that the waiting time for food was going to be 30-40 minutes. Actually we waited for nearly an hour. Not only that there was only 2 people serving and one of the servers was actually taking food out and clearing tables leaving very frustrated customers. For me every time I have been in there there is usually only 2 behind the counter. On a very busy day there should be someone taking orders another making coffee and tea someone else clearing tables and someone bringing the food out. The service definitely needs sorting out

This is one of the Wyevale group so very similar to others in the chain but does have a lot of outlet shops attached such as Mountain Warehouse, Cotton Traders etc. The plants are laid out very well and are grouped by type so comparisons can be made. The main building has a good selection of things for garden and the home with a pets section as well. One complaint the book section has now shrunk to about half a dozen books on a table! The cafe has been extended with more seats but not used on this occasion though no complaints in the past. Car parking is adequate and an overflow area for busy times is available.

Very good variety of shops as well the garden centre and restaurant which serves good food and really good helpful staff.

I was not impressed with the service today. I eat at the garden centre very often and have never had a less then perfect experience but on this occasion they wouldn't make a chicken, bacon and mozzarella panini (they had no paninis), they always make me this, so I ordered me and my family 3 bacon sandwiches, I was told they had no bloomer bread and that normal bread was going to be used, I was slightly annoyed as no reduction in price was given and the sandwiches were stale when brought out. The cost was nearly £13 for 3 stale bacon sandwiches...To pay I had to wait nearly 10 minutes as the vouchers I had wouldn't go through the till and 4 staff members later it worked. I ordered 2 mugs of tea and was brought 2 cups of tea, but no milk or spoons. It was not a pleasant visit and it put me off buying anything in the garden centre.

My mother and sister in laws rave about this place, so decided to try it myself. I was pleasantly surprised. I had Fish and chips, mushy peas and homemade tartare sauce, yummy. The wife had the burger with a side salad, looked huge, it was it defeated her and the mother in law had the fried cod salad.It was big but she managed to polish it off. Price was reasonable too, service a little chaotic, but we had plenty of time so it didn't really matter.

Greatly disappointed with our trip on a weekday for lunch, wrong menu was displayed for the special that was on offer so very confused when we got to the till to order food, we had to re choose, the sandwich I received was not what I expected, I asked for cheese and onion, what I was given was a sandwich that had been thrown together cheese slices and 3 small pieces of onion,0I left the whole thing and have to say I have had better from burger vans at the side of the road for half the price, the prices have escalated over the last 2 years at this cafe unfortunately the quality and service has been left behind

While on route to Bath we needed a quick coffee break and went into the café at this garden centre. The food was very fresh, bread was great and they had a really great selection of cakes and biscuits. Coffee was very good too and staff friendly and attentive. I was surprised as hadn't really expected to get this level or quality at a garden centre !

We took our two granddaughters to the Easter bunny breakfast which we all enjoyed a lot. The breakfast was good - good quality sausages which is always a good sign. The children loved the food. They also had a biscuit making kit and a small Lindt bunny. The staff were great including the hostess in the Easter dress and of course the Easter bunny who was excellent ! The kids loved it. Then at the end they also got a small stuffed toy. Overall very good and recommended.

I like the open space and the range of foods. It is a great place to take your friend for a chat, a break from the house and a cup of tea.

Saturday morning 1000 hrs. Four in queue so ordered breakfast. 10-15 minutes later it arrived at our table and was brilliant. No more needs saying.

I often visit the restaurant at The Andover Garden Centre, where I meet up with friends usually for a cup of coffee and a piece of their lovely delicious cake. The prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is nice. The only problem is the service, which is painfully slow. Quite often there is only one person actually serving whilst other staff appear to be drifting about not particularly doing anything. The queue in there today was very long, and I must have been waiting for over 20 minutes.

It was very busy and there didn't seem to be enough staff to take the orders. I ordered the Steak and Mushroom pie. It was served with deep fried kale, which was most odd and very fatty. The base of the pie was overcooked to the extent of being close to burnt and the gravy had a strange after-taste to it. Won't be going there again.