Bell Plantation Cafe in South Northamptonshire

I am sure the breakfast ingredients were good quality, but even my local greasy spoon knows not to serve breakfast on a cold plate, and it is this reason they got only 3 stars on the food rating, on the plus side the are friendly & welcoming

Had an amazing afternoon tea yesterday, the best I have ever had! Real good quality food fresh and warm. DEVINE! We had the Christmas one it really was amazing. Will go back.

Lovely place to visit, staff are super friendly and helpful which makes the visit all the better, Christmas market is definitely a great experience and atmosphere. Food is Okay but if you visit too late don't expect to get what you want on the menu.

Really excellent cafe, super quality food and drinks available. Very friendly and helpful staff.

Lovely food, excellent service and great staff

For me it is a victim of its success, Absolutely great food, little bit top end with price but not complaining. But can end up getting rammed,staff, getting stressed and loosing the atmosphere. If it was a chain pub,no comment but when you are aiming above that market it lets it down, pity.

Visited on Sunday, unable to order food outside. can't find wifi details required to be able to order food. went to cafe, cannot login onto wifi yet again, 5G Running on phones, slow and still cannot order food. Eventually got seated. 45mins wait for a cheese baguette. 2.95 for a can of Diet Coke. 2.65 for a small bottle of water. Not the experience we hoped for to be honest. Stated to a young lady that we were not made aware of 45 delay for a baguette. young man offered no apology and didn't really seem to care that much. Overall, not impressed.

So disappointed in the food today. We have been quite often and have always found the food to be fantastic we just can not understand what has happened. It starts with wait here to be seated ! I lady standing at the other end of the cafe beckoning us and pointing to a table is not very welcoming at all not even a smile nothing welcoming there at all. We ordered our food through the app which is great . We were told that there was a 20 minute wait for food, we didn't mind it's always been worth the wait........not this time after 30 mins our drinks arrived my hot chocolate had been spilt and was all down the sides of the glass it didn't taste like drinking chocolate it was more cocoa made with water not very nice at all ......then the food arrived the salad leaves with the baguette were limp and soggy the the rest was ok I suppose. I had cheese scone which are usually so nice not today very stodgy and greasy I am sure that it had been heated in the microwave as it was quite rubbery 10 mins later our cheesy chips arrived the smallest portion I have seen tasted awful and quite hard these also seem to have been microwaved we were now 90 mins in and had still not had our cakes served. At this point I managed to get the attention of the lady that was seating people and requested a refund for the chips because they tasted nasty and were like rubber. All she said was *Well don't you want some more ? " I said no thank you we are still waiting for our cakes .. . She then snapped well you will have to follow me to the counter if you want a refund... May I add I am disabled in a wheelchair it was very busy and quite difficult to get around so I stayed at our table the last came back and I tried to get her attention twice by saying excuse me and she just looked at this point my husband went to the counter to see where our cakes had got too after 15 mins he was told that they could not find the order for the cakes so he asked for a refund for the cakes and the chips. Two and a half hours now we had been in the cafe. The lady that seats the customers is actually quite rude... She waved some customers down and had not spoken to them at all they started to get more chairs as there were 11 people she snapped oh are you all together? You never said and there is no where else to put you....there is a 30 mins wait for food one of the ladies said that's ok we only want cake and a coffee her reply was still a 30 mins wait as cake is still food ! We left at that point. I think it will be quite a while before we go back. Not even an apology for us at all.

A lovely part of the plantation and has a good playarea next door for families where you can eat and drink in whilst the kids play. Not too big or small. Great service and staff and the food is good we will be back. Lots of things around from gardening, pets, reptile centre? Clothes etc. Worth a visit

First time visiting Bell Plantation. The fish was hard and overcooked, the chips were also rock hard as well. Will not be visiting nor eating there again

Quite expensive. Coffee nice. Table sticky. Needs a proper scrub rather than a wipe over. Cake ok but dry.

We had jacket potato for our lunch as before. It was ok but could be better and the presentation was messy. We ordered on the App and the waitress bought the wrong order. Instead of an apology we were told "mistakes happen". Absolutely appalling attitude. We won't rush back.

Used to be so good! I keep giving the cafe the benefit of the doubt but after the 4th time I give up. The egg and cress sandwich does not have cress in it. The granary bread was dry and turned up at the edges. Time before that the bacon and Brie baguette looked like the bacon had been cooked on the radiator! It’s expensive which is ok if the quality justifies the price but it just doesn’t. Salad brown at the edges. Won’t be eating here again sadly.

Had high tea in cafe for my birthday , food not to my taste.

First visit on a Monday so some of the adjacent shops weren't open. Plenty of parking and area accessible fir wheelchairs etc. The cafe area was very light, bright and clean. Staff were lovely and the food arrived swiftly, hot and fresh. The garden centre was well looked after ie no racks of wilting bedding plants! Most impressive were the chickens! I've never seen so many breeds and the staff were very caring towards the chickens. There's even a hatchery! Very worth the visit

Love this place especially at xmas and food is great and fair priced table service is lovely and there always happy to help

• Excellent customer service • Perfect atmosphere • Great coffee!

Eggs overcooked. Bacon undercooked. Muffins harder than iron. And zero personality from the staff. With the exception of the guy on the till. The menus are plastic. Which I can only assume (appropriately so) is so they can be wiped clean. So how are they covered in food from the previous day. Tables are sticky. Rarely do I review like this. But the basics are missing.

Increasingly improving location. Food not amazing but they are catering for a lot of people at once. A touch of imagination wouldn't go amiss. The poultry fir sale are incredibly clean and well looked after and generally all the shops are good.

It is a pet-friendly space and always the best to share afternoon tea.

Found restaurant very noisy as its has an echo to it

Plenty of clean tables, but we did sit out on the terrace par and it was mid afternoon, so not sure what it would've been like at lunchtime. Tried to download the app so we didn't have to leave our table to go in and get our food and drink, but it was very long winded, so gave up! Good was tasty, although a bit expensive. Definitely a treat rather than a regular occurrence.

Not cheap but quite a nice place.

Great place to eat, drink and shop. Can even take your dog and get your car cleaned.

Went for a quick coffee with 3 others. After spending ten minutes trying to order on the app I realised the menu and app don’t necessarily match. When I then queued to order and mentioned it, I was told not to worry! I had cream tea. Scones weren’t great and were so hot the clotted cream just melted. Not great!

A joke. Tried to order breakfast at 11am and they refused us. Inflexible slaves to the silly times on their app.

Firstly the components of the afternoon tea were superb, loved the doorstep size finger sandwiches and the fillings although standard fare were of top quality and tasty. Quiche and sausage roll slices very good. Scones excellent and 2 cakes each alongside very nice. I'm marking down, maybe being picky but when paying 19.95 a head I'd expect a free tea/coffee refill? As it was my friend and I were given a not overly large pot of tea to share and any extra we had to pay for. Also, when we asked for sugar we were pointed over to the tray to collect. Just something such as small as a pot of sugar sachets on the table would have been better service. I asked for takeaway boxes for the cakes as we were pleasantly full & they were provided but slapped down on the table which was not great service tbh. I would return to eat, all the food coming out looked tasty. Am I being unreasonable to expect a refill of beverage for the nigh on £40 spent for 2 afternoon teas? We were approached once by a server to ask if all was ok and not again to even ask if we wanted to buy more drinks. I've had lots of Afternoon Teas, this one was only let down by the comments above.

You could go here for the day . Plenty to see art and craft . Really good garden centre.Nice restaurant.Staff very polite and helpful .

Nice place to go if visiting garden centre. Spacious. Family friendly.

The afternoon tea is very much overpriced for what it is. The scone was rather stale, as well as the savoury pastries. The sandwiches were fine. When considering the price of £30 a head, it is very much overpriced. Presentation is lack lustre and effort made on the food is minimal, considering the price. The limit of one pot of tea between two, paying £60, is almost laughable. They offered to refill our pot with hot water. So we had a second pot of weak tea. How much is a teabag? The service is ok. Overall, nothing special. Looking locally elsewhere for a more satisfying afternoon tea is advisable.

Took the family for breakfast on a Sunday morning. We all had something different and it was all really amazing. Service was great and really quick considering their was 8 of us.

Been a few times now really good experience food in the restaurant was really good, look forward to going again

We visited for afternoon tea which you pay for prior to arrival when booking. On arrival it was very busy there was nobody to seat us so I asked a member of staff and was led to a reserved table. The drinks were ordered quickly however when asking where sugar was the waitress waved her hand in a general direction and said oh back there. The afternoon tea came quickly and looks impressive. It was nice an assortment of sandwiches, sausage roll, quiche, scone and two cakes, crisps. Nothing was amazing but it was nice enough. What let it down was the lack of service. Nobody came to check if we needed another drink or anything. When we finished we asked to box some up and were just left with the boxes. So we just left without a goodbye. A more attentive service would go a long way. Everyone seemed pleasant but it was simply average.

Love this garden centre, great staff, lovely place to walk round,and food is good. We go regularly.

Lovely place everything was well organised would go again.

Chicken was a little dry & whole meal not very warm.

Could have been a lot better if only we could have ordered food. The kitchen shuts 11 - 11:30 and no orders can be taken for meals. But plenty of parking and some very interesting shops in the same area. Go look at the chickens!

What an absolute joke! I just tried to purchase a gift voucher for an afternoon tea. The website CLEARLY advertises these vouchers and states "please visit us at the cafe to purchase a voucher". I went to the cafe (25mins drive away) and qued for a long time only to be told the cafe does not sell vouchers, they're sold at the front tills. I go to the front tills to be told they're sold in the cafe. I explained they sent me here. The manager is then called to say they don't sell the vouchers in store and it needs to be bought online. You cannot buy a gift voucher online. I looked and could only see actual bookings for a specific time and date can be booked online. Why are you advertising gift vouchers on the website and advising people to visit you in store if this is a product you don't even sell?! Very embarrassing and unprofessional that none of the staff or manager are even aware of their own products and waste people's time. Will purchase a voucher elsewhere.

Afternoon tea brilliant, very welcoming

Lovely afternoon tea. Plenty to go round and to take home

I've been to Bells for afternoon tea twice in the last 2 weeks. I love it. My only comment would be scones are a little hard/over baked as are the small quiches, but still delicious.

Booked this for my daughter’s birthday. We were there today 2/5/24 . Wow, what a treat. The food was fabulous. I had the vegetarian option but do eat fish for which they catered for. So a tuna and cucumber sandwich, a brie and chutney , an egg mayonnaise and a beetroot and hummus wrap. The bread was lovely and fresh. A vegetarian sausage roll slice which was very nice. Half a pie ,which we decided was feta cheese and sun-dried tomato. I actually looked in the food hall on the way out to buy both these as they were so good . A large bowl of potato crisps. A freshly baked sultana scone still warm from the oven and filled with sultanas and really buttery. A biscoff cake and a huge chocolate brownie. The most enormous bowl of clotted cream and strawberry jam for the scones. The wrap and all the cakes we had to take home with us. We just could not eat it all. A pot of tea for 2 is included. If you want more tea there is a charge for this. I think you definitely need an extra pot and i would rather see the extra pot included but still feel this delightful tea is incredibly good value for money . A friend and i take afternoon tea about half a dozen times a year so feel we are quite the experts and i have to say this is the best i have had. Nice ambience in the cafe , clean and tidy and very nice staff . Couldn't have asked for better. Highly recommended and i will definitely be returning.

We visited the garden centre and cafe with visiting family for a drink and cake. All the cakes were excellent: from Victoria sponge to walnut cake to chocolate brownie. The hot chocolate was very good too.

Lovely coffee plenty to see there as well.

Great food, but understandably a little slow on a busy Saturday lunchtime. Dog friendly. We hadn’t booked but got a table ok.

Absolute gem of a place, breakfast was 10 out of 10. Served with a smile as well.

Breakfast was fantastic 😋 a bit expensive but very good.

We love this place. All the team are friendly and the soft play is great. You can sit and chat whilst your little one explores the soft play. You can also order food and drinks. I have also visited the restaurant for afternoon tea for 2 and it was amazing. Generous portions. Good quality food. Relaxed atmosphere. Shop is also good and has high end products for those that have a few bob in the bank.

Good quality breakfast and nice restaurant area. Really enjoyed it and will come back again.

Plants, chickens, ducks, peacocks, did l mention coffee? Oh and food? Friendly helpful staff. Also outlets, marvelous, reptiles, footwear, can't count them all!

Excellent, prompt and cheerful service from Jenna and co! The food was delicious, as was my Flat White! The decor and atmosphere were excellent and it was busy, but very pleasant. Thank you!

Cheese scones 10/10, coffee strong and tasty. Whole centre is a good visit with easy access. Will come again and again especially shoe shopping

Great afternoon tea - huge board very generous portions

Just terrible, super processed kids menu, bad chips, mouldy carrots in the halloumi wrap . Strange ordering system.

Sadly our drinks had to go back to heat up (hot chocolate and a latte) the GF cake options were either brownie (always a brownie) or scone 🤷🏻‍♀️ The tea cake was like a cinnamon flavoured roll (no fruit) and it had been cut and toasted in a way the top section (can’t call it half) was rock solid. To be fair the waitress did offer to go speak with the kitchen when I queried if it was even a tea cake? But said not to bother as already felt meh over our visit. And the drinks came back not much hotter. We ended up leaving half the ‘tea cake’ and the GF scone didn’t do well either with over half left again . Shame Just about to post this and a staff member (Adel) came over and offered full refund as not acceptable 🤷🏻‍♀️got wind not happy.

Excellent food quality and quantity

Is my favorite garden center has everything in on place

Lovely Sunday lunch with my Mum Cafe is lovely and staff are great

The Bell Plantation Café near Towcester is a delightful find nestled within a garden centre. Its pleasant ambiance makes it a perfect spot to relax. I highly recommend indulging in their cream tea; it not only lives up to expectations but also adds a sweet touch to your visit. The combination of a charming setting and a delightful cream tea makes this cafe a must-visit for those seeking a tranquil and tasteful experience.

Good priced food and enjoyable food. Well portioned and timely service.

I've never had to return a breakfast until today, 4 of us went for breakfast, they brought out 4 cups for tea, 3 of them were dirty so had to be changed 45 minutes later the breakfast arrived, cold toast, lukewarm beans, inedible sausages and rock hard poached eggs We were given a refund but i would have preferred a decent breakfast The biggest disappointment for me is the total lack of attention to detail, surely someone must notice dirty cups and as for the food, I don't know who they have working in the kitchen but they must have the ability to recognise when food is acceptable or not, its absolutely ridiculous that they serve food as bad as this

Garden centre with additional outlets. Large parking area. Indoor & outdoor areas full of plants. Pleasant spacious restaurant with wide range of snacks & meals as well as seasonal special dishes.

This place has become absolutely a nightmare. It’s become too big which is good for Towcester but they need to improve their customer service! It has become too expensive for what you get. I visit at least twice a week and minimum spend for me is £40/£45 for lunch for 3 people each time. The food is nothing special anymore. The staff keeps forgetting to bring the full order because they can’t keep up with how busy it gets, even when you have asked for the rest of the order a few times you still have to go back to the till and ask for it yourself, again! This has happened too many times now. I will fondly remember the old small bell plantation with delicious food and nice staff. This place is too commercialised now….

Afternoon tea at the bell plantation is absolutely amazing. We visited today and we were very impressed with the quality of the food. Sandwiches were made using excellent quality ingredients ( mustard seeds coated ham was delicious) . It appears that everything is made on the side from sausage rolls, scones to beetroot falafel. Service was excellent nothing to much of a problem. It was a lovely visit great food and professional service. Highly recommend. It is also great value for money!

Regular breakfast eater. Of late, the sausages and bacon have been very dry and tough to eat. Am I right in thinking you precook certain items to speed up service now? Otherwise a great venue, coffee good, but worried that the breakfast is not as good as it was.

Sitting at the table we were expected to order food via our mobile phones. I hate that! So unnecessary. But luckily we found a friendly waitress.

We often stop here to break our long journey north to Yorkshire. It's a chance to stretch our legs and enjoy a great cup of coffee and good food in pleasant surroundings. I can thoroughly recommend the Maple and Pecan scones from the 'Summer Menu'. They were served warm with butter and maple syrup. I hope they make them a permanent item on the menu all year round as they are absolutely delicious and excellent value!

Very enjoyable day, with soft play for my grandson and afternoon tea for us.

Visited Saturday 26th August. Went to counter to order. Told 40 min wait, even for a sandwich. Left

Unusually for this venue, the Sunday Plantation breakfast was below par. I asked for my fried egg to be well-done, which it was, but so was the bacon to a point it was inedible. The toast surface had a small brown patch on its white sides where it had been briefly shown some heat. At £13 one expects better and hopefully this was just a one-off.

Lovely garden centre with good staff, great cafe to enjoy a good quality coffee

Drinks were served promply but there was quite a wait for the baguettes. When they did arrive the cole slaw and rocket on the side had been heated and was inedible. When we complained we were told it was because the plates were hot but it looked very like it had been heated from above. Quite pricey for what it was.

Wonderful garden centre, staff so friendly and helpful will definitely be going back 😀 👍

Lovely atmosphere and great customer service. Food and coffee great

Good food and super garden centre with lots of additional gifts and other shops

Like to go here as has a nice atmosphere with a relaxed service and tasty coffee! But food however has become bland and tasteless, my quiche had no seasoning and no hint of goats cheese as it suggested, as a foodie I am disappointed. Chips were the highlight and very tasty. Overpriced for standard of food as ‘salad’ on partners dish was one sad bit of lettuce with spoon of coleslaw on top ! Haven’t tried the breakfast or cakes here, could be a better option rather than lunch!

Really enjoyed my visit to Bell Plantation.Lots to look at in the shops...I especially enjoyed the antique shop which seemed well organised and attractively displayed. I also enjoyed my coffee but unfortunately my gluten free scone was under baked so still had a dough consistency in the middle. However I will definitely visit again.

lovely experience with family, very pleasant visit

Nice venue. Can't comment on service as ordered via QR code. Food slightly underwhelming.

It's OK when they have your choice from the menu, which they did not when I went. I also will not place orders through an app!

Very nice meal 5stars very helpful staff . Go back yes .

Need to update the menu, very expensive for what you get 😔 Plus the soup I had was such a small amount for the price & it said it came with crusty bread, and I just came with a couple of slices of supermarket bread, don't get me started on the presentation!

Lovely place, good food, friendly service

Excellent stop over for refreshments

Excellent surroundings staff extremely pleasant , pity fighting off the sparrow's as your trying to eat .Beautiful garden centre.

The food we ordered was extremely over cooked.

Served really quickly and food was excellent including the vegetarian option.

Been here twice now, no complaints at all, friendly service, great food, nice place to shop too.

I have been to the cafe many times and once again this weekend we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. The staff are always friendly and the food was great, I had the goats cheese toastie my partner opted for a toasted wrap, both delicious and well presented. We will be back for afternoon tea in the next few weeks.

We went for breakfast on a Sunday while staying nearby and were waiting tin the car park for it to open and when it did it was like a gun going off, everybody hurrying through for breakfast at this lovely cafe. The food was nice & fresh, plenty of choice and served at your table.

Ended up here by complete accident (long story...) having not visited for more than a year or so. Wow it’s changed. All for the better and as popular as ever. Major refurbishment has enhanced the entire site. The café area has been extended too. Go on treat yourself

Took my elderly mother to Bell Plantation as a treat. We sat in the lovely glass house. I went to place our order for lunch, at 1145am, but read that they do not take food orders between 11.30 and 12.00.

So have continued to delight in breakfasts throughout the last 12 months plus some lunches and a couple of cream teas. On the whole excellent both in terms of food and the service, the team really try hard which is appreciated. Jools has recently returned to the team which is excellent too. A couple of not so goods, you need to ask for your coffee to be 'very hot' otherwise it can be tepid, catering team struggle to deliver a soft poached egg, always hard even though asked to be soft. That aside, another excellent year of breakfasts!!!

Bought another chicken from here, third purchase now Healthy hens, great advice Faultless customer service Will highly recommend Thank you

Staff are very welcoming, thanks to Jules and Tracey for making our lunchtime special. Food was extremely well presented and tasty. Particularly like to have a wander around the garden/poultry centre afterwards. Well done to you all.

We visit on a very regular basis for lunches. The food is always great and the staff are very friendly and approachable and the service always good.

We were looking for somewhere for breakfast on a cold and rainy morning and found this place via google. Very happy we did :)

I visit this cafe on a regular basis and find the staff very helpful bd attentive always happy and smiling. The food yqs always been served quickly and of good quality and value

I’ve been coming here over a year at least twice a week and can never ever fault it. Amazing staff very friendly and exellent service and would definitely recommend to other for a nice lunch or afternoon tea. In a exellent area and there is also a garden centre to look around if wanted.

We used to use this place regularly until they had a new cook didn't like the way it was run so stopped going.