Brambles Coffee Shop in County Durham

Visited after 4 yrs today and was very impressed with the extended seating etc but there is no point in having numerous tables when there was obviously a shortage of staff. We waited 45 mins for our and beans. Others were returning to the till asking why they were waiting so long too. Perhaps hadcwe just had a scone and coffee it would have been lovely but waiting so long for hot food was very poor service Very disappointed overall.

Fantastic garden centre with coffee shop attached. Beautifully maintained. Prices reasonable very nice outside seating as well. Lots of tables

Great staff great experience 👍🏻

Went for lunch, the mince pie had hardly any meat and a thick crust that although you could tell it had been heated in a microwave, was still hard. The chips were hard and hardly cooked. My Granddaughter had corned beef pie…tasteless.

Been here twice now, I will never order food from the kitchen again. Each time over half an hour wait. Off the counter food is OK and immediately available, so will be coffee and cake only from now on.

Ordered a soy hot chocolate and a skinny latte. A watery chocolate thing and a horrible soy latte was received. Horrible

Absolutely lovely experience at Brambles Coffee Shop. Staff absolutely lovely. Really happy with my family visit ☕️ 🧁 xx

Have been twice recently at lunchtime yesterday was latest ordered drinks and food told food would be 50minutes previous time food took 1 hour not good enough won't be having lunch again

This place offers poor customer service. There was a one-hour delay on food, yet no discount was offered for just quiche, which they were able to offer straight away. Hot chocolate was dreadful!

Excellent breakfast thoroughly enjoyed

I visit this garden centre once a week as it has an excellent Cafe ! Though the Wi Fi access could be greatly Improved 👨‍💻 ……….🤷🏼‍♂️

Always a pleasant visit here..friendly staff and lovely offerings...thank you

Food was lovely but the wait for hot food was unacceptable. We ate in the morning when it was quiet. I would hate to think what the wait would be during busy times

The whole family love to come here for food, gorgeous food, lovely menu selection, friendly staff and lovely decor.

Good food Nice atmosphere 20 min wait for food but that was OK as food made fresh

I'm just a pot of tea person so any comments here are reserved for the very promising customer service skills of a young girl who was working quickly and efficiently behind the counter this afternoon. It was a case of quickly until I engaged her in a little too much conversation causing a queue to start building behind me. Firstly I'm really glad that Amanda told me that your name was ERYN. I'd only come across an Erin before and thought this might be one of those trendy variations of it ... Not so ! ..... its a lovely Gaelic variation of " IRELAND " You see Eryn , I can type to my heart's content and nobody's going to tell me off for it !! ..... Joking aside , your manager had every right to say something to you when I engaged you in chat about cash payments. There's a fine dividing line between having good customer service and being business - like. It turns out I liked the way your manager ( sorry no name for you today! ) just offered a quiet word without embarrassing you at all. Amanda said all the staff at the Brambles coffee shop are lovely and I have no reason to argue with her ! .... I saw one of your colleagues the other day hurriedly eating a pot noodle chatting to a customer (lunch break ?! ) I thought to myself then , they must save all the good stuff for the customers !. We are coming to the end of this review shortly but I must mention there's probably only you and me Eryn who saw that delicious slice of cake slip from your tongs and dive - bomb into the counter tier below ! Naturally you were taken aback but impressively unphased. I was amazed that you not only served the customer a fresh slice but carefully retrieved the injured one and put it aside ( not thrown out btw ) This was quick thinking under pressure .... well done 👏 Let's hope one of your deserving colleagues scoffs it at closing time as it was still perfectly edible. I reckon that , despite you being a young person you are a considerable asset to the smooth running of the shop already .... Its not beyond the realms of possibility that you may become a manager one day yourself and then you'll be giving instead of receiving a quiet word. Ps ... you have a ready smile and outward going personalty which always helps ! Best wishes Mr ELLIS COXON.

Always enjoy our visits to Brambles

Afternoon Tea today. A birthday present bought for me in August. Took my sister as my plus one. It didn’t disappoint. Absolutely delicious and what I really liked was that there were plenty of savouries as well as cakes. It was all simply delicious. And as much tea as you could drink. We also had a glass of Prosecco which was very nice. Far too much to eat at the time so we brought the leftovers home in boxes to enjoy later. Lovely friendly service too. Would highly recommend a visit.

Attended a baby shower here. Lovely venue & food was delicious We had Afternoon Tea. Lots of filter coffee or tea provided.

Order placed, two toasties a coffee and a tea. Drinks served straight away, and sipped slowly until they were gone well before toasties arrived; they seemed to take forever. Before being served, a gentle enquiry with one of the staff resulted in ‘the manager’ appearing to apologise and advise my wife and I that service can take up to half an hour; however we could not find any reference to this anywhere. It went over my head to some extent as I was fixated at the state of the managers uniform, …….. variety of stains not a pleasant sight. Shan’t be back in a hurry.

Very busy, but very atmospheric with some scenic walks locally.

A 50min wait for hot food is not good. The cold food is very good ⁹

My wife and I called into Brambles Cafe at approx 2.00pm on a Sunday. It was pretty quiet having approx half the tables occupied. I went to counter to order, the staff member asked what’s my table number. I said I didn’t see a table number and asked where it was located, she replied in a grumpy voice “MMMMM LET ME THINK, TRY LOOKING ON THE TABLE” she was quite patronising! After checking again I returned to order our food, there was another customer in front of me and was asking where his toasted tea cake was after ordering it nearly one hour ago. The counter assistant then asked me what I wanted, I asked for two toasties which she replied, “I CANT TELL YOU HOW LONG IT WILL BE TO ARRIVE, MAYBE 15 MINS TO ONE HOUR”. At this point we left without ordering, this place used to be a nice please, but the staff now are so miserable and look as though they haven’t a clue what they are doing. I’ll seriously give this place 6 months and it will be shut. A shame really!

Only just discovered this place as it was recommended by a neighbour. We are a sucker for a Garden Center with a coffee shop so decided to go check it out. Plenty of parking and easy to get to. The Sports village is just down the road so if your dropping younger ones off for training this is ideal to go and treat yourself instead of sitting on the side lines as usual. Located within the Garden Centre itself there is plenty of seating inside and out depending on the weather. Good choice of food on offer from meals to scones and cakes depending on your appetite. The food we had was lovely and the pot of tea seemed to go on for ever. Good value for money compared to similar venues and will certainly be going back to try out more from the menu. Take out also seems to be an option if you like the looks of their massive Peach Melba but don't have time to sit in. Highly recommended if you are in the area or just passing through.

What is happening here? Been going for years but the last twice hasn't been a good experience at all. Two rooms open but not nearly full at 1.30. A few hardy souls outside. Told by a very disgruntled assistant that it would be an hour to wait for food. Even a toasted teacake because orders go in by the tab. One of our party ordered tea but asked could it be served up with her food. The food came after 40 mins(less than an hour actually) but when the staff were reminded about the tea it was brought out and plonked on the table as though it was too much trouble. Service with a smile doesn't happen now. Brambles you need to improve or you are going to lose your regular customers

Nice variety, lovely cake and tea, pleasant surroundings.

I wanted to take my husband somewhere nice for his breakfast, due to his mobility problem and hasn't left the house for 18 months . I chose Brambles because I needed some plants.I was amazed I have never been in such a nice coffee shop the whole experience exceeded my expectations I couldn't rate them high enough.big thank you to all the staff.

Very good food and a reasonable price.

Immer wieder gerne, wenn wir in Durham sind, kehren wir immer für einen Snack hier ein. Alles schmeckt hervorragend. Service top. Wir kommen nächstes Jahr wieder.

Just had a full English and it was divine <333 will be getting another one

Lovely food, friendly staff, but their prices have shot up, £5.99 for beans on toast?!

Often meet friends here for a coffee- not tea as don't know whether it's the water or tea pots but tastes strange. Always busy no matter what time you go. Was going to have a meal last time but told there'd be a 45 minute wait for food!! Cakes are delicious. Big main cafe then slightly smaller one behind with outside seating too. Toilets in both areas. Large carpark for cafe and garden centre/shop.

Food was OK there was 3 of us cheese toaste chicken rap and pork butty and 3 light drinks total cost of these snacks was 33 pounds there was more salad then pork same with the rap the drunks of coke was nice we waited 45 mins to be told before we got our snacks we only had 30 mins left to eat so I asked if we did not wait 45 mins for snacks we would all ready be gone

40-minute wait for food is ridiculous, a private event next door should not interfere with the standard cafe service. Even then, we chose items from the counter that were served COLD. This is not the service I expected from Brambles. Really disappointing 😞

Really nice, quite large inside (sits about 80 people). Lots of amazing cakes, delicious snacks and lovely home cooked main meals. Staff were plentiful and very friendly

Great full English breakfast. Bacon a little over done today, normally spot on.

Very slow service waited 25 mins for a slice of microwaved pie, which was soggy.

The cafe shop here is amazing from full english to toast

Called for breakfast this morning lovely food and best coffee for a long time.

It’s a lovely space and a big coffee tea shop… but I would make some changes if I were the owners ..awful little cup and saucers tea is Ringtons just so ordinary and no flavour had chocolate cake and again so ordinary for 4:80 … It’s local to me and a pity it could be special ,,,,

Staff is not very pleasant, and service is very slow

Tucked away in a lovely garden centre, an incredibly busy wee cafe with a lovely atmosphere, amazing food, good service, good prices, clean toilets, plenty parking and reasonable access. I will definitely come back. It was a chance find today, bt now I know it's there, I will be back for sure.

Poor today their hot beef sandwich present bun & meat on a tea plate

Had the Gardeners Afternoon Tea today and it was absolutely gorgeous. A lovely selection of sandwiches, savouries, scones and cakes. Everything tasted devine. The first afternoon tea I've had that there was so much I had to bring some home and ate later! The staff including James and Deborah ( sorry didnt catch all the staff names) were very welcoming and friendly. I would definitely come back.

Staff were friendly and food was ok. There was quite a long wait because of how busy it was. Food was hot although the Welsh rarebit toast was slightly overdone. Good selection of food and drinks. Tables are very close together and it did feel a little cramped

Plenty of on site parking. Wonderful selection of cakes, treats. Service can be slow especially when busy.

All homemade food we had afternoon tea gorgeous at £18each good value garden centre and shop well worth a look

Lovely café with excellent choice of food. Does great coffee.

Food delicious. Don't think dishwasher working properly as cutlery not v clean. However when I told staff that reacted very quickly to resolve situation. loads of interesting things in shop.

Popped I'm for a bit if lunch after visiting the sunflowers at East Grange Farm. Cafe was busy and an hours wait for hot food. We plumped for a slice of mince pie and cake with a cuppa.

Call regularly to meet friends.Seating under cover for people eith dogs helpful.

As a regular visitor the food and service here is usually very good.However,visited today and after waiting a long time for a table were disappointed with the quality of the food from a very limited menu. The service was also particularly bad as we had a 40 minute wait between service of drinks and food and no explanation or apology was forthcoming from the waitress.It’s certainly not cheap here ,with lukewarm filter coffee alone costing £2.65 !We will allow some time before our next visit so that there is hopefully some improvement.

We were told to expect a 20 minute delay at the time we ordered. 40 minutes later we enquired only to be told that the waiting time had increased to 30 minutes (not 40 and not the delay that applied when we ordered). No apology. The food arrived about 4 minutes later with a hurried “sorry for the delay” as the waitress was walking away. The food was good as usual but this sort of delay with only 2/3 of the socially distanced tables full was really inexcusable. We were not the only ones waiting. Don’t visit at lunchtime unless you have time to spare and don’t mind disinterested staff.

Very disappointing visit. Arrived at 9.30am for the 20% event in the garden centre. Decided to have breakfast first. Ordered pot of tea and two slices of white toast. Received one slice of white toast and four portions of butter. The bread was bog standard supermarket bread, I could have bought a full loaf for the price of the one slice I received. Staff do like to stand around gossiping although the lady behind the counter never stopped working. The cafe itself is lovely however I used the toilets after my breakfast and they leave a lot to be desired. The amount of cobwebs hanging make me wonder when they were last deep cleaned, certainly not recently. There were months worth of cobwebs. The whole restroom is in desperate need of updating.

After having an excellent service and lovely gardeners delight at brambles in 2019 for my birthday, regrettably we decided to return 2020. Where do I start .. the food served on this day was very poor compared to 2019. It was mostly carbs and frozen pastries that were inedible! The sandwiches was a massive shock ! In 2019 we were given the choice of type of rustic bread and filling we wanted. This time we were just given what they wanted to serve and it’s not the cheapest place to eat either!We were seemingly served £1 Asda multipack bread buns that were hard with very cheap Aldi type filling !The smoothies were all premade and possibly left overnight as it was separated and looked off !I understand there is a pandemic going on , unfortunately there is no need to cut corners and make shortcuts and allowing standards to drop! I can think of many places to go that continue to serve the best food at top quality service prior to the pandemic and continue to exceed in quality food and care. The staff came across very impatient and rude and didn’t give us a chance to sit and settle. It was as if we were being a hindrance and they didn’t want us there. Nobody took our drinks order and we were left parched.I thought this must have been a bad day, however after speaking to my sister in law who was there a few weeks before also agreed it had gone downhill and was not the same quality as last year and was also left gutted and disappointed ! She also encountered the same poor food standards and informed me she was served Mini bread buns looked like they were more for kids. Her bread buns was so hard she couldn’t eat them !In her words, it’s their loss in long run as she wouldn’t go back in a while. She chose there for her 30th expecting great food and the sandwiches were such a let down! Looks childish and not fit for a bday!!! Due to this bad service, it’s regrettable to say we all won’t be quick to return any time soon, especially with the prices they continue to charge for the lack in standards in contrast to our experience a year ago ..

Ordered a chicken b&q wrap, the wrap was burnt and chicken did not look fresh. My daughter ordered giant Yorkshire pudding again this was also burnt, my daughter and myself felt sick after eating here. However it’s okay for cake and hot drinks.

I visited last week with my husband and felt very safe in the outdoor area. However when the drinks and cutlery arrived I had to request a clean fork as the one they brought had food residue on it and the coffee cup was chipped badly around the rim. These were changed immediately and an apology given.Benefit of the doubt I returned the following week to meet a friend. I was very disappointed when the drinks and cutlery arrived and again I had to request a clean knife as the one they brought was dirty and the water glass had a dirty brown mark on. These were changed again and an apology given however, during these times cleanliness should be paramount and cutlery, crockery and glassware should all be checked before it is offered to the customers. I will not be returning to Brambles.

Seems well organised re Covid although not sure about the spacing between tables in new room. Waitress service which works well and is a much better experience than going to the counter. I’m pleased to say the staff seem much more pleasant than they used to be too. For me though the food is overpriced for what it is and I can’t understand why people flock here when there are much better places to eat round about.......possibly the garden centre area and the ample free parking?We had toasties which had minimal filling with a small side salad and decaf latte which was so strong I left most of mine.

Popped in today with my partner to try and get a drink in the coffee shop after having an appointment with the florist based next door.We were planning our wedding flowers and were excited by the prospect, and were going to have a drink and cake to celebrate.Sadly, there was absolutely nothing to celebrate after the terrible and abrupt customer service we received in our fleeting - and last - visit.On entry, there was a sign - which was pushed to the side and barely visible to anyone entering the coffee shop - saying to wait to be served. All the members of staff were stood talking at the till and weren't welcoming customers. We waited for several minutes but, having seen other customers (including the couple in front of us) seat themselves we decided to do the same and proceeded to one of the tables marked as being clean.Upon doing this, we were met by a hostile and confrontational member of staff who demanded to know why we had decided to take a table. My partner apologised and explained that we had seen other people do similar, and had waited for them for a while and hadn't been seen to (the member of staff claimed they were busy cleaning tables. They weren't. They were stood around the till chatting).At this point we were frog-marched back to the entrance to the coffee shop where there were other people watching on. Thoroughly embarrassed and annoyed at the attitude of the member of staff, we decided to leave. We are now also seriously reconsidering whether to give our custom to the adjacent florist given the shocking treatment we received.It completely ruined our experience and we won't be back again.

Having been before for the afternoon tea and it was amazing I booked again for my mams birthday. The staff were more than accommodating when my booking for the afternoon tea hadnt gone through correctly. Although stating they dont take afternoon tea bookings the same day they added my booking to the list. The waitress was quick taking our food order and the food arrived not long after. Its was nicely presented on the picnic bench and was delicious. We ate as much as we could but had to get a box to take the rest home.

We were sat at a table by a young girl and after 30 minutes had to go and find her as she hadn't returned. She didn't apologise and also didn't know what the soup of the day was. The food was only average and again took a long period of time to arrive. We had visited before lockdown and were happy but we will not visit again unless they tell the staff to be more pleasant and helpful.

First time I have been to the coffee shop and will probably be the last time. Rude staff member and very poor customer service. The catering industry is all about good service done right and I’m sorry to say that the lady that served us yesterday was seriously lacking this. Christmas spirit they say? There was some seriously lacking yesterday afternoon.

Beautiful surroundings, attentive staff and lovely food. Worth a visit. The garden centre has a wide selection og gardening tools, plants etc, as well as clothes, jams jewellry etc.

Called in for a bite to eat and drink after football,really good service with delightful food.....prices in comparison with other venuesvenues like this

We called in for coffee and cake and weren’t disappointed. The cakes and scones looked home made. Afterwards we had a mooch around the garden centre. Lovely morning

Don't often visit as expensive and service at til often very slow.I had put my children in nursery around the corner and in my last few weeks of maternity leave dropped them off then went to the cafe to study for an exam. First week bought drink at 10ish then a few hours later lunch left at about 2:30, having spent over £10. Following week I bought a drink, didn't realise the time and had to leave before getting lunch to get the children.Third week I arrived about 10. Bought a coffee then another hot drink at about 12 spending over £5. I intended to get lunch and had been perusing the menu. At 1:30 I was asked to leave by a lady who did not introduce herself stating 'its not right'. She did not clarify what she meant by this or give me the opportunity to buy anything else or ask if I was waiting for someone or give me any opportunity to discuss my needs as a paying customer with her.It is worth mentioning that in my three visits the cafe was at max 25-50% occupancy. There were plenty of empty tables and if there had of been anyone waiting, I would have left.I understand that small cafe businesses need to keep a turnover of customers but I would expect a better standard of customer service especially as the table was definately un needed given the amount of empty tables available throughout my visit. I only had one more week of maternity leave so this was not going to be a long term occurrence.Very disappointed.

Was very impressed with the brand new Garden Room conservatory, an excellent addition to the tearoom restaurant facilities. However it was very obvious that the kitchen could not cope with the additional numbers it has brought in. We had a half hour wait for food evening though the Garden Room was half empty. I also heard a member of staff saying to a man that he could have his money back due to the delay. My question to the management is why extend your seating areas without extending the kitchen? Otherwise I do like the place and would recommend for a visit

Called in to buy plants and decided to have 2x scrambled egg on toast. It was inedible - completely tasteless, but, worse than that, it was like rubber. Possibly microwaved? It was only scrambled on the top; sides were the shape of the bowl it had been cooked in. Even our dogs had a bit of difficulty eating eat, and they love scrambled eggs. The coffee was poor too. Definitely will not go again.

We have been good customers over the years and the garden center and Cafe have been our favourite place to eat. However the other day in the rain the car park was full of mud because it needs to be renovated ie tarred over . When the weather is good the gravel gets into one"s sandles.The car park really needs seeing too because on a wet day it changes a good experience into a bad one. Please owner do something about this otherwise it will put your loyal visitors off returing. It is spoiling the ship for a halfpeth of tar.!!

Sadly, I would not recommend Brambles Coffee Shop - my husband and I visited on a Sunday mid-afternoon and I waited in the queue for almost 25 minutes to be served. Only one member of staff was serving - she was having to take orders, make hot drinks and take money. The poor girl was stressed to bits! The lady two in front of me took a call on her mobile and it was apparent that whoever she was with was asking where she was! The young lady in front of me was queuing up to ask if her food would be much longer as she had a train to catch!My husband and I each ordered a sandwich and a cup of coffee. I also wished to purchase a caramal slice/shortbread each and - as the weather outside (where we were sitting) was hot - asked if the shortbread could be brought out at the same time as the sandwiches otherwise it would have melted. I was told that it was not possible to bring the caramel shortbread out with the food - I had to take it outside with me. When I said it would melt before we could eat it (after our sandwich), I was told again that it would not be possible for it to be brought out with our food. You therefore LOST YOURSELF THE SALE OF 2 SHORTBREADS.We then sat outside and waited, and waited, and waited for our sandwiches. They eventuall turned up by which time we had had to drink our coffee as it was going cold due to waiting so long for the food.All in all, from arriving in the queue to receiving our sandwiches, it was just short of an hour.Dreadful service and will not be back!

There was an inviting display of cakes pies and scones which we assumed were made on the premises. I ordered corned beef pie. It had been slightly warmed but was just about Luke warm. I always thought that re heated food had to be brought to a certain temperature before serving but maybe i am wrong. The pie was awful. It tasted stale. I mentioned this to the server who said it had just come in that morning. I don't know where it had come from or where it had been before it was delivered to Brambles but it was not fresh. My husband ordered the pie with mashed potato as they didn't serve chips. It was really bad, was either frozen or a powder mix. He complained about the pie too.I noticed that within the cafe they had wrapped food stuffs to buy to take out. A packet of expensive flapjacks looked nice but there was no indication of where it was made. It had the address of Brambles on the back even though it is not made there, only sold there.It just felt like a Money grabbing scheme. Giving the appearance of fresh home made food, which is actually bought in from elsewhere. Customers should know where food comes from and this, together with the temperature of re heated food, is something I will be taking up with Durham County Council.

I left a brief review of our meal here on Poplar’s garden centre site but felt it was worthy of it on review !

called in with our daughter and grandchildren after a nice 6 mile walk. had a lovely light lunch which we all enjoyed . good prices , good food and good service

Celebrated my daughters 11th birthday with her friends at Brambles with gardeners afternoon tea for 9. It was lovely, so much food and excellent service from start to finish. It is excellent value for money and we have come home with 5 doggy bags of cakes, scones and sandwiches. Definitely a birthday to remember, and I now have 7 hyper 11 year olds!!!!

We have visited for many years and can say that the Sunday roast is of a very good quality normally. But on our visit this time we found the food to be of a poor quility and tasteless. On arrival we cleared a table ourselves and at know point did anyone come and wipe the table. On this occasion they had again run out of items on the daily board. We like others waited 45minutes for our food which we didn't enjoy, things need to change and quickly. I think after our discussion with our party we have decided this is the last time we will eat here again! Needs to get back to doing the basics right! and employ more staff.

Booked a table and we ordered our open sandwich toppings .Afternoon tea arrived on a miniature picnic table .Looked awesome with a great selection of savoury pastries ,cakes and scones with jam and cream .There was even crisps ,pickled onions and strawberry smoothie.

I've recently been to the Ramside and the Scullery for Sunday lunch.I've got to say that the dinner here was better quality.We opted for the small but there was plenty.Home made yorkshire pudding, tender beef and delicious vegetables.Everything was hot and freshly made and to be honest I was surprised at the quality and also it is refreshing not to have to complain about anything.

Easter Monday, as a regular visitor to the garden centre, we decided to grab a bite to eat in the coffee shop.

We visited here on Saturday afternoon to redeem 2 afternoon tea vouchers which we had purchased for us as a gift, after finding a table (and clearing it ourselves) we joined the queue to be served, after waiting sometime we were told that they were not accepting any more vouchers today, therefore our journey had been wasted. there was no apology other than being told we should have booked first,(their is no mention of this on the vouchers).I accept they were busy however if there is a requirement to pre book this should be written on the vouchers so as to avoid any inconvenience to customers.

Walked to here from Durham to visit food festival which was fantastic. Had soup, chicken panini and fish pie. Soup and panini was nice. Fish pie was ok but could have had more fish in it. And drinks. Order at counter. Walked back to Durham.

Visited the garden centre and wanted a drink so we all had a drink and cake. The corned beef slice looked lovely so I thought I’d take a piece home for my other half, as he loves it. When I checked the receipt I couldn’t believe that it cost over £3

We called in early February and had coffee,tea and toast, I did ask for the toast to be well done, which it was on one side. I am always disappointed when the drinks are served long before any hot food, because in the case of lattes they are nearly finished by the time the toast arrive.

Four of us dropped in for coffee and cake before a walk round Houghall. A wide selection of cakes and savoury snacks, and the flat white (Ringtons, I think) coffee was very good. One minus - although gluten free hot food was available, the wrapped cake selection was poor compared to the other delicious looking offerings. A shame for one of the members of our party.

This is a decent cafe in Shincliffe Garden centre. It is generally clean and has a decent range on the menu including a good selection of gluten free mains.

One of the best afternoon teas I have ever had. Excellent & quality food. Great prices. Lovely surroundings and friendly staff.

First visit here and very impressed. Garden centre lovely and lots to offer for shoppers and gardeners delight. Had the gardeners delight afternoon tea. Definitely recommend. Made fresh to order and food was of a good quality with plenty of choice. Will be back

The coffee shop offers a loyalty card . If you buy 2 coffees however you will only get one stamp. The stamp is per transaction. Therefore everyone has to get their coffees separately. I’ve never known any other establishment operate like this. The worlds going mad.

Given afternoon tea voucher for a birthday gift ... lovely!

I booked in advance for the ‘gardeners delight’ afternoon tea for me and my mum. We arrived with a warm welcome from the blonde waitress (not sure about her name sorry!) and she got us everything we needed. My afternoon tea was served on a separate picnic bench as I ordered a vegetarian which I wasn’t expecting. Some cakes are gluten free and there are loads of vegetarian options. I feel as though I had to review this place, as the reviews I read before coming here give you the wrong impression! The sandwiches were fresh, the scones weren’t dry/burnt, everything was perfect and the service was amazing! Really good value, and you are seated at the rear of the coffee shop in a nice quiet area with a lovely setting. Perfect for catching up with friends/family. I would definitely recommend and will be back very soon!

Doing a bit of garden shopping, and decided to have a quick bite. My wife had a jacket potato with chilli and i had a tune cheese and onion sandwich which was as dry as snuff.

If I loved dry and burnt scones, a poor choice of food and rude, dismissive staff Brambles would get a 5* review from me! But sadly I don’t and am more a fan of fresh, soft scones and helpful cheery staff. There are so, so many more better garden centre cafe’s in Durham which are much more worthy of custom.. if it weren’t for the beautiful surroundings and gardens which are lovely distraction when you’re choking on your scone, then it wouldn’t be much at all. Sadly won’t be returning..

It is lovely to sit outside in pleasant surroundings and enjoy a bite to eat, but the bite must be worth the visit. I tried Brambles a few weeks ago for lunch after a long absence and was disappointed. It used to be a regular haunt of mine when the food was homemade, delicious and good value for money. To be fair and because I like the garden centre, I tried it again last week and was disappointed again. We tried the lasagne which came quite cold with a few cheese gratings on the top out of a packet to make it look a bit more homemade. It was no better than any cheap supermarket lasagne and was fooling nobody. At £8.10 I think we can expect a little better. Brambles used to be famous for their cream gateaux so I asked what cakes they had. The assistant didn't know and I would have to go to the other counter and look myself, then come back and join the end of the queue again. Thank you for your help. It turns out there were really only 2 things you could call a gateau so it would not have been difficult to remember if she had cared. My son thought I had been taken ill as I was so long ordering the lunch having to go to and fro and queue twice. When the cake arrived (£3.50) it was too dry even for the birds, no cream and only a mean bit of butter icing. All in all not to be recommended.

1st time been here today and I must say what an amazing place

We popped in for a spot of lunch after a look around the garden centre, it was fairly busy inside but we managed to find a seat outside, the weather was sunny so it was ok, we chose the corned beef pie and the quiche between us as we've had it before and it was nice, this time however not so much, both were fairly bland, the pie more so and lacked seasoning as after I put a good sprinkling of salt on it, it was a bit better, the salad used to be plentiful with a good serving of coleslaw but again, this time it was rather sparing with probably a teaspoon's worth of slaw, I notice another review about the competition from homer hill and agree that brambles needs to pull its socks up to compete

Visited with friends today to support a local business rather than the chain coffee shops in the city. We were the first customers of the day. We asked if any of the display cakes or pre wrapped cakes were suitable for a vegan diet. The woman behind the counter was rude and dismissive. Said they were gluten free and none of them were vegan. I asked to check one of the packages- it actually had the vegan logo on the front!

food looks delicious . however, slow service. staff stood talking. might be chaotic at busy times eg. weekends

This coffee shop is situated in Poplar Tree Garden Centre in the centre of Shincliffe near Durham City. Shincliffe village itself is a beautiful village with picturesque surroundings.

We visited whilst at the garden centre and corned beef pie with salad and chocolate pecan slice for afters with cappuccinos. The food was lovely at lunchtime today and quite busy. Will visit again, seems like a great meeting place for friends to catch up.

Make sure you book luckily we didnt but they allowed a walk in

Like another reviewer, I used to visit this place regularly but it just hasn’t kept up with the Pity Me garden centre or Homerhill. There was no decaff coffee today and the latte I had was tasteless and gritty. The fruit scones were burnt, as they regularly are, and the staff slow and unfriendly. Although there was a cue of people and three staff behind the counter, one girl served, worked the till and made the drinks, while the other two stacked cups and teapots! No wonder there was a cue!