Conkers Garden Centre in Basingstoke and Deane

What a shame that a perfectly good restaurant - and in fine weather, a lovely spot by the river - is spoiled by the service. A generally bad attitude from behind the counter; no butter was provided with a cream tea and barely enough jam and cream even for half of the (admittedly very large) scone. Finally, I have never in my life been asked to pay £1 to have a pot of hot water with my tea; note to Conkers; the British like to be able to pour their tea to their preferred strength, something I would expect a garden centre restaurant in leafy Hampshire to know very well! On the plus side, the plant area staff were very helpful.

I stopped visiting here a while ago as they banned backpacks. This rare visit was for a meal. There were four of us who had to change our selections due to out of stock items. I'd describe the food quality as OK though.

My wife loves the shopping but we both really enjoy the excellent food, especially the breakfast. My personal favourite that, unfortunately, gets the staff a little perplexed is the Avocado on sourdough toast, topped with salmon & poached eggs. We visit a few establishments for breakfast but your one is the best around, by far. Thank you.

I have just seen a number of reviews that were definitely not in favour of this restaurant. However, I have to say what a good visit I had today. There were four of us for lunch. Short queue because we arrived at the busiest time. It was quickly dealt with by an efficient member of staff at the till. Our drinks arrived quickly and to be honest it did not take too long to bring our food. All four of us enjoyed our lunches and we sat chatting for a while before getting coffee and cake (fresh and very tasty). Staff today were very good although it was strange that they seemed to want to lean over the table to pass plates rather than walk round to serve them properly. Just nit picking maybe but something we noticed. Would I go back, most definitely. Just one question for the restaurant. Are you still Riverbanks or are you now the Potting Shed

Disappointing no dogs allowed in.

Normally enjoy visiting and eating there, staff are very friendly and helpful but unfortunately today it was so so cold especially in the eating area, everyone had to keep their coats on, not great for eating in. I was chilled to the bone. I appreciate it must be a difficult place to heat but something definitely needs to be done

I visited today with my mother and two children for lunch and then a look around the garden centre after. Sadly I have just had the most hostile experience in conkers. I have visited Conkers regularly over the past three years and after today can confidently say that I will not be visiting again. We were met with hostility from a number of staff during our visit, which began with confusion over my child’s drink. We moved on from that, had our food, which the children enjoyed and were having fun and laughing together: We then had a look around the shop, my daughter was enjoying exploring the shop and upon picking up an Easter egg she was scorned by a male member of staff and told to put it back. I was then dealing with my 2 year old son who was having (as many toddlers do!) a tantrum. This same man approached me and instructed me to keep him quiet! And accused us of screaming the entire time we were in the shop! I immediately put all the items I was about to purchase down, they certainly were not going to have any more of my money. I confronted this man, and he stood by his accusation and then a woman next to him, who I was then lead to believe was the manager, accused my children of screaming the entire time in the restaurant and that she was sat there watching us, my question would be if we were that much a nuisance why didn’t she confront us then? Clearly children's laughter is offensive in conkers! My best advice would be to avoid conkers if you have children as reading through reviews this does not seem to be an isolated event and they are repeatedly hostile to children and parents!

Absolutely appalled! by the two women who abused the young man doing he’s job. Not only could they not control their children they could not control themselves. Disgraceful behaviour. If you can’t control your children don’t have children…..

If you have children avoid this garden centre like the plague. All the staff we encountered were hostile and left my daugher and grandaughter in tears. Apparently their laughter was offensive to the manage who failed to mention it at the time! I was told by one staff member i could change the carton drink with the kids meal to a baby chino, only to be told by another that i could not, therefore i paid extra for the baby chino, then they left the cartoon out and I had to ask for it! At one point our 2 year old had a mini tantrum..as im sure most 2 year olds do, only to be asked by another member of staff to shut him up! All in all a very upsetting visit. However seeing other reviews from people with children, the owner seems not to care, with replies to the effect, we dont want you here, dont come back. So if you have children id advise you go somewhere else.

I visited today with my mother and two children for lunch and then a look around the garden centre after. Sadly I have just had the most hostile experience in conkers. I have visited Conkers regularly over the past three years and after today can confidently say that I will not be visiting again. We were met with hostility from a number of staff during our visit, which began with confusion over my child’s drink. We moved on from that, had our food, which the children enjoyed and were having fun and laughing together: We then had a look around the shop, my daughter was enjoying exploring the shop and upon picking up an Easter egg she was scorned by a male member of staff and told to put it back. I was then dealing with my 2 year old son who was having (as many toddlers do!) a tantrum. This same man approached me and instructed me to keep him quiet! And accused us of screaming the entire time we were in the shop! I immediately put all the items I was about to purchase down, they certainly were not going to have any more of my money. I confronted this man, and he stood by his accusation and then a woman next to him, who I was then lead to believe was the manager, accused my children of screaming the entire time in the restaurant and that she was sat there watching us, my question would be if we were that much a nuisance why didn’t she confront us then? Clearly children's laughter is offensive in conkers! My best advice would be to avoid conkers if you have children as reading through reviews this does not seem to be an isolated event and they are repeatedly hostile to children and parents!

Abusive and aggressive behaviour from the manager and select members of staff towards my wife and worst, directly towards my daughter who is under five. This is simply unacceptable and the persons responsible need to be brought to account. Read other reviews, avoid at all costs.

Very bad customer service. My friend had a jacket potato which was inedible. They said she could have something else but there would be a very long wait as the kitchen was busy!! So two of us had something to eat ( not great) and my friend sat there with nothing. The staff were very unhelpful and not apologetic at all. Will definitely NOT be going back!!

I love this garden centre, it's becoming my 2nd home now I can get back into the garden 🌷🌹🌺🌼🌻🌺🪻🪴

Lovely lunch in their cafe & reasonable value

Very tired garden centre. Not the best selection of plants indoors or out. Cafe doesn't seem very inviting and staff are not very approachable.

do not go to their cafe if you have more than four in your party. We were 8 friends hoping to have lunch when we asked if we could move two tables together but was told it was not allowed very shortly. We left and had a lovely lunch on a table for 8 at Oliver's fish and chip restaurant

It's OK the food is nice there but the garden centre could be better it too much like a shop.

Excellent breakfast. The poached eggs are perfect We’ll be back in the new year!

Great garden centre. Amazing amount of stock, though some prices are quite high. Excellent cafe and food prices all very reasonable.

Visited this cafe with friends for coffee. The woman behind the counter could not summon up a smile and told us off for not having a table number ready. She was rude and sarcastic and the giggled with the other staff, as if she was clever. It was freezing in the cafe too. Garden centre is good but cafe appalling

Went with a friend it was very busy but very friendly staff and food was hot and tasty .very good value for money

Very friendly and helpful staff sorting this year's Christmas tree for me

Lovely garden shop and centre, with beautiful displays and gifts. The Christmas stands and choice of goodies is wonderful. Enjoyed a lovely cappuccino at £2.99 which is considerably cheaper than most high street cafes. Worth a visit for browsing for gifts.

Visited Conkers yesterday. Great Christmas display and food in cafe was excellent. Unfortunately my granddaughter had an nasty Neurological disorder attack. The staff were absolutely brilliant, very helpful when needed as well as kind and thoughtful. These attacks can be very stressful to both my granddaughter and her Mum and the help made a very difficult situation manageable. Thank you all.

What a lovely place to stop for a lunch so much better than a service station tasty and a very good price a relaxing atmosphere very nice staff a good start to my holiday

£8.50 cheese and pickle sandwich, not farmhouse thick cut bread, nope just standard white Warburtons bread for £8.50, a sorry looking thing it was. I know it serves Old Basing where the money is but wow, that was something else. Nice Christmas display, good to see a variety of Christmas decorations I've not seen at other places, I liked the spacious surroundings and the effort clearly put into the display. But that cafe has tainted my memory of the place forever.

This Conkers is well stocked and well presented, the staff I interacted with were well presented and knowledgeable about the products they sell. Also went to the cafe, this was clean and tidy, the food and drink were both delicious, we were there when breakfast was being served.

Lovely food and beautiful stock

This is a lovely garden centre with lots of beautiful things slightly too expensive for me but I love looking around. The cafe is lovely, tasty cakes and the best hot chocolate. The staff are all very friendly and polite,

Much bigger and more items for sale than I expected. Very nice and will be back again

No dogs allowed which I thought a bit unusual for a garden centre. A bit expensive too

Remains a firm favourite, wide range of quality garden and pet supplies, and their excellent range of Christmas decorations, lights, presents, cards and more Staff cheerful, helpful and efficient. Cafeteria serves a wide range of cakes, snacks, coffee and teas. Not cheap, but we'll worth the money! Don't live in the immediate area now, but will definitely be visiting each time we are passing by!!

Nice garden centre friendly staff

lovely garden centre with loads of stuff and very friendly staff

Being a 60 something grandmother I thought a trip to conkers would be a nice visit. How wrong was I. Whilst entertaining my grand daughter in the near deserted shop, I was first shrieked at by a gobby old woman from the office window, who told me it wasn't a playground. Then moving on to the restaurant for our lunch l had to order the child's meal twice and then had to pick a plastic band out my soup! We didn't buy anything on principle. Basically conkers used to be nice but it is now tired and outdated. For a superior experience visit Hilliers Aldermaston, much nicer. PS. I have an umbrella buggy, my daughter was with me, and an apology for plastic in the soup would have been nice.

Very nice roast dinner(20/10/24) a little expensive but food was great. Will definitely return. Plenty of parking outside as well

Awful food. We watched as the tables around us left their jacket potatoes so decided on soup. One member had a cheese scone that was clearly not made today. Very dry. The soup was o.k. but they were unable to provide the rosemary foccacia, which it said it would be served with. Alternative was brown or white bread. When asked if a cheese scone could be supplied instead the answer was no. Obviously the scones had to be displayed for a few more days! The roasts looked dry and uninteresting. Luckily a jug of gravy was given. With so much food going back to the kitchen uneaten you would think that somebody would realise the quality was not up to scratch but clearly not. One of our pary had the lemon cake which was also dry and not fresh. What a shame. Certainly won't be returning!

They had what my husband wanted too buy... Then we both went into the cafe and had lunch which was very nice and i would give it a 5 in hygiene....

We went for breakfast and a look around the garden centre. The breakfast was massive and really tasty. Served very quickly too. The coffee machine wasn’t working but filter coffee was just fine. After breakfast we strolled around the large array of garden centre displays and the outside area and bought a few seasonal gifts. We are looking forward to our next visit.

Needs a face lift. It charges the high prices of better maintained garden centres.

Very nice place lots of choice lovely helpfully friendly staff

Everything that's needed for gardening

My late grandparents used to visit weekly, now I find myself also visiting weekly :) I love the peaceful surroundings, and the overall place has a very relaxing feel to it.

If you want service with a smile then turn around! Rude staff, a piece of cake brought over (after a long wait for no apparent reason, they weren’t busy) when I asked for some forks I was rudely told to get them myself from the dresser….seriously?? Tables needed clearing, the place lacked any atmosphere when it could be lovely. Don’t work with the public if you don’t like people.

I visited on a Sunday with my husband and little boy. We had a really lovely lunch and coffee/cake for pudding. Good size portions and amazing cakes (size and selection). The staff team on shift were young, but so so pleasant and accommodating. They were very efficient and polite. It's a shame to see some bad reviews because it definitely undermines the lovely experience we had today.

A bit of an alladins cave. Lots if choice

Great garden center staff were truly amazing and very helpful and know the there stuff. Lots of different gifts and plants and food.cafe was extremely popular and food was awesome. Sunday roast to sandwich and salads something for everyone. Highly recommend the garden center

Great Sunday Roast, today was Chicken, loads of freshly cooked vegetables, stuffing and a massive Yorkshire pudding. Just really nice, served hot. Afternoon tea option was nice too. Generous portions with both choices we had today. Staff were friendly, but left you alone to enjoy your food. Plenty of space between tables, everything felt clean.

The manager of the garden centre- Mark has zero people skills, he rude and abrupt and I am unsure how someone like that can end up being a manager.

Beautiful garden centre with something for everyone. Plenty of gifts, plants and seeds with all you need to grow. Easily accessible for my mobility scooter. Plenty of free parking and a great cafe. A wonderful place to spend a couple of hours. Fully accessable and friendly staff

It's a fine garden centre (maybe not the cheapest)

Friendly staff,relaxed environment. Proper English breakfast. We will be back .We would recommend Conker's cafe to anyone.

Visited the cafe today. While I was at the till I heard an older man talking to a younger man about the specials board in quite a rude tone, told him to redo it because he didn’t like the way it looked, which looked very nice! Better than this old lady could do ha ha😂. The young man did say he had a quite a bit to do so he’d rather not redo the board, which I think is quite reasonable! The older man responded that he’d rather he did do it so it needs to be done, in quite an unnecessary sarky and rude tone. 😠 I’ve been served by this young man before and he is so kind and friendly, always gets things done the minute you need it and always goes the extra mile, especially when you order coffee (it’s always got a lovely pattern on top!! I look forward to them every time😄), and to see him teary, and still serving customers, was not okay under any circumstances. No worker should be in tears and still serving customers!!!! This is absurd treatment of an employee who I have only seen give his all, and I tell you what, I am absolutely APPALLED by this treatment. I don’t know what the older man was upset about in regard to the board since it was lovely, but if he really didn’t like the board that much, he should’ve done it himself🤬 This has really made me quite cross.

Friendly & reliable garden centre with reasonable prices

Popped in for coffee, what a lovely place, staff in coffee shop so polite & friendly. Garden centre had so much choice loved browsing.

Arrive early to read the noticed plastered over the doors and walls. Over priced and pretty grubby restaurant.

Went to have a look around the garden center, ended up going for a spot of lunch. Had an amazing roast dinner. Huge portion, couldn't eat it all. Great value for money. Will be going back.

If I could give no stars I would. Place is run down, same old products just getting moved about, they look years old. Toilets are disgusting, if they are like that I dread to think what the cafe kitchen is like, I avoided for that reason alone. Miserable old woman walking around staring at my children who were being very well behaved, and even getting staff to follow me to check I’d not put anything under my pram. I’ll use another garden centre to spend my money in future

Weird coffee shop, they hate customers! First the layout is so tight you can't get a wheelchair through to a table, then there are signs saying DO NOT MOVE CHAIRS AND TABLES that doesn't help, then when you come to order an afternoon tea for £5.99 (which is reasonable enough) they demand an additional £1.50 to 'upgrade' to a cup of coffee; UPGRADE . . . . Must be owned by EasyJet.

I am a support worker taking a client out for lunch,his choice. I ordered our meal rice and curry for him and a sandwich for myself. Having waited well over half an hour they eventually came and told us that they had run out of curry,I asked why did it take over half an hour before they informed me but was too that they only just found out. We then ordered another meal and was told it would be done straight away but we the waited another fifteen minutes. When it arrived the meal was fine but my sandwich was dry so not very nice to eat. I also noticed another couple who had waited three quarters of an hour for a sandwich which was also dry which they did not eat and told the waiter to take it away. The restaurant was not that busy so the service should have been better. I sent an email to them but they have not replied back. I was very disappointed and I will not be going back or recommending this restaurant to others. My visit was on June 5th 2024.

Disappointing they have removed their dog friendly-ness. This means for us, that we will no longer be customers of the store or cafe.

Lovely garden centre with loads to choose from. Great little restaurant. Very pleasant.

We arrived at 3.20 for coffee and cake to or 4 people only to be told by the grumpy looking lady on the till that they close in 10 minutes,she then went on and messed out cake order up and then they forgot one of the drinks . The lady who served us was in a hurry to leave. Very poor service

Lovely plants and lovely lunch 😊

Absolutely Fantastic Breakfast. We've been a couple of times this week, conkers are very lucky to have their new Chef. Fantastic freshly cooked food.

New chef Excellent breakfast Staff were very friendly And helpful. Definitely will go again when in the area.

A good place to visit for gifts. Good selection of pots and plants. Coffee shop is often rammed.

Relatively quiet garden centre. Being quite small yhe range can be limited - on our most recent visit we only got around half of what we were looking for. But for frequently used things it's local and therefore convenient.

4x lunch purchased with drinks and 2x cakes. I'm sure there used to be some salad when a sandwich was ordered and not a pile of greyish oily crips dumped alongside the sandwich. Those who had chips, these tasted more of old oil rather than potato...didn't expect them to be so horribly drenched and dripping in oil. Not sure what type of cheese was melted on top, really unpleasant taste. Fish was unpleasant too with a watery texture. Cakes were dry and very basic for the price. Milkshake had dust/fluff in the cream. Cutlery and glasses had dried bits of food on them. Coffee was nice. Toilets were filthy. We've been here a few times over the years and it has deteriorated a little further each time. We will not be going to eat at Conkers again, it was a very unpleasant experience and spent 50 pounds on this so called lunch. I will be advising people to avoid visiting.

OK average garden centre. No dogs allowed. Didn't eat so can't comment on gluten free in cafe, which was very busy.

Very slow service for coffees, they're not very flexible on serving tea cakes. I'm not sure why this is such a problem to put one in the toaster after 11.30am. We won't be going back.

Lovely small but big enough garden centre. Has all you need and more. Lovely products. Not too busy. Best coffee I've had in ages from anywhere.

Convenient, ample parking, friendly staff, good café and lots lovely plants and trees and bulbs and seeds and vegetables...need I say more

Café, lovely food, friendly and helpful staff, garden centre side plenty of choice some things expensive.

Went to Conkers for a quick lunch. Very nice fish and chips, friendly and sweet staff. Very clean area and speedy service. One in our party requested an alteration to their meal and was accounted for. No faults found. It's very convenient for a quick stop if you're on the A30.

Pleasant hour spent buying plants etc followed by a cuppa and a slice of cake.

Love conkers go there all the time to get my plants xx

Just visited Conkers, my local garden centre. It is a well stocked bright place with helpful staff. But...Conkers could do itself a great favour by making itself look a bit more attractive from the outside. Sad to say but from the car park, the place looks run down, dated and a bit dirty which doesn't reflect what it has to offer inside. Conkers, smarten your store frontage and make yourself a bit more presentable and maybe appealing.

Very nice. Lots of choice. Friendly staff.

Welcoming staff, beautifully decorated, well priced, lovely carrot cake too!

First time here, and I wasn't disappointed. It was a great little cafe, nothing special on the menu but food hot and plenty of it a nice hot coffee average prices. Love the way the indoor section is set out everything you need at fair prices.good a good selection of healthy looking plants.

Lovely garden centre with a great tea room which has some delicious cakes. It has some beautiful gifts and is a very pleasant place to look around.

Really lovely garden centre. Alongside selling pretty much everything a gardener might need; seeds, tools, compost, pots, plants, etc; there is also a very good range of gifts, books, and unusual items for sale such as beautiful shopping baskets, candles, greetings cards, ornaments and a small selection of beautiful clothing. The staff are friendly, polite and knowledgeable. The on site cafe is amazing - would highly recommend the panini!

Lovely garden centre. Very quaint and worth a visit. Food reasonable but the breakfast muffin comes slightly over cooked regarding the bacon. More tlc required. Change of t bag brand is needed. Overall ok compared to other garden centres.

Very nice , but expensive. Nice cafe with good coffee

Always great in Conkers. Can recommend the cafe!

Yes, not much of a selection in pressure sprayers.

Very basic food. Very expensive for what you get. I would say a typical garden centre food, but higher prices.

Very quiet on a Thursday. Coffee shop busy though. Always worth a visit. Bit early in the year for garden plants though.

At the till at 11.30 on Saturday. Ordered 2 hot drinks, a cupcake, a childs lunch bag and a panini. The drinks and cupcake arrived at 11.40 although I had to ask for milk for the tea. At 12 05 the panini came but had to remind them about the lunch bag which then took another 10 minutes to arrive. It consisted of half a sandwich, jelly, crisps.chocolate and juice box. My grandson was ravenous by the time it arrived. Can't understand why it fouling have com Dee at the same time as the cupcake. Hard to watch one grandchild eat a cake while the other one had to wait hair an hour. Only one of the four ladies toilets working. Disappointing,

All style no substance. Very nice little cafe setting. Clean and tidy. However that’s when all the positives end really. Staff rude and unhelpful. Both breakfasts we ordered were undercooked with raw sausages. When we asked for them to be re-cooked staff almost started to argue about it. Won’t be back again.

Found this garden centre by chance, lovely lunch but pricey (to be expected in a garden centre in this day and age though) friendly staff and I loved the way the shop floor was layed out.

Well stocked independent garden centre

Every time I visit they have a fresh display of various items such as outdoor furniture and seasonal items. It keeps it from looking tired. They have an amazing range of greeting cards, even rivalling Clinton. They also have a great range of nursery plants, shrubs, pots and associated items. In short: my go-to garden centre.

Can't take dogs in anymore! Called by to buy seed potatoes and bulbs and have a coffee with my dog, now they're not allowed. So I'll take my business elsewhere.

Excellent garden centre. Good selection of healthy plants. Nicely set out inside and outside. Cafe is small but great coffee and very nice cakes.

Disinterested. Says closes 5.30, but doesn't say Café (for just a toastie,) closes at 4, especiallyas its the Cafés that keep garden centres going. Shame. Won't bother agai else

Great garden centre..able to buy lots of bedding plants...plus have a cuppa too!!!!

We find the cafe at Conkers the nicest spot for lunch. The food is fresh and tasty and the staff are helpful and kind. Good accessibility and you can eat outside if you fancy.

Neat and tidy layout. Plentiful displays. Nice cafe.