Dobbies Garden Centre Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

Haven't been here for a couple of years, (wasn't impressed then) called in with a friend because it was conveniently situated. 2pm no cups or teapots, they were in the dishwasher! They don't close until 5pm. Not very good organisation. We had to make do with mugs, these are for coffee as far as I am concerned. The young staff preparing the drinks were harrassed. There weren't that many customers in either. Goodness knows how they would cope with a rush! The cafe is STILL dark, drap, dingy and unwelcoming. The Baked potatoes were fine. The cafe could take lessons from Plants Plus regarding how to run a food outlet. They are second to none. We most certainly will not be back, even if Dobbies doesn't ear mark it for closure!

Lots of meals and snacks to choose from. The restaurant was very clean and the tables were plenty and well spaced out. We all had scones and they were very good. Worth dropping in and do a bit of shopping whilst there as some lovely things to see/buy

Terrible food, served by staff who could not care less, none cracked a single smile. Had lasagne, advertised as coming with side salad, coleslaw and garlic bread. Watery lasagne, a couple of bits of tomato and a bit of lettuce, barely a garnish let alone a side salad, no coleslaw. Garlic bread tiny and also stale. I'll never eat there again, awful place. Garden centre and aquarium great as always and really handy but either ditch the restaurant or spend some time at least trying to get it up to the standard of the Dobbies in ponteland!!!

I took my daughter and grandchildren for lunch and was incredibly disappointed and appalled with the food.Over the top prices too! Toasted ham and cheese sandwich ,only toasted on one side,cheese not melted and looked plastic.awful nasty coleslaw and few bits of tomato that made the plate wet .there soggy bread underneath. Baked potato with prawns ,insipid prawns in mayonnaise ,should be Marie Rose sauce surely,no butter on potato.Basic tuna sandwich I had was ok but certainly not worth £8.29, kids lunch included just 2 little sandwich triangles ,staff were fine but somebody needs to sort out the kitchen and buy a proper sandwich toaster.Not acceptable

The restaurant lets the store down, the food is very expensive and of poor quality. Fish and cold chips £14 no way. Plenty of half eaten food left especially the chips. Table clearing and cleaning a joke. Floors need a good steaming and several seat covers torn and a mess. Prices must be high to pay for the free coffee. Staff not friendly and slow, the manager needs to investigate or they will loose customers. Miller and Carter nearby are cheaper so that tells the story here. This is legalised robber especially on the pensioners who frequent this restaurant. Bring back Peter Barrett’s who knew how to run a good restaurant

Garden centre's ok but you'd have to pay me to eat there again. Veggie sausages so dry I couldn't get my knife through them, everything else was wet. I'm really not sure how you remove all flavour from mash and veg but achieved it they did. I had hoped the gravy would disguise the pool of water on my plate from their lack of training with a slotted spoon but no, that too was bereft of flavour and substance. Never thought I'd willingly pay £12 for a plate of cardboard and water.

Eating area was unclean & tables left uncleared floor was thick of dirty fluff Waited in queue for 35 minutes not staffs fault as 2 staff were taking orders making coffee taking payment plus delivering meals to table horrendous

Decent selection of cakes and pastries. However, if you are looking for a quick service, you'll be disappointed. Not enough staff, very slow service and a lukewarm breakfast makes this a forgettable experience. It seems to be the same in Birtley although they do seem a little more pleasant. I won't hurry back.

Visited here as my wife is coeliac and we'd seen that dobbies offered a range of gluten free choices including fish and chips. Ordered our food and confirmed with the first staff members that the fish and chips was gluten free so then joined the queue to order hot drinks. If not familiar with the set up you order food at one station and then join the queue to order drinks. Some of the food is made up in the kitchen whereas other parts are under heat lamps at the front. This includes the chips so when we saw chicken nuggets (not gf) neing dropped into the chips we started asking questions around cross contamination ie same chips as the gf option? is the fish and chips fried seperate or in the same fryer as everyhting else? Staff no clue. Wife unable to risk cross contamination so we cancelled this part of the order. Shame as it did look nice and we are just round the corner. On the flipside the lasagna my daughter had was to her taste.

Restaurant = same story time and time again. Surly service, cold chips, roll still half frozen, fatty ham, filthy dog friendly area (and it's not the dogs!). HOWEVER, as far as the shop itself goes, easy to find huge bargains - Regatta Fleece reduced from £44.00 to £13.00 and shop floor staff as nice as pie. I really don't get it, its as if the shop and restaurant are two entirely different entities? If the restaurant were to be improved, then I would imaging trade would double!.

Second review for this place. Finally managed to get a lasagne. It was the most disgusting lasagne we’ve ever had. It was watery and tasteless and literally served boiling in its dish. 2 lasagne and 2 diet cokes £26. I don’t mind paying for decent food but this was a Total rip off for the quality provided. Never going back (klaxon sounding).

Visited the centre and restaurant and was shocked at how run down it was. Had a long wait to be served coffee. We had picked up an ice cream from freezer at entrance of restaurant and got to the till eventually to be told we had to pay for ice cream at main tills. The male member of staff said “I don’t make the rules mate”!!! So my husband had to go to main tills and then come back. Tables were dirty and not cleared. So sad to see what was always such a busy restaurant in such a disgraceful state

It's a running joke that this place calls itself a restaurant. More like a training camp for the terminally depressed. One of the membership "benefits" of the Dobbies franchise is the vouchers and concessions in the eatery/canteen. But it has the atmosphere of a sad nursing home, the staff always appear put-upon and inconvenienced by customers and the manager must half the cake portion sizes every few months as, like the service, they're mean and miserable. That said, the opening hours vs opening reality is such a mis-match that you're lucky to be served at all. We dashed over, through the rain, for a coffee and treat at 5pm yesterday. The place is supposed to stay open as long as the store is open. But there was no signs of life and the cupboards were shuttered. Apparently the staff didn't fancy getting wet so shut early. The staff in the garden centre treat it as if it's an embarrassment. What is going on?

What an absolute shambles. Understaffed maybe but the existing staff are so slow and miserable. Almost had my tea pot thrown at me. Had to stand in a queue for almost 15 minutes for a tea and scone. Obviously some were waiting for hot food but at least take customers ahead who are only having a drink. Some left the queue and put their food back. Unhygienic to say the least. Tables weren’t cleared and the cafe itself messy. Come on Gosforth look to Ponteland Dobbies for inspiration. Not good enough. Thought once Dobbies took over from Peter Barrett there would be an improvement. Way worse. By the time we eventually left the queue was out of the cafe area and in to the store.

Thought we would try this out as we’re up there shopping for plants and it was convenient. Ordered a fish finger sandwich and the £7.50 price was well over priced for what it was. The fish finders were of the cheapest quality and were tasteless however the redeeming factor was the side salad which was plentiful and tasty with the dressing they used. My wife had a cheese sandwich which she said was fine but the tea bags they use in the tea pots must be poor quality as the tea was very diluted. The restaurant like many have said was very untidy with tables littered but the service we received was very polite and helpful.

If I could score this ZERO I would of done. Visited for a breakfast catch up last Tuesday. It had only been open 30 minutes when we arrived. First 3 trays had dirty cup marks and remains of someone else’s food on. Only sausage and bacon available. Full menu advertised on boards and website Cheap, over cooked sausage full of grizzle that I had the pleasure of being charged for. Bacon you could of bounced off the floor once you’d removed the thick fat. Staff that have zero customer service skills. Filthy tables and seats with the floor littered with food, tissues and layers of dust/dirt The whole area needs closing and given a deep clean!

I was disgusted at the cafe staff ordered me out of there cafe today because I had my dog a small chihuahua in my coat as she is a therapy dog she shouted quite rudely at us to get out not asking shouting they had hardly any hot food on and only 2 choices she rudely shouted them out then shouted at myself to get out not happy and not pet friendly at all ...the shop floor staff are amazing and very polite but i will definitely NOT be going back to the so called cafe or pet friendly dobies

It was our first and last visit to Dobbies for breakfast, before I ordered the waitress behind the counter was plating food for other customers, she used the same tongs for sausage, bacon and mushrooms. When it was my turn to order sausage sandwiches for me and my husband I pointed out that as I am highly allergic to mushroom could I pleased have some fresh sausage and clean tongs, she wasn't happy but did as I asked. All food should have separate tongs for the health and safety reasons...

I’d give 0 stars if I could. This is one only the worst cafes I’ve ever been to. The service is a complete shambles! We waited in a queue for 15 minutes, there was very little food on show and what was looked dry and as though it had been out all day. We wondered persevered thinking maybe we’d be able to get something made for us. When we were nearly at the till a member of staff started asking people towards the back of the queue if they’d like to order food. She ignored us. When we did get to the till they didn’t have anything I could eat or would want. I’m gluten intolerant so can’t have everything. After the long wait I ended up with a cup of tea and was really hungry. The place was also really dirty, I’m surprised they haven’t got in trouble for it. Tables weren’t clean, surrounding tables still covered in plates. Just not a great environment. I didn’t bother with my tea and left. I won’t be back again.

Oh my word..what to say about this ... I have never seen cafe staff move so slowly. 20 minutes in front of 4 other people waiting to pay and get coffee. We actually ordered food and after 20 minutes left. We saw food put under hot lamps which had salad on them. Terrible. Don't bother going here as life is precious and you will waste your time waiting for hot drinks and dried up food. Apparently they didn't even have saucers for cups today. Just close the cafe and fill it with plants. Probably the best option really.

store is lovely, aquatics fab, cafe the dregs, wait in a huge queue, note food isn't refreshed once, get 2 over priced Christmas baps, chips and coffees, everything was tepid, nothing was hot, nothing was fresh, how the hell can they fail to make hot coffee when you're stood in front of them!! managers excuse but we're busy !! I didn't mention waiting in a long queue, waiting ages for food , there was no excuse for cold food and coffee. it's truly disgusting hot turkey bap and gravy all cold, one lady returning her chips because they were cold had a staff member yell to the kitchen she wants them microwaved.....erm no the lady didn't say that at all !!! truly terrible and there's not any excuse to charge a small fortune for substandard , cold, food and drinks.....do yourselves a favour go to ponteland

£27.80 for two meals. Ham, egg, chips okay (plenty of fat on the ham 'though). Sunday roast = £10.75. Served at 14:14. So, what we got was a tepid/cold bit of brisket, completely inedible Yorkshire Pudding (Too hard to chew) and an assorted slush mix of gravy and unidentifiable vegetables. Clearly this slop had been sitting there since the lunch service started at 12 midday. If Dobbies want to serve leftovers, at least have the decency to reduce the price - although even an 80% discount would not have been worth it. 'Why didn't you take it back?', too embarrased as had started to eat the brisket which although cold was edible. Look - money is tight for everyone these days. Too tight for us to chuck away over a tenner for bad food. Very bad!

Stopped off in the cafe for a quick latte which was lovely, it was half 4 so really quiet but not a great choice of food, we wanted a cheese scone to accompany our drink but wasn’t to be, lots of tables in need of clearing but appeared to be short staffed, didn’t affect our visit as we just moved the empties from our preferred table & enjoyed the peace & our caffeine!

We enjoyed our lunch. Staff were helpful. Hot and cold food still both available at 2.30 pm. Lots of free tables inside. Forgot to take my loyalty card and the staff can’t look up your membership (Eg name address, without your membership number apparently) so missed out on loyalty points. The garden centre was very quiet but has a huge selection of goods in addition to plants. Sainsburys in store also has more of a farm shop feel with goods not usually found in the supermarket. A nice visit.