Garden Room Café in Tandridge

I used to come to the garden centre regularly for the baby sensory classes and always got lunch in the cafe and highly rated it. We came back today to do the Discovery Land walk and lunch. I was horrified to see the changes to the cafe. It was loud, over crowded and chaotic. Service was appalling. It took over an hour to get a hot chocolate and coffee, which is completely unacceptable. Our food order arrived after about 45 minutes and we were told our drinks were just coming. They didn’t arrive until well after we had finished eating. There were far too many customers and orders for the handful of staff, and so the water, napkins etc kept running out and they were too rushed to notice. There was no warning upon ordering that there was a long wait. Overall poorly managed and would not spend money here again.

This is a place I have regularly visited for years with family and friends but the now overpriced and extremely limited offer and the unbelievably noisy environment is really putting me off from going again. The food quality is generally fine for regular items but it is the very limited menu that is a real problem. This is particularly so for vegans options, and even more limited than before. Ordered an extra slice of sourdough with the vegan option and it was delivered spread with butter! And the sourdough is so tough to cut it is almost impossible. Another regular also warned my friend to avoid this when chatting in the queue. There are items on offer, but not on the menu, such as soup of the day which is advertised at the counter but not listed in the menu so we only noticed this as a choice when we saw another table being delivered bowls of soup. Even the specials menu appears to have disappeared, restricting the offer further. The major renovation works have created a closed in space that is just an echo chamber which is extremely unpleasant to sit in, particularly noticeable when there are children in the cafe. Now finding new places to go as having stuck with Priory through the renovation works I can’t see the situation improving any time soon. In fact it just seems to get worse!

So I'll start on a positive, they have recently had a facelift and the restaurant looks amazing, to be honest I thought it looked great before but they've obviously spent some money on making it now the best that it can be. Then we come to the food. As a family we used to come here a lot and it was always the highlight when we visited to do the discovery trail. Now the menu is not great, choice is poor and it's gone downhill in my opinion. I came here with my children, I managed to get them something but there was literally nothing on the menu I liked (and I'm not fussy at all) whereas when we used to come there were multiple choices and it was hard to choose. The food quality may still be nice (I'd expect it to be for what they charge) but if the choice isn't there then you are not going to order. We went at 1pm and there was one sandwich/baguette left at the front counter. Whoever has made the decision to limit the menu, I really hope it backfires only so they bring back more of a selection as this restaurant was one of our go-tos but sadly no longer.

Very disappointing experience. So noisy, conversation was practically impossible. Food - Even the healthy filling of spinach and feta was encased in pastry and we could not have that as it ran out as we ordered. This was early 12.00 ish so not late. Everything else was cake or sausage roll. Took a long time to bring coffee and cake!! Outside on the terrace the grey sofas were dirty and stained. Will not be returning. Suggestion - Rubber feet should be put on chairs so they do not make so much noise when moved. Suggestion - notice put up to encourage parents to control their children's Not to be behaviour. This is not a playground!

What a disappointment! Priory Farm has always been a favourite for our family but not any more. I don't know who has hijacked the menu or if the chef has changed but today's offerings were distinctly underwhelming. The previous menu had a choice of jacket potatoes with a variety of fillings, likewise with the sandwiches on offer. Not any more. The choice is limited with small portions for the high prices charged. We won't be back.

It is a lovely cafe, much improved, but sadly the plates were warmer than the food on it. The scrambled eggs were plentiful but cold and my poached egg brioche - the eggs were colder than the plate, not a good start. We are very much against food waste so we ate it anyway, even though it was cold. The tea for two (a teapot) was brought quickly but the pot was only 3/4 full, so we sent it back for a top up. That might be a policy due to H&S but maybe the pot could be bought with an extra pot of boiling water for topping up.

I found Priory a couple of years ago and have observed the extension and changes they have made. We were there on a Monday for breakfast with not too many young children around. 2 of us settled for Smoked Salmon and Scrambled eggs and one...

We have been there twice now...lovely location with great views across lush green fields. The garden centre boasts some very knowledgable staff who can't be more helpful. We ended up buying two plants that would be suitable in our shaded garden spot and all because...

Took my elderly mother here for lunch and cannot praise it enough. Plenty of parking and lovely airy restaurant . The staff were friendly and attentive . The food was really good value, large portions and all freshly prepared. My mum had the quiche salad...

Always busy because of the children's play area. Often difficult to park anywhere near the building and rough gravel drives. £7 for a slice of quiche. £8 for a salad. £5 for a kid's portion of sausage, chips and beans. Very poor value for money...

We visited the Priory to go on the Discovery Walk with the kids. We decided to go into the garden centre to have a look around and for the kids to play in the outdoor play area. We decided to stay and have lunch there...

The eating area was very busy, on ordering mine & my 3 Grandchildrens food the girl staff asked if I had a table? No but I'm sure I'll find one I said, she then said if yve not got one I can't serve you &...

We went there as it is now 10 mins down the road. Not having been before we were pleasantly surprised. The nursery is well laid out and lots of people on hand to give advice. We had lunch outside and our kids played in the...

Nice little drive into the country, great service and coffee whilst kids can play outside. Also has the option of picnic benches outside so plenty of fresh air and an outside server doing mainly drinks. Can get a little busy at times

Used to come here a-lot, but what a change, and not for the better! this used to be a lovely cosy place to come and lovely food. They have made the cafe side bigger, i presume to cater for all the mothers and children, as...

A large garden centre plus farm shop and cafe plus some activities. we went to the cafe attached to the nursery, very large and airly and on a sunny day, very nice indeed. Reasonable variety, good food and service. Lots of room for kids and...

Thought I would go for breakfast and coffee - to give the place a another chance since my last visit in July 2015... and I was closeby - what a MISTAKE!!!! Upon arrival I was met with at least 20-30 mums with kids running around,...

lovely scrambled eggs and salmon. Good value and quick service. The café is now huge and can be a little noisy but overall I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and a quick browse. Please get rid of the brown cups and have some lovely white ones!!

This place is not a regular place I visit and although there clearly has been a lot of money spent on it of late the open plan design and the large windows (which open up completely) have meant that the cafe is now very noisy...

After a mad weekend, we decided to reward ourselves with a lunch out. Opted for Americano, Priory Burger (with cheese & bacon) and fries. Bill came to £26 which to be honest seemed quite fair when we the saw and tasted the food. Prompt service,...

Now that this Cafe had been vastly extended and modernised, it is a good place to go at lunchtime for a bowl of homemade soup. However they have now started doing Sunday Brunch with Jazz. When we went the place was packed. We had to...

I took all my children to celebrate my mums 78th birthday, for afternoon tea. It was very expensive, the sandwiches were crusty and in very short supply, the cakes were very rich and not very tasty

Fantastic Burgers, great children's selection, really nice home made soups and all served with a smile. Prices very reasonable indeed. The Café is situated in the Garden Nursery and has seating both inside and in a pleasant outdoor area. There's lots of different seating from...