Gardener's Retreat in Gedling

Really sad to see the demise of this once great centre. Now a self service restaurant and staff who don’t seem to have any customer service skills. The cappuccino lacked lustre and coffee! Peppermint tea had bits in and when returned we were told that these were to be expected as if we’d never seen one before. The Brie bacon and chutney ciabatta was dry with hardly any taste or Brie or chutney!!! The garden centre used to have great displays giving ideas for garden planning. All that’s gone and helpful staff appear to have been replaced with unenthusiastic people. The beautiful hedges have been removed - not sure why as you’re not going to be busy if you keep taking this approach. Really sad to see and I’ll be visiting other more personable centres in the area in future. Steer clear is my advice.

Not been here for a long time but the changes made are so nice we had breakfast it was lovely and hot . Friendly staff and quick service . It was the same in the garden centre when getting our plants. So decided to go again the week after it was bank holiday Monday we had breakfast was the same nice service and hot and got more plants.

Terrible changes to what used to be a favourite meeting place. Poor and expensive food and the change to self service was the final straw. I used to visit at least weekly with different elderly friends. We liked it because we were served at our table and the staff were cheerful and friendly. The food used to be great with specials every day. Now we are expected to wait in a line to be served, struggle with our drinks to a table and the food is really really bad. We have voted with our feet there are many other nice places to eat in the area. Although we visited for the cafe we always walked around the garden centre and could never leave without buying something. So I think the garden centre is losing out too.

On arrival the restaurant wasn't that busy. I ordered food, but not drinks immediately as my husband knew from experience, having taken his mother previously, that there's a gap between getting drinks and receiving food. Counter staff were polite enough but not that swift to serve. There seemed to be plenty of staff, however even though it wasn't that busy, there were a lot of tables full of used crockery. l noticed that when food was brought out, the staff members went back empty handed ....surely a good opportunity to clear tables. Many of the staff seemed quite young so surely it's down to training. I could say more, but having read other reviews , that seems pointless, as obviously the management don't seem to take notice and try to improve things.

Dreadful changes made recently. More like a works canteen. You now have to queue to place your order instead of a waitress visit, that's not totally unusual, however, but you then have to wait for your drinks to be made & you have to take them back to your table yourself whilst staff stand around & watch you trying to maneuver through the maze of tables. I actually witnessed an elderly lady struggle with a tray of hot drinks with another elderly lady guiding her. You then have to find the communal cutlery tray that every customer before you have had their fingers around. On top of all that the 'Apple Pie' I ordered (£6.29) came a good 10 minutes after our other 2 diners meals & quite honestly was pathetic for the price. It basically was an over cooked 3 inch pastry triangle with apple filling & custard. When I confronted a waitress to show her the miseable 'Apple Tart' she curly responded "That's our Apple Pie". It certainly wasn't anything like the Apple Pie I had there a couple of months ago. Sorry, but they won't be seeing me in there again.

Called in way past and had long wait to order. Sandwiches were in cheap dry bread and poor value at £8 each. Won’t be back. Very disappointing.

Have not been here for a number of years but as we were going to visit the circus we decided to stop here to have breakfast first. I’d not seen the bad reviews before coming and my experience was a positive one. Friendly staff, quick service and a lovely breakfast.

After twenty or more years of being fairly regular customers here (at the then Timmermans' Garden Centre) our visit for coffee and cake this morning was the last time. It's been going downhill ever since the business was sold on and although we've given it a fair few chances, nothing has improved. This morning, our coffee was served so far in advance of the arrival of our food (a toasted teacake and a slice of toast - not exactly the most time consuming items to prepare) that it had cooled considerably. The waiting staff didn't seem interested in serving us, indeed spent much time together behind the counter talking to each other, and the food took far too long to arrive. Even when the bell from the kitchen pinged to announce its readiness, the waiter took a while to summon up the energy to walk across and collect it. I'd ordered toast as the cake in the display looked dry and synthetic: surely no one can get toast wrong? Unless it's burnt, which mine was, in part, rendering the crust too challenging to attempt. From our table, we could see into the kitchen where there seemed to be very little activity to explain the twenty minutes we had waited to be served. Having had plenty of time to look around while our food was prepared, I couldn't help but focus on the glass panel between us and the kitchen, which was spattered and smeary, the cutlery, in a metal bucket on the table, leading me to wonder how many people might have touched it before me, ( Is this acceptable after all the lessons we learned during the pandemic?) and the number of empty tables at 11 o'clock-ish, peak time for late breakfasts and mid-morning coffee. Where have all the customers who used to throng here gone? It used to be so popular here, especially on a Saturday morning. We hadn't expected Claridges but smiling staff, prompt service and simple food served well wasn't too much to ask, was it? Our visit won't be an experience my husband and I will repeat. It's so sad to see a local-to-us, previously thriving business

Gutted. This place used to be really nice when it was Timmermans. It’s awful now. Dirty restaurant. The food is diabolical. No ambiance. Not a smile to be seen and the staff are better suited to working behind the scenes. No wonder it was almost empty on what should have been a busy Saturday morning. Definitely won’t be back.

Staff on the surly side. Got our drinks quite quickly. The still water was in a plastic sports bottle that you have to squirt into your glass. Still waiting for our food order 30 mins later. We asked how much longer our food would be and was told they were busy & it would be next to be cooked. Other people who came in after us were already eating their lunch. We decided that we had waited enough, paid for our drinks and left. We had arrived before the lunch time rush so no idea how long you would have to wait if you arrived later than twelve.

The restaurant here is poor, dirty sloppy and uncaring . As you arrive at the “wait here sign” you’re ignored, service is at best slow , food is below average. There was cutlery on the floor , litter behind the servery , cobwebs everywhere and dusty light fittings . Not recommend!