Harvester, Ravenswood in Ipswich

I have been visiting this particular restaurant for years and it has always been good. Unfortunately this time I visited it was terrible. The restaurant has been declining for a while and this last visit on 27th October is likely to be my last one. When we got there I observed that the restaurant was only about 35% full. It was a Sunday evening and is to be expected. We were placed at a table and given menus. After about 15 minutes nobody had come back to even ask if we wanted drinks or to take our order. We went back to the main desk and asked to be moved to a different table stating that we were being forgotten. The staff said we weren't, it was just that a big table in the other end of the restaurant had been monopolising their time. I looked and this was only a table of 8 people - not exactly huge. Finally we were asked for our order, which was taken. We had been in the restaurant about 20 minutes by now. The restaurant was very cold and a lot of people were complaining. At one point the duty manager asked my wife to move so she could reach the temperature controls. Unbelievably these are located up high on a column. The manager had to reach them by standing on the seat! When done she didn't even wipe the seat where she had been standing, which was where my wife was originally sitting. We were given bowls for the salad bar. When I got there everything was very depleted. Some things had completely run out. All the sauces were empty. Appalling. We were then becoming acutely aware of the female chef standing at front of house. She was being loud, crashing around, talking constantly at full volume and flirting with other staff members. She was knocking back Red Bull like there was no tomorrow. I think she must have been on acid or something. It was making the atmosphere very uncomfortable. Even the other staff were complaining about her! After about another half an hour there was no sign of our meals. They again seemed to be concentrating solely on the 'big' table of 8. Food for this table was coming out sporadically and was being lined up on the counter for collection. Some of the plates were sitting there for at least 10 minutes with people walking past, the mad chef talking constantly and breathing all over them. I don't know about anyone else, but when a plate is ready I would expect it to be taken straight to the table. I was shocked. We were there for 50 minutes in total and this charade seemed never ending. By the end of it we were thoroughly pissed off with the atmosphere, staff attitude, lack of attention and having been there for 50 minutes with no sign of food in a restaurant that was only at 35% capacity. I also observed other customers being ignored in a similar manner. At this point we had had enough and got up and walked out. The staff weren't even apologetic - it was almost like they were glad to see the back of us. The whole experience was shocking. It was a Sunday evening and I get the impression that the staff didn't care and just wanted to get home. The salad bar being practically empty is also unacceptable - I expect to have the same level of service at any time of the week, as we are being charged the same amount regardless. The staff looked scruffy too. Many tables were not properly cleaned. This whole experience was dreadful and has completely put me off eating out. Shame on you Harvester - continue like this and you'll be out of business.

Very upset with the service tonight. Upon arrival it took 5 minutes for someone to 'welcome' us and sit us down. The young man who did welcome us barely uttered a word and just threw our menus on the table and disappeared never to be seen again. No welcome or have you been here before or even basic courtesy. We were sat next to an open door with a horrible draft coming in. We asked to be moved and to be fair this was accommodated by another member of staff. We then sat there for another 30 minutes without any service whatsoever. Multiple members of staff walked past our table and not one tried to serve us and I could hear the floor staff and chefs arguing over someone who hadn't been served food for over 70 minutes which I hope isn't true. To make it worse I could see members of staff over by the bar chatting away with each other ehisly tables were not being cleared and thebines that were werent cleaned to any sort of standard. If the restaurant was busy I could maybe understand the wait but it was only half full. We eventually chose to leave the restaurant after 30 minutes of being ignored and upon notifying a member of staff of this all they could say was 'oh sorry' there was no attempt to rectify the issue whatsoever. I very rarely leave reviews but this was appalling. I don't know what's happening at this restaurant but its going down hill compared to what we've experienced there before. We will definitely never be returning.

Gemma was very attentive and ensured that our orders were taken with care and sought to help us when we needed a menu change. A great staff member who served with such a pleasant demeanour.

Two main meal selections had to he changed due to lack of stock. Salad bar 3/4 empty, very slow to be restocked. Main course took 60mins tocarrive from placement of order. Oncarrivalcwe were warned service 'might be a little slow due to lack of staff', but 60mins to deliver two main courses from order is not 'a little slow' it is 'non existent'. Very poor.

Such a positive atmosphere. our server kat was amazing and very attentive. sarah, gavin and dale cooked the food to perfection! Thank you very much guys!

Came in for lunch our waitress kat was very helpful & lovely person.. our food was cooked perfectly thankyou Sara. Also salad had plenty of options to choose from definitely be back again

lovely place to eat for my grandmothers birthday, Karen our waiter was 10/10!

Lovely food, great, friendly service. The lovely waitress Lola W offer to us an excellent customer service. I really appreciate it! I also got a discount for signing up to their email database, which was a pleasant surprise and made it even more enjoyable. Recommended!

We were greeted by a friendly member of staff (red shirt) who made us feel welcomed. She answered our queries and showed us to our table. Sky served us who was very friendly and explained to us where to find everything. Food was delicious. Thank you Holly.

Excellent service and great chicken thankyou Maddy for making our visit so good

Amazing! Loved Karen, amazing service from her(especially regarding my onion allergy) Riley cooked up the most amazing food, would 100% be back to see them both again!! Thank you guys for making my birthday meal so magical🤍

Had a lovely meal and was served by a really lovely lady Lola. She went above and beyond and was really friendly. Thank you

Used to be good. Take away orders never ready on time for collection.

We recently stopped by Harvester for breakfast, and it was a delightful way to start the day. Our server, Louise, was fantastic—welcoming, cheerful, and attentive without being intrusive. She quickly got us settled and made sure our drinks were always full, while also giving great recommendations from the breakfast menu. The breakfast itself, cooked by Chef Riley, was impressive. I went for the classic breakfast, and everything was cooked to perfection—the eggs were just right, the bacon crispy, and the sausages packed with flavour. The hash browns were crispy and golden. You can tell Riley puts effort into making a hearty, well-prepared breakfast. The laid-back, cozy atmosphere added to the experience, making it a perfect spot to enjoy a relaxed breakfast. Between Louise’s friendly service and Riley’s excellent cooking, it’s a breakfast I’d happily come back for. If you're looking for a satisfying and well-cooked start to your day, Harvester won’t disappoint!

What a fabulous dining experience. Friendly greeting and chatted whilst walking us to our table. Our server Jackie was delightful. So cheerful, friendly and helpful. Food was amazing and general feel of the place is extremely welcoming. Visited today for lunch and Faye was so friendly and welcoming. Our choices were complicated but she calmly took our order and kept her good humour throughout. Food was amazing - hot and very tasty. Totally recommend a visit.

Our server Louise was wonderful and friendly. Food was speedy and so was the coffee refills! Overall a calm and chilled atmosphere. And food was tasty- thanks holly/jack

The food here consistently offers great value for money. Not only are the prices reasonable, but the quality and portion sizes also make it a worthwhile dining experience every time.

Prices gone up a lot! staff seem really unhappy. used to go regularly but won't be rushing back

It was great. Louise was very friendly and helpful also thank you so the kitchen team especially holly

Had a very enjoyable meal and drinks, paid contactless, wanted to cash tip but server had disappeared.

Lovely service from Louise and food was great. Clean and modern surroundings. Food was cooked by Holly and was perfect 👌

Fantastic food and wonderful staff and clean and tidy

Cold restaurant. Salad bar lacking items. New menu not as good. Not good value for money any more. Shame as had been good on many previous occasions.

Double yoke, lovely breakfast 😋

Back to its pre covid style restaurant, self serve salad with reasonable choice. The main meal came up quickly and was fresh cooked and hot. The restaurant was clean and looked recently refurbished. Can cope with large groups if pre booked. Sundays there is a set menu with 2 courses for £18 or 3 course option £20. Refillable soft drinks are available with lots of options but are £4.30 a glass, so make sure you can drink more than 1 glass if you choose this. Returned yesterday to eat. Menu has changed slightly, now serving corn bread instead of corn on the cob.

Food was ok, burger bun needed to be toasted as it fell to bits. Air-conditioning was on and the food got cold very quickly and myself and partner was feeling the chill. But can't fault the waitress, friendly

Lovely friendly place. Food well presented and very tasty.

Poor service, staff were miserable, grumpy and blunt. Limited menu, salad bar not replenished and food when it arrived was cold, wish I'd turned around and walked out again 😅

We had the most amazing time. Never been here before and believe us, the food was awesome, so too the service and with a smile. Main courses exquisite. I ordered the new edition desert, choux bun and highly recommend it, apple pie and custard for my husband, best ever. Well done to all the staff (and that includes the behind the scenes Potwash).

Food was so nice but the service is painfully slow , we literally sat around for ages trying to get servers attention so we could order desserts and get the bill , then took about 40 minutes to get anyone to come over ,we eneded up asking to get the desserts to take away and somehow that was going to take even longer , multiple tables who came in after us got their food before and desserts before we did . We spoke to the server who said it was taking longer because they had lots of orders now coming in but we'd been in there waiting around for 2 and a half hours total, I wouldn't of minded as much if they were really busy but they had so many empty tables . Won't be back , it's such a shame 😕

Very quiet when we visited (4 ish)service was prompt and polite, menu and quality on par with similar establishments. Covid rules seem to have been correctly applied. Will no doubt use again.

Lovely food Outstanding service

We’ve visited here twice and both times have been great. Lovely staff who are friendly and efficient. Food is amazing, cooked by the chef Riley. Will definitely be back !

Brilliant customer service highly recommend from start to finish Sarah was truly amazing ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️ beautiful food... 😍

Poor service, especially manger

We went here as stupidly we thought it was still an unlimited breakfast. Which is no longer the case, but got it wrong gotta be strong. We ordered what were well priced items, then told they don't do exchanges for food items. I don't like mushrooms, tomatoes or black pudding so that's 3 items I wouldn't have off the large breakfast. The server he managed to get some extras thrown on which was good on him. The coffee wasn't that fantastic, the apple juice was over priced and not unlimited anymore either. There are no crumpets or self serve cereal items After the table was cleared it took me ten minutes of trying to get the 2 people on shifts attention to pay. In the end I was fed up and went to the bar, just tapping contactless I walked out, then checked my receipt and the coffee was over charged by £1, and the juice £1.30. All in all we won't be returning and stupidly enough there is a table carvery next door which no doubt will still order their food from brakes or other frozen food equivalent. At least it's cheaper and I can help myself.

Really beautifully cooked chicken quarter with delicious chips. Good salad bar to choose from and good service. An enjoyable meal.

Always a friendly welcome, great salad bar and home from home atmosphere!

All round fantastic experience. Food was delicious and service was spot on (Thanks Fleur)

Slow, poor service and cold restaurant. Wasn’t asked for allergies on entry or by sever. Made sure to research before hand which was a good job as they didn’t ask at all. The restaurant was freezing cold and appeared to be short staffed as service was rushed with the waitress barely stopping by table to place the order and walking off whilst we are placing that order. Food was good however. Overall, Service lacking and having to ask for plates to be cleaned and for a desert menu after not seeing server for 30 mins shows the lack of attention given to tables.

Great for eating in never had a bad experience. Ordered my usual breakfast on Uber eats and the hash brown was mouldy and looked like someone had eaten it and the eggs seemed to be soaked in water making it inedible. Really disappointing

Had a 40% offer on mains , so we went this evening for dinner. Im coeliac so I just scan the barcode on the menu taking me to glass onion. I put my allergy, coeliac into the filter but had no results. Took the filter off, boom, it showed me all the allergens for that particular restaurant Our waitress Lola W was amazing, friendly, polite and understood my condition. She offered to get me salad from the kitchen to avoid the cross contamination from the salad bar, brilliant. The food was lovely, Holly . yummy juicy chicken and crisp chips When's the next offer ?!

Lovely food, great, friendly service and the salad bar was amazing. Also got a discount for signing up to their email database, which was a pleasant surprise and made it even more enjoyable. Only fault, it got very hot inside once it got busy, but that didn't take away from the great service from a very bubbly and happy waitress.

Tried a takeaway today, most was over cooked to be honest

My wife and I had the original combo. The ribs and chicken were moist and tasty. Didn’t think much of the sage and onion fries, would just go for plain next time The corn on the cob was seriously overcooked. We shared a lemon sundae - plenty for two and the ice cream was delicious. Toilets were clean,and odour-free. Overall a good meal experience.

The ribs were mouth watering we all wanted more.

Great food! I had the rump steak and my mum had the Camembert tart and we both thoroughly enjoyed our meals. Our server Jackie was so polite and friendly as well as being very attentive and efficient. Definitely recommend for a dinner out!

Helpful staff Original combo great but chips came without sage and onion. Otherwise all good.

Everyone was super happy with food, gotta love the salad bar too! Service was fantastic for a chain. Bit noisy but it was at peak dinner time.

We live nearby so chose to have evening meal here so my wife didn’t have to cook evening meal ( I’m a lousy cook). Great food with excellent service from Imogen at the table and Sarah in the kitchen. A nice young chap also went of shift before we could thank him for his service. Relaxed but friendly atmosphere in here which means we have another option for occasional meals.

Very tasty food and very good value for money, we enjoyed our meal there so a recommended place to eat.

Lovely meal for a birthday meal and lovely staff. Karen was super attentive and helpful. She’s a credit to your company. Will definitely be returning

Fantastic service provided by Jackie at the Ipswich restaurant. The friendliness, enthusiasm and passion for looking after her customers was second to none. The manager should be very proud of having a team member like her. Food was delicious as always, thank you Sarah and Riley.

Despite being two chefs down this evening, the manager, Ewan, was absolutely great. His team were very pleasant, happy and we were made to feel really well cared-for throughout our time in the restaurant tonight. We were kept well-informed of how long it would take every step of the way. It was our best visit to this Harvester restaurant compared the other Harvester restaurants that we’ve ever visited so far. We’re definitely going back again. Thank you, Ewan, and your lovely hard working team. Ian and Denise

Coeliac safe! Excellent food. Knowledgeable staff. Sam was fantastic. She was friendly and kind and really entertained our children. The chef’s Jack and Holly kept my son with his coeliacs disease safe and my step son and his sesame allergy safe. Thank you all so much. Brilliant job.

Overall eating at this restaurant was a pleasure from beginning to end. I want to especially thank our waitress Imogen for making our dinner experience very unforgettable. Her attention and kind approach complemented the meal and made us feel like valued guests. She is a great asset to the Harvester team and certainly took our experience to the next level.

It’s wonderful experience in Harvester.we enjoyed food and Louise and Sara so friendly.overall it was a nice experience.

Enjoyed a lovely meal, with plenty of vegan options available. Big shoutout to our server Imogen, she was very friendly and polite. Really great service!

We enjoyed a very nice meal at the harvester . Our waitress Imogen was bubbly , polite and very helpful. Although it was busy our food arrived in good time and we thoroughly enjoyed it . I liked the Sunday meal deal as had several choices .

Today I went into the harvester in Ipswich and I have to say a young lady called Louise served me very impressed with how helpful she was and so friendly, food and service was spot on will definitely be back

Had a lovely evening tonight at the harvester, we were a group of 10 and our server imagen was attentive and polite. Our meals were nice with good portions . Thank you for a pleasant evening

It’s wonderful experience in Harvest. We got superb hospitality from Louise and awesome food from the great chef Sara.

We are here for first time but Louise makes the service so friendly. And the food was awesome, thank you Sara.

Had a fantastic meal with my wife and two kids last night. The food was tasty and nicely cooked. Fantastic customer service by Nick at the end of evening, we bought some red devil sauce to take home and Nick was good enough to give us a container containing some honey and mustard dressing that wasn't available to buy, thank you

A great night out just make sure you're with Maddie! She's the best!

Has to be the friendliest, cleanest harvester I’ve ever been to. Faultless and very accommodating-just full of very very nice staff and food was cooked to perfection Nick the manager and Eve who served me were both lovely

Great service! The server, Georgia, was a very helpful server. Very polite and well mannered. The food was amazing, definitely would come again

1st time here , will defo be coming back, our server was Georgia who was very polite n helpful 5*

Had a wonderful meal with the family. Was served by Georgia, she was wonderful and extremely helpful! Such good food and a great atmosphere. Would definitely come again! I would like to thank Georgia for being a wonderful server 😊

Wow. I put a review on here two years ago that I had an excellent experience and that the service was amazing, this was my first time back since then and all I can say is that the quality in service and food has massively declined. Me and my partner ordered two burgers, I cannot remember the names but one had a hash brown in it and the other was a classic burger. The patties were so overdone, the bottom bun was so soggy to the point that when I picked up the burger it had stuck on the plate and was mushy like mash. The dirty fries are mediocre, the pulled pork is something straight from a can. This had nearly been my last straw as before I had waited 10 minutes for a salad bowl (it wasn’t busy) and had got fed up of waiting as no servers had come by so I got myself up and went to their station and had to get one myself. The servers themselves knew the food was rubbish and they were avoiding going to tables and asking how the food was at all costs as they knew exactly how everyone who had ordered a burger was feeling(as we only had burgers). The only time the server had come to my table is when we had finished eating our food which had about 2 bites taken out of it as it was just inedible. I didn’t bother saying anything as I knew the servers themselves are probably getting a crap wage and wasn’t in the mood for making their day harder, although their job is to make sure we are happy with our food and that didn’t happen. My main issue itself is with the cooks who seem like they either had 2 hours training in a kitchen or just don’t care about their jobs. The price that we paid for the quality of the food was not worth it AT ALL. I spoke to a family outside and they had said the same thing about the burgers and that they will not be going again, which is the exact same way that I feel too.

Freddie was a great server, the only disappointment was no chicken available on the menu.

My favourite restaurant. Always nice here, staff are very accommodating for allergies, and are polite. I love the salad bar and unlimited refills on soft drinks. Would recommend.

Very enjoyable experience. Staff are fantastic

We were served by Eve today who answered all our questions perfectly and made our visit very enjoyable, and as always the food was lovely!

Friendly staff, food cooked perfectly

Take you to Liv service team for the great service we received and Sarah the cook for the great food at Edith Cook way Ipswich.

Lovely food again from the Harvester. Staff were super friendly, especially our waitress Lola. Definitely recommend ☺️

Spending the week travelling around to visit friends and kayaking, after several hours driving we stopped at the Harvester as a walk in for a table for two. When we arrived we were told that they were fully booked but they squeezed us in regardless. The young lady serving us ( Sky) was helpful, cheerful and very attentive. We enjoyed our food and we had great service. Thank you very much to the team.

Fantastic service by Liv and great food cooked by Sarah. Great evening had for our party of 13.

Ate dinner here with friends tonight. I hadn’t been for a year or so. It’s definitely improved. Spotlessly clean, friendly helpful service from our waitress Faye. The food was tasty, well presented, good portion sizes & good value. Well worth a visit 😊

We have always been happy with meals at Harvester. Last visit was rather disappointing. The food was very poor quality. Kids meal’s burger was very tough and dry. Salad that came with the meal was old. Cucumbers cut thinly and we only got green skins and barely any flesh- they were also very dry so left out for all day. Peppers were slimy and carrots had black marks on them so not peeled properly. Salmon I ordered was poorly cooked. Floors were sticky and toilets were not clean with no toilet paper. The salad bar was nice though.

Lovely breakfast with ALL staff being polite & welcoming. A big thank you to the manager & kitchen staff for accommodating for my little boy too. 😀

Friendly and helpful staff (thanks Skye and Euan), and delicious food - I do love a nice free salad I can help myself to.

Excellent, freshly prepared food for a reasonable price. Excellent service and friendly waiters. Worth a try.

Great service, very dark inside and cold

Lovely place to eat and a very friendly staff.

The salad was very poor. No lettuce, no nachos, no tomato pasta, no pickled onions. No choice of salad at all! Gross brown, old lettuce leaf served up in my chicken burger! 🤢

Really nice food which was served really quickly and fresh by Chef Sarah. Plenty of staff all of whom were working well together and were polite and helpful. Our server was Sam and she was very lovely, putting up with our energetic children and random requests for food and desserts. Many thanks!!

Booking wes quick service was good saled was nice and rolls steak was great waitress was nice all good I would go again

Menu change - you can no longer build your own breakfast which was the main attraction for the breakfast menu. Consider adding a charge for those that waste food rather than scrapping it all together. Very slow service, had to chase drinks and then drinks missing. Food was good when arrived, all breakfast were spot on. Paid at bar and left with dirty plates on the table.

Sirloin steak was to die for. Great choice of veggie options. The restaurant was quite busy, but staff were still attentive and quick with orders.

Very nice staff and breakfast is very good 👍

Went for dinner. Waited over an hour for 4 basic meals, gammon, triple combo... Burnt Gammon, dried and hard peas, tomato had shrunk, the plates were under the heat lamp so long. The combo was anaemic. The southern fried chicken was harder than a day on a building site. The eggs were solid on the gammon and, oddly enough, the burnt side of the gammon was face down... Usually, harvesters are decent if not very good, but when the salad bar is missing most items including dressings, olives, carrot etc... Won't be coming back, disappointing, poor service in general and good not worth the money.

Awful. We go to Harvester a lot, and this was our first visit. And last. Service was slow! Took an hour and 15 mins for our order to arrive, only after we asked for an update where the waitress muttered something about a "technical fault" and then walked away as we were still talking to her. The food came out more burnt than Rommel's head. The peas had clearly ben under a hot plate for ages and were more shrivelled than an Inuit's private parts. Seriously folks, don't bother

We came here the other day for a quick lunch. It was our Anniversary and the service was excellent, couldn't fault it at all. Very good value for money.

I'd give 6 stars if I could!! A warm and welcoming atmosphere straight away, The staff who served us were friendly, attentive and consistently checked in to make sure we were enjoying our food. The chef even went the extra mile and came out to see if we were satisfied with our meals! The food here is always prepared to a high standard, but today in particular it was absolutely delicious and I couldn't help but order extra. Thanks to manager Jackie, Chef Riley and the whole front of house team for a brilliant Friday Lunch 😊🌟

AMAZING !!!! Friendly staff. Made to feel Welcome. Jackie the manger was lovely to us. Front of house and chefs were awesome. Food was really nice had the chicken and it was so moist and tasty… would 100% come again. Parking was also good. Salad bar was good

8 of us visited on the 16th of July was about 8pm I order the stake asked for it medium/rear well mine was well over cooked and so was the other 1 on the table only good thing on my plate was chicken wings service was excellent and staff but food was not will avoid for a bit and try again some other time

It is what it is, it won't blow your socks off, perfectly pleasant

Great service. food good manager excellent great customer service 👍