Lily Pond Restaurant, Bernaville Nurseries in Exeter

Went for Sunday lunch. Waiting staff were good and helpful. Can't say the same about the meal, Tastless pork. Undercooked potatoes. Insipid gravy. Really was not an acceptable standard. Wont be going again. Can do better at home.

Enjoyed a wonderful savoury afternoon tea at the upstairs Bernaville Cafe. Pre -booked so the table was beautifully laid for us and the large selection of food was just amazing. The staff were so kind & attentive Highly recommend this & we will definately be returning

Very disappointed, staff clueless on allergies. Tried telling me that gluten free meant that it wouldn’t have milk in it. No book to be able to read ingredients, had box full of torn off labels. Not impressed with this place. Suggest you avoid if you have an allergy of any sort.

I had 3 good friends coming to Exeter to meet me for lunch today and I'd suggested we go to the Lily Pond restaurant as I had been impressed on previous visits. Well we were not disappointed today! We each had different meals, all delicious and very good value, the staff were welcoming, friendly and efficient, and my friends all said it had been the perfect venue to meet up and they'd love to come here again.

Excellent meal, good value large plate. Wheelchair user so good access, slope to restaurant but manageable. A few wheelchair parking spaces on the flat carpark.

Pictures online of all the Christmas decorations really appealed, so we thought we would travel up and visit one weekend. I was really disappointed when we did, it's very overpriced and the shop was all over the place. We then decided to go tovthe cafe and that was just as disappointing. Food lacked tasted and the service wasn't great either .. I felt leaving rather deflated.

We’ve been coming here for years 4-5 times a year for lunch. We usually have fish and chips which has always been excellent. I have no idea what is happening to this place but on Tuesday we went for lunch. The fish was absolutely dreadful. Gone has the home battered cod to be replaced with frozen tiny portions of battered? fish which clearly were pollock and decidedly overcooked and hard. The chips were the end of a bag, all small pieces far to crisp to eat. I afraid you’ve lost my families custom. We will not be returning . There are countless places to eat in and around Exeter so if your footfall decreases you will know why

Whilst Christmas Shopping at Bernaville Nurseries I decided to stop for a coffee at the Lily Pond Coffee was perfectly prepared and served and the shortbread was delicious Staff friendly helpful and made us feel welcome We will be back very soon Thanks

Very helpful staff with good Covid measures in place. Table sanitised before we were taken to a very nice spot overlooking the lily pond. Wasn’t expecting much but the food was delicious, and would definitely return again. Good value. Thank you.

We have been Bernaville customers for decades, but today was the first time we have visited since lockdown. This afternoon’s experience at Bernaville was hugely reassuring – your hygiene systems are excellent and all the strategies for avoiding cross contamination are by far the best we have come across. We felt so comfortable about being there that, as well as garden shopping, we also indulged in coffee and cake – and the systems in the restaurant are brilliant as well. Everything feels so clean and airy and the team members hugely helpful – as they always are.Some places that we’ve been to recently clearly aren’t ‘getting it’ as far as sanitising is concerned, but you very much do. Thank you. A lot of effort has clearly been put into getting it right – and it works. We will be back for lunch very soon..

Whilst shopping for a few plants we called in to the Lily Pond Restaurant for lunch It felt safe and welcoming Only a small menu but their scampi and chips were delicious and we even indulged in a treacle tart which was superbFriendly, professional and very helpful staff We’ll be back soon

Today was my first visit to the restaurant since lockdown. As always, the food was delicious and very reasonably priced. The staff were brilliant - I felt totally safe and they couldn't have done better. I shall be returning very soon!!

Aunque visito Bernaville regularmente, hasta hace unas semanas no había comido en el restaurante Lily Pond.Estoy totalmente impresionado con la comida y el servicio. La calidad de la comida es excelente y los precios extremadamente razonables.He comido aquí tres veces en un mes y seguirá haciéndolo. La tortilla que tuve la semana pasada es una de las mejores que he probado.Lamentablemente, el restaurante ahora está cerrado debido al Virus Corona, pero volveré a comer allí tan pronto como vuelvan a abrir.

Somos visitantes habituales de Bernaville y nos decepcionó mucho descubrir que los desayunos habían subido de precio por un considerable 1 por desayuno. . . . sin ninguna advertencia! ! Además, la semana siguiente el café parecía haberse diluido. . . . . presumiblemente un ejercicio de ahorro de costos. No nos importa pagar por una buena comida y bebida, pero esto realmente está tomando el. . . . . . . . . . . . ? ! !

We have regularly visited Bernaville as it's a great place to buy not just plants but some lovely different things for the home, gardens and gifts, etc. But we go there far more than we would otherwise purely because of the food, drink and service in the Lily Pond. It's always immaculate,with tables cleared and cleaned quickly. There's a great choice of meals, like the roasts (cheaper and better than any pub.) Also a great choice of secials, drinks and tempting deserts. Taste lovely too. And as I said very friendly service! (Oh, and the little mint chocolate you get with the tea or coffee is a lovely touch ...)

Brought my parents here for lunch, dad and I both had spaghetti bolognese, tasted pleasant enough but the sauce was rather watery and couldn't seem to find any meat in amongst the amount of mushrooms. Certainly wouldn't choose that again. Rather disappointing

Had a vegetarian bake leeks potato and garlic .it came with roasted vegetables. When ordered said no vegetables.but when it came roast potatoes and swimming in gravey. Was sent back stating no gravey. Staff not to pleased.husband wash a chef,and said you would not have gravey ? What was the gravey made from ?

Travelling 65 miles each way for cancer treatment at Exeter hospital over a 7 week period was very tiring. The Lilly Pond restaurant at the Bernaville Nurseries was a handy place to stop on the journey home.Quite a good selection of hot & cold food served by some very pleasant staff. Can get quite busy at times but if you have to wait the nursery is a very pleasant place to browse & pass the time away.

I went with my Mum for Christmas dinner, our table was decorated and we had table service as we pre booked our meal. I had Roast beef with a red wine jus And there was plenty of veg. Definitely reccomend. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

Acabamos de ir al restaurante Lily Lond y comimos estofado y albóndigas, las albóndigas eran tan sabrosas y livianas lo mejor que he probado en años, todo fue encantador y la comida caliente y reconfortante, especialmente este clima, Christopher se dio unas palmaditas en las albóndigas traseras son tan difíciles de hacer que debería saber que lo he intentado con suficiente frecuencia, los suyos morirían por gracias por un súper almuerzo, si lees esto ve y prueba por ti mismo una excelente comida de calidad excepcional, no te decepcionará.

Hemos visitado muchos centros de jardinería y hemos dicho en muchas ocasiones que debemos probar este. No está a la altura de los restaurantes habituales del centro de jardinería en esta área. Parece estar intentando más en las tiendas que la jardinería. El restaurante no es de buena calidad con poca carne (cerdo) y los guisantes fueron procesados no jardín. El servicio fue lento.

Stopped off for tea and toast...toast took ages to come out. Tea and latte nice but restaurant was very noisy and it wasn't that busy.

Lovely place to visit for a reasonable meal, especially as there is so much more to see at the Garden Centre and Shop.

Had a great return visit to Bernaville today. 3 of us had Roast Pork and my son had Ham,Egg and Chips. Quick service and lovely food. Looking forward to a return trip.

This was the first time I visited this particular venue. As I eat out at least once a week I can safely say that I will be going back. The steak and kidney pie was quite probably the best I have tried. Served with a selection of vegetables all expertly prepared. Better still, cabbage was available and I cannot recall anywhete else that serves it. The price was very reasonable, the premises clean and tidy with excellent views out over a pond and the staff polite and friendly. Even if you are not in the vicinity it is well worth a visit.

Like to browse around then have a coffee and cake before making purchases. Service sometimes slow as the Lilypond is busy, so guess lots of people feel same, that it is good place to go. Good selection of cakes.

We treated this as a day out and planned lunch. We have not been in a while and were let down. I know it was a Sunday but the food was a let down. We ordered sandwiches and mine was a sandwich on a plate, no side anything as you used to get. The bread looked like standard 50/50 you buy from any supermarket, and had either been rush defrosted or left near a heat source, starting to toast.

Visited Bernaville Nurseries on Sunday morning to have a mooch around with the family, enticed into the Lily Pond Restaurant by the amazing smells of fried breakfast. Fantastic team behind the till and in the kitchen, very friendly, and the breakfast was divine. Four clean plates, superb. Definitely coming back for around 2 next weekend.

Came for lunch yesterday. Excellent menu at very good value. I had soup with lovely fresh granary bread. My husband had a main meal: chicken pie & veg: a lovely plate-full. The speed of the service was surprisingly quick. We come reasonably often as we find the food offer varied & good quality; staff always pleasant & helpful, & service very good.

My daughter and I had lunch today. Was more like a canteen style would not call it a restaurant. Food was dreadful. I had a prawn jacket potato and my daughter a cheese omelette and chips. Surprised how quickly our order arrived. My jacket potato’s prawns were dry and shredded, with minute salad, left most. My daughters omelette was obviously microwaved and looked more like a rolled flat pancake, cheese seemed mostly missing. Huge bowl of chips, but yes mostly inedible as very hard, dry and tasteless. Even piece of cake dry. Will not be going again.

The restaurant is in a lovely setting, overlooking a pond with wildlife taking advantage of the surroundings. Unfortunately, we did not find the breakfast living up to the setting. The ingredients should have been top notch but the sausages were very disappointing and we felt they had probably been cooked the day before. There were no brown baguettes and the white was rather under-cooked, spoiling the generous plateful. We will not be paying another visit, other than possibly to the garden centre itself.

El estacionamiento es bueno, el centro de jardinería está bien presentado, el restaurante hace lo que dice que da a un estanque, no pude ver nada de Lily, de hecho, se veía sucio y necesitaba un poco de cuidado.

La comida se preparó muy rápidamente, lo que nos dijo que todo estaba preparado / cocinado y, posiblemente, pillado al fuego, teníamos papas fritas. Estaban bien, pero nada especial, la ensalada de col no fue hecha en casa. Después tuvimos bollos que eran bastante pesados y se servían con Hartleys Jam en un pequeño sobre que no era muy agradable.

Nos encanta este centro de jardinería y el restaurante / conservatorio Lily Pond.

Primera visita el domingo. Tenía un delicioso bollo de mermelada de crema, había más que suficiente crema y mermelada coagulada. El compañero tenía pastel de toffee (y puso un poco de mi crema coagulada) té para dos como se debía y rara vez en otros lugares i. mi. olla llena

Ha pasado bastante tiempo desde que he almorzado aquí. Esta vez sentí que el servicio y la amabilidad del personal eran mejores que antes, la selección de comida fría y caliente no variaba mucho, pero era muy buena. Los pasteles todavía estaban un poco secos, dependiendo de la elección, supongo. No hay razón para no volver otra vez.

I’m a regular customer at Bernaville and love a relaxed visit to the restaurant with friends for a cuppa or the coffee shop in the main shop.

Visited for lunch before setting off for home from the train station. Good choice of dishes and I chose a jacket potato which came with a good choicev of fillings. Very busy on the run up to Christmas but the staff coped brilliantly.

We had an impromptu Sunday roast here at the Lily Pond and we were pleasantly surprised. Our meal was brought to our table within ten minutes of ordering and it was lovely and hot. The food was okay and there was plenty of gravy. Probably the lovely outdoor area on a beautiful warm afternoon made this lunch so enjoyable.

What a delicious cream tea we had at Bernaville Gareden Centre. The scones were deliciously baked,sweet jam and yummy clotted cream. Great service too well worth a visit.

Not the best! Slow service!cakes and scones out in the open with flies landing 🤬 scones over cooked!

Mi esposa y yo llamamos para almorzar hoy,

No hemos tenido una comida aquí en este restaurante, pero hemos tenido bebidas y tarta. ¡Tomé un chocolate caliente con todas las obras y fue absolutamente delicioso! Tuvimos tarta y bollos y también estaban deliciosos. Puede sentarse en el restaurante o en el conservatorio, o afuera. También hay un lugar para comer arriba, pero no he estado allí arriba.

Even during this hot weather the staff were on top of things. Thankyou girls for your attention and friendliness

This is a lovely restaurant which serves great, simple food at good prices. There is a mixture of main meals for lunch and the cakes, tea and coffee are perfect for an afternoon treat.

What a shame theses people didn't stop and have a meal. We have been for a Roast for the last two Sundays after being recommended. We have now recommended it to our friends and family. Thank you Bernaville

Very dated but perfectly adequate. Staff very helpful and friendly. Food average, but fairly priced. Coffee weak and watery. Could be so much better.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing terribly wrong about this cafe. It's just that there seems to be so little effort made to make it into something nicer than a pit stop. We didn't try the food, just a pastry, and admittedly some of the cakes looked nice. However, on a dark day the low lighting make this cafe look pretty depressing , the staff wasn't unfriendly but not exactly friendly either, certainly no smiles - although this was the case with a lot of other staff throughout the garden centre - and the coffees were pretty awful.

Met friends for a Christmas Meal. Table beautifully decorated and we were greeted and seated on arrival.

Four of us lunched there yesterday and it was very busy. Efficient ordering and paying system in place. Two of us had the Salmon which was excellent although the potatoes were on the borderline of being cooked - a few more minutes would have been better, but the rest of the veg were fine. One of our group had the Macaroni and the other the Beef and Ale pie. Both meals were rated as outstanding. Good value all round.

We had an Xmas meal here yesterday, the food was excellent for the price and service was even better. Much better than you would expect in a garden center. The turkey was moist (not processed rubbish like some pubs/chains) roast potatoes lovely and the best bit was the xmas pudding. Thank you for a lovely lunch. It was also so lovely to see an outing of OAP's from a home there enjoying an Xmas meal & being made to feel welcome. Well done to the Lily Pond, keep up the good work, we will certainly be back!

Had a lovely non greasy breakfast, sausages were really nice! Staff were ok, table was clean although we did clean the highchair as it was a bit grubby.

Its a lovely place to look around but the cafe isnt very good . Hate the veg that comes with the tasteless roast dinner. hard mixed carrots and swede .

The lily pond restaurant is a pleasant building with a very nice outdoors seating area which looks over the pond. The staff are great - efficient and accommodating, and the restaurant offers discounted main meals on certain days making it popular with the older generation. Cakes, coffee and tea are good but sandwiches, baguettes and jacket potatoes are not so. Today I had a prawn baguette which was brimming with prawns which were like rubber and with very little sauce and the cucumber tasted like it had been washed in disinfectant. I had a prawn sandwich a few months ago which was also inedible but I thought things may have changed - oops. The ham or egg sandwiches are equally as poor so don't bother with these either.

El Lily Pond es un encantador lugar para comer, especialmente de estar fuera en el sol en el agua y observar los patos. La comida es buena y el personal es agradable. En clima húmedo (o en cualquier momento) el café de arriba que hace un gran entresuelo, té.

Fuimos un viernes y decidimos almorzar allí. Elegí una tortilla de queso y patatas fritas mi marido eligió pasty y patatas fritas. El personal era como un robot y no alegre. También pedimos un té con leche desnatada y me dijeron en términos inequívocos' es todo la leche semidesnatada. Nos sentamos y esperamos por nuestra comida y cuando llegó la tortilla era obviamente superficial y un luminoso color amarillo y falsos insípido y mi marido era como de goma, pasty patatas fritas eran underdone. Costo de este 13 libras, no comería allí siento decir como el jardín es precioso.

Empezaron a hacer cola en el 13. 55 y fue hasta que trasladaron por grumpily cuando intenté pedir comida. Al llegar a la 14 hasta. No 10 me dijeron que mi esposa estaba permitido su almuerzo, ya que la cocina había cerrado a 2 así que mi esposa tenía que ir con.

One of the better garden centres we've visited ... much better!!!. Friendly and knowledgable staff who have the expertise to give advice about plants and plant problems. Good quality plants shrubs etc for sale plus a host of other things too!! Good restaurant with reasonably priced food. Good location and setting plus ample parking. Top notch!!

Good selection of nicely cooked food. Can recommend the cheese scones and cakes. Reasonably priced and very popular.

Had their cottage pie, friend had steak & kidney pie. Both tasty although could have done with a bit more seasoning for our tastes. Veg was good although we're sure it was frozen, not fresh. Good 'winter warmer' lunch.

Ordered scrambled egg and smoked salmon and Brunch Baguette.. One small bit of smoked salmon, and asked the waitress if this was the normal amount and she said yes. Just far too small. Room for improvement. Breakfast Baguette was uninspiring and included tasteless sausages. Have run my own restaurant in the past and would have been ashamed to have presented these items to my customers at the price paid.

Have had a drink and light bite here a few times nice garden centre serving average food not sure I would have a full meal but nice stop off point

Restaurant in garden centre (not the upstairs cafe) light and airy. Pleasant to eat in and food very nice, particularly the salad choices. Service a bit slow but very friendly and helpful staff. Easy access vis slipping pathway. Outside area overlooking the pond.

Nicely cooked food. Would prefer baguettes to be cut in half before serving - very difficult to hack your way through with an ordinary dinner knife.

Bernaville nursery is a good place to get plants and plant advice. And we stayed for tea and cake at the Lily Pond restaurant- all very good.Sadly you cannot take dogs into the restaurant despite being able to take them round the rest of the garden centre.

First do not confuse the café with the restaurant at Bernaville, they are separate places. The café is as you enter, but the bigger restaurant is out where the plants are. We had breakfast there and were very pleased with what was served up. Good value for money. Coffee was of a good standard, and all served by pleasant staff. Would use again if travelling on the A377 towards Crediton and beyond. Good sized car park.

My wife and I called in to the Lily Pond because it was wet and very windy and we needed something hot. The restaurant looks more like a canteen than a restaurant but was obviously very popular with the locals. My wife went simple and had baked potato with beans and loved it. I decided to try the steak and kidney pie with chips and peas. Really delicious. The steak just fell apart it was so tender. Has to be in the top two of steak pies I have ever tasted. The meal was so large that I could not finish it! That was not the only good thing about it. Meals for two with coffees for less than fifteen quid. Fantastic. To top it all off you have a great garden centre to wander around and admire the plants.

Here, they do a selection of basic meals all very nicely cooked.Worth a visit for a Sunday Lunch very reasonably priced. There is usually a roast most days.Tables cannot be booked in advance except for large groups.

We come here a lot as it's a great garden centre and quite often pop in for a bite to eat.It can get busy during the season is they have a coach party in, probably best to avoid then.But food is good and service is too!

Very good value for money. A great meeting place for friends and family. A good place to eat or have an afternoon tea with plenty of time to look around the great nursery.

Myself and two friends stopped off here on the way to Crediton to play a bowls match. We had a look around the very large shop and the garden centre and at about 1100 decided that they café was the place to have a snack and refreshments. We climbed the stairs to the café and we were pleasantly surprised by the café set up. We had coffee and a snack in this nice location. The service was good as were the staff.We all felt it a very suitable location for an Elevenses stop.

Yes the restaurant is not exactly cozy but in the sun, sitting out on the deck it is lovely. I have always been happy with the meals and cakes that they have here. Yes it's not haute cuisine but always value for money.

Went for a meal out after spending time in the garden. also we want to pick up some bits. this was the first time I've had a meal there WoW on the specials I had a full roast turkey for £6.70 with all the Trimmings, my partner had a Curry. sweets are good. It was packed with regulars. met some friends there and they say they come here quite often. that say everything if people are returning. the coffee shop above the store is not bad either.I would recommend.

The Lily Pond restaurant is so dull. It used to be so much better before it was refurbihed. It lacks any charm. Also the smell from the toilets every time the door opens is horrendous. Its some sort of chemical smell and even worse when you find you have to use them.Please do something about the Lilly Pond restaurant. It has huge potential. The mezzanine cafe in the main building is so much better.

Visited Bernaville thought items and furniture very expensive compared to other garden centres. In my opinion the food in the restaurant had very little choice also the cake selection had very little choice also not home made no atmosphere at all and my husband and I will not be returning in a hurry

My friend and I visited this restaurant today and were so impressed by the selection of food and incredibly reasonable prices. I also had my 3 year old Son with me who thoroughly enjoyed his kids box meal and the colouring crayons on offer. A real lovely afternoon treat for all thank you.

"The Lily Pond Restaurant has a daily menu of freshly prepared hot and cold dishes . . . . ." or so their website claims. In reality, the two meals we had were verging on the inedible and really disappointing! Cod and chips: old dried out, luke warm fish in a fossilised dry and hard batter. Cardboard chips too. Ham Ploughman's: limp salad with some very strange looking beetroot, and old dry ham, curly and discoloured and hard at the edges. We left most of it. In no way was this stuff freshly prepared, and to advertise it as such does a huge dis-service to Bernaville's good reputation. Whoever put this on the plate in the kitchen needs retraining. The Lily Pond simply cannot afford to send food out like this if it wants to retain any sort of customer loyalty.