Meadow Croft in Chelmsford - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

The amazing waitress asked about dietary standards- I'm gluten free, she told me that despite me choosing a gluten free option that she would inform the kitchen regardless. Food service was fast but I knew my meal wasn't sitting on a hot plate for 20 minutes. It was fresh. Lovely atmosphere. Very efficient staff and overall a fantastic experience.

Sorry to have to say this but I brought my family (7 of us) this morning for breakfast and extremely dissapointed. Husband and I both had cooked breakfast . Both of us had very hard dry overcooked bacon and sausage. Mushroom seemed microwaved so also very dry . My egg was completely hard . Only good thing was baked beans and toast and tomatoes. Very very poor . Awkward to complain when you take people out for a meal but I would say that if I were the chef/ cook I would never send food out like that .

Great service from Carole on returning our dead tree purchase 2 months earlier, the 3 year guarantee is worth it They are currently getting the store ready for The German Market

What a lovely garden centre and restaurant. Dad and I popped in and ended up staying ages. Had lovely lunch service and food was great and then we had a mooch about was helped by a superb, polite and friendly member of staff who made us feel very welcome, thank you Kelly M will definitely be returning. Thank you from both me and my dad

Great place to visit,lovely restaurant.

I was taken here for a birthday brunch by my friends, none of us had been before we were a bit late for the breakfast as we all wanted a full English but the brunch choice was very good. I had Welsh rarebit they had smoked salmon and scrambled egg and a ham, egg and chips with a bottle of wine service was good except when delivering the meal the waitress knocked my glass of wine over no problem we mopped it up and she went and got me a new glass of wine and was very apologetic the restaurant is very good quite large with plenty of seating we would go again.

Just say I visited this lovely garden centre today and had the most wonderful lunch ,also I would definitely recommend this place for lunch as the service was fantastic and the staff also very pleasant aswell.so if your passing drop in it's really worth it.

I came here on the recommendation of my mum, who absolutely loves it here. So I decided to treat her to lunch, and it was absolutely amazing! All the food was fresh to order, generous portions and well worth it. The staff were lovely and friendly, coming around asking if all was well, and it was!! The cake selection was amazing - definitely make room for cake!! Overall 10/10 - definitely will come again!

Lovely place. Friendly staff. Good quality plants. Excellent restaurant and amazing shop.

Love ur new food kitchen. My husband and I have been several times for bfast. It’s always fresh and lovely. Two weeks ago I brought my three grandchildren They loved it and was impressed with the building and loved their food. We had a couple of games of golf which they loved. And a good look round. It’s always looks so pretty. I don’t drive so I took them on the bus from Wickford which they loved it as they are always In a car. we had a lvly time there the staff are alway so nice it’s reallly one of my favourite places to visit can’t wait for the German market. See u soon Chris collin

Restaurant - I had the best Fish and chips I’ve had in years. Plants are well kept and reasonably priced and the main shop has just about everything you could want including gifts, toys, food, clothing, accessories and cards. Great even on a rainy day.

I came for lunch with family today, not my first visit but the food was delicious once again, special thanks to our server Ava who was lovely.

Great cafe and nice selection of plants. Good selection of birthday and anniversary cards too. Reasonable prices.

Me and my young son came here to meet my parents for a coffee, the staff were very polite and accommodating to our slightly off menu order! They also have a little play area that my son enjoyed whilst he was in full 'explore mode'! Very happy to return soon as we're very local!

Great lunch, friendly service. No complaints!

A very pleasant experience, helpful staff. Liked the new restaurant

A well stocked and pleasant garden centre. The new restaurant is very pleasant.

I preferred the old Meadow croft cafe. They have expanded and now it is just too big. The menu doesn't change and I feel the food is not as nice as it was. You used to be able to order an omelette l,which you can't do now. You get lots of salad(lettuce) which I've never been keen on and the coleslaw used to be delicious. It wasn't today. The prices are quite high too. Two for lunch- sandwiches and coffees came to nearly £45. Bit excessive for lunch.

Great selection of plants and lovely staff

Lovely place, fantastic Christmas market when it's up

I came to here with my friend for the second time after a great visit. We were served by the exceptional Sheldon again who was still her cheerful smiley self and recommended the specials from there specials chefs Lucia. Sheldon advised us to try the specials so that’s what we ordered as they was a beetroot risotto for me and my friend had the quinoa salad. Both me and my friend found the presentation to be amazing as usual and the food to have so much flavour and colour it really certainly was special! Lucia clearly knows how to cook a brilliant meal and Sheldon couldn’t speak high enough of not only her but also her whole team and kitchen staff. Still as amazing as last time and will return again in hope for the rissoto or the paella that Lucia will be doing in the future as Sheldon mentioned

No Dogs Allowed in a garden center?!!! They loosing customers and am definitely never going in there. All other garden centre allowed dogs even in a cafe

A regular visit. Seasonal changes taking effect with areas being repurposed for the inevitable Christmas displays. Came away with just a few plants & some bits from the shop. Staff are always helpful & their plant knowledge is second to none.

One of my fave garden centers! Love that there is such a variety of things from house hold, plants and garden to gifts and food! Even the restaurant is lovely and a little crazy golf too! Love many a trip here!

Wow! Bought a lovely delphinium for a reasonable price because the nursery where they grow them from seed is just opposite. Locally grown flowers- how super. Massive range of plants with enthusiastic people to help. Cafe is waitress service with bright, happy, smiling and engaged young people serving. Fabulous 👌

Absolutely stunning, honestly no words. Food looks and tastes amazing, CAKES !!!! if I could have one of each I WOULD. Truly a place to go back to over and over...and over again 👍

Fantastic garden centre. Lots of nice plants, clearly laid out. They're in the process of expanding the area open to customers. Prices appear reasonable and the app they have had good offers each month to encourage you in. Food in the cafe is very nice and it gets busy in there. There's also a fun mini golf and that hut also sells milkshakes and snacks too. At the end by the tills there's interesting cards and other gifts - not cheap but decent quality items.

Very clean, inviting and modern. The aesthetic is easy on the eye and staff are friendly and positive. Large selection, food is well presented and hot; including plates. The menu is very affordable, with the most expensive breakfast meal being below £12. Bang for buck. Service is very fast, however receiving the bill was awhile. Overall: Incredible

Very good selection of plants, always presented well, plus a very good restaurant. October 22 German Christmas market plus all the decorations on display. Great place for the family to visit, they even have a curling area for some extra fun. This time 18/11/23 the German Christmas was again in full swing, new today was the new restaurant, we had brunch, the atmosphere was nice good fòod as always plus decorations and plenty of garden plants. 16/03/24 Decided to have lunch and have a look around plenty of violas and all the other kind of plants for this time of year. It time to get ready for spring ans summer. 25/05/24 Garden centre is full of lovely plants, spoilt for choice. Plus the restaurant servi g delicious food. 28th July 24 just bought some compost and a few bits collected my free 13cm plant. The whole areas have been rearrange looks like the old restaurant is getting ready to open look forward to events to come.

Helpful staff and lovely cafe! Look out for the resident robin🤗

Great plants... reasonable priced....love their Sale area.. knowledgeable and helpful staff. Friendly staff too.

By far, the best garden centre in Essex reasonable prices fab products, the food in the restaurant is to die for plus work it off with 9 holes of crazy wouldn't go anywhere else .

Breakfast was lovely, plenty of people around to ask questions and advice. will be back soon.

Nice little garden centre but the items for sale in the garden centre very pricey.

New restaurant arrived last autumn 🍁Well worth a visit, good food at reasonable prices, nice new venue and has an area to hire for functions. Also have special evening events. See their website.

I was very disappointed on my visit last Thursday afternoon. Many many dried out plants definitely not looking very healthy. Under staffed & stressed Attitude of one lady in particular at the till was extremely rude, unhelpful & has totally turned me off of Meadow Croft. Found a much much better Gdn Centre only 10min further in Bicknacre - friendly welcoming staff & a very healthy choice of plants!

Great garden centre. Good size car parks plus an overspill for when it gets really busy. Christmas and Easter are particularly busy periods so you might want to pick your times to visit. A massive selection of plants. A section for food stuffs with everything from biscuits to jams of every variety. Of course you'll find all the tools you might need for your garden plus patio furniture, compost, garden ornaments, pots of all shapes and sizes, bird food and feeders and - here, go see for yourselves you won't be disappointed. There's even a little golf course. There is a café/restaurant with really good food. You can go for breakfast or lunch or just coffee and cake. They have various events on in the restaurant for us to enjoy. My favourite garden centre!

I went with my wife and daughter to Meadow Croft for lunch today. It was our first visit. The restaurant area is extremely large and there is also an outside covered area with plenty of seating where you can also order food. The waitress service was extremely fast considering that we arrived at peak lunchtime and they were extremely busy. The only small moan I have is that the meals didn't all arrive together. Putting this aside though, the food was fresh, hot and tasty. The prices are also very reasonable. We will definitely be going there again.

Our go to place for the last 10 years good selection of plants with nice xmas market and a cafe. Easy access throughout with excellent parking. Update 2024 still coming here for all our plant needs (also gas bottles for the Barbeque 🙂). More importantly they now have a new eating area...we had one of their cream teas...definitely one of our top 5 cream teas so far 👍

Great menu selection, prompt friendly service the food was tasty only issue was too much lettuce with nothing else as my salad garnish and bread was a little dry. Our waitress Ava was really friendly and helpful we will be back 🤩

Sheldon our waitress was amazing. Extremely helpful and courteous. We had cherry almond scones made fresh that day by Toni the pastry chef and they were to die for. We bought 4 more to take home.

Nice little mini golf for the kids, café was quite reasonably priced! Beautiful plants.

We came to the restaurant for a large group booking in June and were not disappointed. Drinks orders were taken promptly and our food arrived quickly, we pre ordered so we knew we wouldn’t wait too long for our lunch. The meals were lovely, plentiful and hot, thank you to the kitchen staff for a fantastic meal. Our waitress Pam chatted to us in a friendly way and showed us how to download the loyalty app for next time we visit and we will be very soon. Very attentive, happy staff who done an amazing job in the heat and busy atmosphere. Oh and don’t even get me started on the cake absolutely out of this world, I recommend the passion this cake 🎂

Fantastic place - lots of choice on the menu, big and spacious, decor really lovely, fresh and clean! Will be going back!

We had an awful lunch - “gammon ham” egg and chips. The ham was disgusting - it was wet, slimy & tasteless, …reconstituted? …served by a totally disinterested young lady who was slow to take our order and most unfriendly. An expensive disappointment.

New restaurant is lovely although very noisy when I went. Seating inside and outside. Presentation of food is beautiful , I had scrambled eggs on toast both of which were dry and tasteless and cost £9.99 which was overpriced, my friend had the breakfast stack which had egg, sausage etc which she enjoyed, it was also £9.99 The coffee was outstanding Would have appreciated staff to have checked in with us a couple of times I may go again but prob only for coffee, meals are overpriced.

Great quality and service as usual

Always a pleasure to visit. Great lunch and plants.

Fabulous food and shopping BUT very noisy and not able to use mobile phone to use rewards in restaurant.

Beautiful garden center with lovely restaurant. Reasonable prices

How amazing is this? We bought it in November at the German Christmas market. It has been beautiful for six months and is now blooming again! Best basket I have ever had.

Lots of great plants, really recommend this GC - selection is excellent and great wax melts available. Parking outside is plentiful and trolleys.

So much variety & choice here. One of the best centres in Essex by far

Lovely lunch to day with friends. Food was plentiful. Good value for money, great venue, thoughtfully decorated. Helpful and polite staff. With an amazing display of indoor plants in the main building. I really enjoyed the ABBA night, really enjoyed watching the staff have fun with us, the kitchen coped amazingly, well done 👏🏼

Total ripped off. Tea cakes with butter more or lest £4 00 in a new prefabricated barn .

Plants plants and more plants plus everything for your garden I go every year great place

Love this garden centre any time off the year

It is one of the best garden centres around. Plants are all well cared for with a good selection of house plants, which is rare in others. Lovely food and surroundings.

Went in to buy a hedge strimmer. They don't sell electrical things. I left and went to Altons and bought one there.

Excellent service above and beyond 👏 👍

Well stocked with good quality plants lovely restaurant with a great service

A really nice and friendly garden centre, excellent service as always

Excellent service and prices .Food is very good, garden centre is also very good 👍

A fantastic garden centre with a large selection of plants and accessories. The staff are extremely helpful and competent at their jobs.

Always plenty of new plants in. Lovely cafe with a good lunch menu.

Nice garden center. Helpful staff. Mini golf and small park area to keep the children occupied.

Visited here and had a lovely lunchtime meal in the restaurant. Will definitely be back. Thankyou

Kelly was very helpful, polite and patient with me not being a technical person today.she is certainly an asset to Meadow Croft.i will be recommending them to all my friends and family.

Meadow Croft has received a huge makeover and in the main it is well thought through. Much more parking for the expected extra custom and of course the usual helpful and friendly staff. A good range of plants which are in excellent condition and well cared for. However it seems to be the trend today for a garden centre to have a cafeteria or restaurant and Meadow Croft has continued this trend but with a difference with waitress service. I think this is a pain, I far prefer self service where I can drop in, grab a coffee and a bite to eat then seat myself without the fuss of waiting to be shown a table and without downloading an app to pay my reasonably priced bill.

Went for breakfast today and this is by far is the best pancakes I've had in a long time and the rest of the menu looked amazing. Have not been since they have had the refurbishment and all of is so lovely. The staff were friendly and efficient considering how busy it was. The garden centre it self is wonderful, lots of flowers and plants to choose from and my daughter loved the little play park at the back. Will definitely be returning to try some more of the menu and find some more plants.

First visit today. A nice garden centre, lots of plants, all the usual garden and home bits. Also had a small playground which 4 year old enjoyed. There was a small crazy golf course here which we didn't try on this occasion but son was very interested in. The real delight today was the restaurant. We had hot chocolate and cake and it was first class. Best hot chocolate I've had in a very long time. The cakes were next level good. I think I've found my new favourite place for a cheeky slice of cake!

Fantastic plants and staff are really helpful.

Had a very enjoyable lunch with my two close friends the food was very good we were served by Sheldon who is a credit to your Company warm friendly and brilliant service from her ..well done Sheldon

This garden centre restaurant is excellent. Sheldon our waitress was very informative and friendly, and advised us that the Chef Lauren was very pleased with our feedback. We certainly will be back.

Very enjoyable lunch visit today for a catch up with a friend. Excellent food - jacket spud for me and soup for my friend after being offered a taster which was much appreciated - courtesy of Aaron soup chef!! Service was also excellent due to our waitress Sheldon especially as she offered advice on installing the Meadowcroft App. Some retail therapy followed and we look forward to returning. Highly recommended.

fantastic staff were great and very helpful.this was the first time i had been here going again in June for my birthday.Not to expensive.nice to see lots of high chairs for children.

Don't eat in the restaurant very expensive I ordered scrambled egg on toast and it look like chicken curry on toast I won't be going back

Food and staff very good atmosphere pleasant. Will return

We went for the Breakfast Banquet, excellent food and superb value for money. Toni the chef adds loads of fresh fruit to the display which made it look very appetising. Our waitress Sheldon was very attentive and friendly. The restaurant is very customer friendly.

Lovely Garden center great food

Went in with my little sausage dog, and got ejected, asked to leave with some urgency the staff started to circle round, thought we were going to be draged out, never made to feel so uncomfortable and unwelcome in a store. Never ever shopping there again.

Visited this restaurant for the first time today. The restaurant was very well laid out and the food was excellent. The service by Sheldon was of a high standard. I will definitely be visiting here again.

I had lunch with my family for lunch on Monday first of all I have been many times to eat and always found the food to be excellent, on this occasion I chose the cheese burger and chips which duly arrived, the bun was hard stale! the burger was burnt black on one side and was uneatable I sent it back as I was sitting close to the hatch I could see and hear the person who had cooked it say there was nothing wrong with it never the less he prepared me another putting the food on the plate with his fingers (no gloves or utensils orr protective gloves ) not very hygienic The second meal was the same as the first the burnt burger hidden under some melted cheese again was uneatable, though I ate some of the meal chips were cold not very nice When the bill came I asked for my meal to be taken of the meal the supervisor was called who told me she could only take of £6.00 as I had been given a replacement meal, she clearly wasn't happy I had complained I explained the meal was not nice and after some disagreement she eventually agreed to remove the cost of the meal she very sarcastically said thanks ihope you have a nice day!! I spent £46 00 pounds in the restuarant and £116 in the garden centre The attitude of the gentleman in the kitchen and the supervisor isn't not helpfull when a customer has an issue they should be aware they aren't the only garden centre In there location they're is the RHS ,BuckHatch, and White elm who supply excellent food and service! I will think twice before using Meadow croft again!!!

Really hard to find plants since there did not seem to be a discernible logic to their arrangement.

Just had our first breakfast in the new cafe at meadow Croft Kitchen and it was excellent. The food quality, presentation and the staff were all amazing, would definitely recommend and will be back x

Lovely garden centre with friendly staff and high quality plants. Nice place to buy special gifts for loved ones

Have visited Meadowcroft a number of times. A new cafe/restaurant has recently opened and after hearing good reports decided to visit and have the breakfast, it was probably one of the best breakfasts I've had for some time and at a good price, staff were friendly and the service was excellent. Other than the cafe there's plenty to see, certainly one of the better garden centres.

Fantastic place ,waited on at tables great food and staff will attend again.

Nice and big, easy to get to plenty of parking ,nice area for the kids .

Visited today to try out the Meadow Croft Kitchen, really impressed, food was tasty, well presented, and the staff were friendly and polite. Would definitely recommend

My granddaughter took me for a Birthday Treat. Went into their restaurant. Food was very good. Staff excellent. Not over priced. Cannot wait to go again 😂

Enjoyed a lovely lunch with friends , food was delicious , good selection to choose from . Served by Sheldon , who was very polite , helpful and attentive. We will definitely be returning .

Shared an afternoon tea here yesterday with my best friend. The atmosphere was lovely, very relaxed. the staff were very attentive and extremely welcoming and friendly, we felt like they were greeting us as friends. The food was absolutely delicious, an amazing selection of savouries and cakes too! We had the vegetarian choices for our afternoon tea and they were so scrummy, especially the mini quiche. A special shout to chef Toni and our waitress Sheldon, you made our experience delightful. Thank you! We can't wait to go back again.

Lovely relaxed atmosphere when we arrived. We were greeted and shown to our ample table for 2. There followed an amazing afternoon tea. The food was beautifully presented and prepared by Toni, and our waitress Sheldon was attentive and friendly, as were all the waiting staff. We had a wonderful time and can’t wait to go again. The best afternoon tea I’ve ever had, I can’t thank the staff enough for making it such a special treat.

I was over the moon impressed with our visit here. My mum, aunty and I took my elderly grandmother for some lunch and we had a great time. There was plenty of options for all of our dietary requirements and it was all delicious. The best part was the staff. They were so attentive of us and could see that it was a special trip out for my grandmother. She has dementia and the staff noticed this and helped and did everything right. I couldn’t praise them more. My grandmother was so happy she even gave our waitress a hug. I will recommend Meadowcroft to everyone I can!

Excellent service and friendly staff

Lovely to walk around had lunch very good although foccacia was very hard at the edge but nice place to have a drink and bite to eat in love the plants and flowers

Went for brunch and meet up with some old friends. Hadn’t been there for years! Arrived at the centre at 10.30 am on a Thursday, I was slightly apprehensive that there would be a table available, as it was so busy but I needn’t have worried! The (newish) restaurant there is huge, nicely decorated and service was excellent. Had their full English. Coffee was excellent. Bought two plants I’d been hunting for and noted that they also have crazy golf. Will definitely be back. Thought it was excellent.

Really lovely vegetarian banquest breakfast ! Lots of choice, and the produce was so fresh ! I would highly recommend for a special treat, or to treat someone special

Really lovely cafe in a beautiful setting and garden centre. The vegetarian banquest breakfast had beautiful fresh produce with so much variety. Highly recommend for a special occasion or treating so.eone special. Well organised staff who work hard and very friendly. Great for couples, famalies or friends !!