Passing Thyme in Rochford

Michelle, Amelia and Angie always provide a great service and always a warm welcome with a smile. Food is delicious and would definitely recommend.

Having had 2/3 recent visits to the garden centre for major purchases, we decided to have lunch on our last visit. Such a disappointment. The actual surroundings were in need of a good clean, window surrounds and ledges all covered in crumbs and cobwebs, windows dull and dusty, table which had been washed while we were waiting to be seated was sticky/tacky around side edges and underneath as were the chair seats. why do people miss the underneath when that's the first place people hold to pull in their chairs or adjust table???? The floor was littered with crumbs and wrappings. No menu for children, so when asking our server, i was informed "smaller portions" (clearly cost is now of no interest to a consumer?). The lady serving us was unable to smile, be pleasant or show any interest that we making an order. The food was basic cafe style, with what appeared to be, prepack wilted salad and frozen chips as a garnish. (such a shame that little effort has bee n given as the food itself was ok) My coffee , black filter, was less than luke warm and tasteless. I informed a staff member and was brought another luke warm tasteless cup. Unlikely to visit again.

we ordered two cappocinos at £2.49 each. expected a large cup for that price. but no . very disappointed at a small cup. would have eaten but for the prices. a sandwich was £5.99 plus. won't be visiting again.

Called in checking on reduced Christmas decorations but the restaurant seduced us and we entered for a quick coffee. However after checking the menu we decided to eat. The soup, ceasar salad were both very nice however the cod and chips stole the show, lovely! We had quite a wait but it was well worthwhile. Glad we called in, not cheap but a fair price and very nice. Service was also worth a mention, two very pleasant ladies and a chef who appeared to be coping well although on his own. We will return

Booked Breakfast with Santa back in September with Passing Tyme Restaurant. My husband and I took my daughter, her husband and my 15 month old grandson. The whole experience was so good! The girls and ladies that served us could not be faulted and the full english breakfast served was lovely! Choice of tea or coffee and fresh juices too. When Santa arrived my grandson was a little unsure at first, as not being used to meeting Santa, but Santa realised straight away, went away and came back a little later, so wasnt pushy or scary at all!! The presents that all of the children got that morning, i must say were excellent and so well thought about! They were all age suited and not cheap rubbish at all, in fact all the children there seemed so impressed with their pressies! We will definatley be booking again for next year! Thank you Passing Tyme for a lovely experience! :)

Walked in on a Sunday afternoon, pleasant surroundings and clean. Met promptly by a pleasant young lady and seated and given menu. We were seated at the far end to the kitchen. Waitress takes our order and goes to the kitchen. Suddenly there is a commotion in the kitchen. The cook, not chef as this is only a garden center cafe, starts kicking of at our waitress. Shouting continuously at the top of his voice at the teen that he told her not to accept any more breakfast orders. This tyrade continued for a couple of minutes, obviously making all the customers very uncomfortable. Bearing in mind we were seated by the entrance at the far end. After his bully type verbal assault he continued to mutter loud comments and walked around slamming doors and food down on the work tops. This continued for several minutes with the staff looking very embarrassed. One of the waitresses arrived with our drinks so I asked her who was the person in the kitchen with the attitude. I was advised that it was the chef ?? called Roy. I politely asked her to tell the cook the if he continued making an unpleasant atmosphere we would be leaving. This seemed to have some effect as the tantrums subsided. Our food arrived. Firstly I can only comment on what we had which was acceptable but nothing to set the world alight. Average portions served promptly. Now we come to the pricing. I would say that for a garden center cafe the prices were rather excessive. They are obviously trying to create a higher class restaurant style eatery but this does not work for me in a garden center where people want something straight forward and reasonably priced. £20.00 plus for quick lunch is not expected. On the whole could of been a more pleasant experience without the cook thinking he is Gordon Ramsey which he is definitely not.

We had a fab breakfast this morning, both of us had the full English, it was lovely. The bubble and squeak was gorgeous, as were the sausages. A really good filling start to the day, and good value. All washed down with a pot of tea each. The garden centre is also worth a trip, theres a great choice if garden furniture and the people working there couldn't be more helpful and friendly. We brought a lovely corner suite that was great value, and free delivery on some items. Just need a great summer now to enjoy it ! We will definately be back, they got great gift ideas and we didn't even start on the plant section. Thanks, Steph & Tony

We go here quite regularly as the food, drink and service are always excellent. Today was very busy. However, a member of staff quickly took our order and apologised for a longer wait than usual. We had the cod and chips and tea. It is always excellent! The plate arrives with a large battered cod fillet, freshly cooked chips, salad and a pot of tartar sauce. Also you can ask for the lovely Wilkinson Tomato sauce. Overall a lovely meal!

Always nice food, good range of breakfasts, lunches, snacks and cakes. Friendly service, helpful staff. We had sandwiches, but other food looks good.

We are regular visitors at this cafe. The food has always been excellent m Today was no exception. I had a giant chicken breast in a bun with loads of salad and lovely chips. I followed this with a lovely slice of millionaire's shortcake. Wonderful. See photo!

We have frequently been a visitor first thing in the morning for breakfast and have had no issues. This was our second visit for lunch, the first time we did have to wait a while but not the length of time we did today. We arrived at 1pm and at 1.55pm we were still waiting for our food. 8 other people arrived after us and had their meals. The waitress informed us that the burger we ordered takes time, but others after us had lasagne and chips, where is the time. We left without eating a thing, very disappointing. ☹️

My wife and I visit this venue occasionally. I decided to have cod and chip, having had it before. As previously the meal surpassed our expectations! The chips were crispy, as was the batter! The small side salad was a welcome addition as was the tartare sauce and the Wilkinson's tomato sauce. Absolutely recommend this and the place overall!

That’s exactly what we did just walked up the stairs of this lovely gift shop and to our surprise a quaint little coffee area. We enjoyed a sandwich and two coffee’s, mine being a caramel latte lovelllllyyyyy. Definitely going back.

Had a lovely Prawn Salad which was beautifully presented. Both myself and my friend thoroughly enjoyed our meals. Have eaten here before and have never been disappointed with our choices. Would definitely recommend, whether it’s for a snack, lunchtime meal or just a coffee with one of their fantastic scones.

Passing Thyme in view garden centre. Our second choice of eateries on a friends get together/reunion as our first was a disaster! A Thursday lunchtime in the Easter holidays found it very busy. Great menu, good fresh home made food and a chef with obvious passion for food. Five of us had cakes and coffee. Delicious, could not fault the food, service or value for money! Would highly recommend!!

We arrived on a snowy afternoon for lunch.

Situated inside the View Garden Centre - The restaurant was clean and the staff friendly. The restaurant was quite busy but my food arrived in good time; good sandwich with a great cup of tea. Looking around I wished I had gone for the 'full breakfast', as most of the customers around me did - Ah well...next time!

Arrived just after opening so plenty of choice where to sit. Service was quick and friendly.We both had a full breakfast. Food tastes good quality. Perfect fried egg.

A gem of a place Lovely food worth every penny. Relaxing atmosphere. The only thing is that the toilet is the other end of the garden centre.

I can highly recommend this place for a lovely breakfast. The sausages were great. Friendly staff, good selection on the menu and a clean attractive setting. Will be back for another breakfast or lunch soon.

We go to View Garden Centre quite often because they have such a good selection of plants & garden equipment. When we have finished our browsing around the centre we always go into the cafe for refreshments or something more substantial. The staff there are very friendly & the cafe is nicely laid out. They have a good menu & all their food etc. is very reasonably priced.

Nice breakfast, shame the fried eggs came out like dried out squashed roadkill though. Will try it again sometime, decent little place.

Enjoyed a very good lunch. Generous portion served beautifully by lovely friendly staff. Would definitely return on next visit to this garden centre. Clean cafe and clean and inviting tables. Excellent large and varied menu with lots of choice.

Found this place on Google and so glad we did. Beautiful items to make your garden lovely, nice gift shop, so much to look at. The restaurant is fab too. Lovey staff and good food. We are going to be regulars now. We love this place.

(Al Stewart) - Passing Thyme, Rayleigh

An unexpected jewell set in an unlikely place, the view garden centre. This café has a large parking space shared with the garden centre access is easy and there is plenty of space.

Dropped in for luncheon on a cold day. Menu was sufficient and food enjoyable. Price was acceptable, but toilets were at the back of the garden centre requiring a small zig-zag trail walk

Always good food Michelle and the rest of her team are fab always happy kind & helpful food fab all day breakfast lovely there chef a very jolly happy man very willing to change things around home made scones brill

Enjoyed a fab afternoon tea, fantastic friendly service and top quality sandwiches and scones. Staff couldn't do enough for you.

This garden centre is very good with very helpful staff

My wife and I are regulars at this cafe now. The food is freshly cooked and reasonably priced. The fish and chips are as good as many fish chip shops in the area. A very nice friendly venue.

On arrival there were lots of empty tables but all needed clearing and cleaning. We went over to one table and waited til waitress came over, she said she would clean the table. She gave it a wipe over but not overally clean. Food was nice but staff seemed stressed despite not that busy. Many tables remained uncleared or cleaned whilst we were there making the restaurant look unappealing.

Garden Centre Cafe/Restaurant. We visit occasionally for breakfast. The food here is very good with a good choice of breakfast dishes and the service is friendly and attentive. You can even get a loyalty card!

A lovely clean restaurant with friendly staff, great service and great food. Nothing was too much trouble.

Took my mum here today for the second time, had a lovely scrambled eggs and she had ham egg and chips, the kids one as she wasnt that hungry. All the food hot and lovely, the portion she had was more than enough for her and the chips were fantastic. Coffee, you get free refills.............. well worth a visit and the staff were lovely so even better

Visited quite a few garden centre tearooms/restaurant's and this was not that great only had coffee and cake but more expensive than others and cake is served with cream and placed on top of a raspberry sauce which looks nice but not asked if we wanted it and there was no one in the place and could have been a bit cleaner! OK but won't go again!

Visited here with my wife for lunch. Service was quick and friendly.

Service is friendly and helpfull. Whilst the menu is not as extensive as some there is a varied choice, and for customers with smaller appetites adults are allowed to order smaller portions from the children's menu. There is also a specials board. The homemade pies are very good, but get there early as they sometimes are sold out. Deserts are very reasonably priced, tasty and nicely presented. We have eaten here several times in the last six months or so and have thoroughly enjoyed our meals each time. Passing Thyme is open from 9am. for breakfasts (not tried) until 4pm. Monday to Saturday & Sunday 10am to 4pm. It is situated within View Home and Garden Centre.