Philpotts in Cheshire East

Just came across this trip advisor page for Philpott's on Booths park in Knutsford and thought I would add my review as I feel like things have changed. I have been working on Booths park for about 8 months now and have visited a few times here for breakfast and lunch and yes I would agree with some of the past reviews....BUT I visited again (twice) last week and was very much surprised at what I found. Not only did the servery area look cleaner and less cluttered, the food/deli looked fresh and appetizing, and something I have not seen before on the counter - ROAST BEEF and not only that, perfectly cooked roast beef. I also had an amazing carrot & coriander soup which was vibrant and tasty, on my returning visit, again the food was looking and tasting a lot more desirable than previous visits. The staff seem to be a lot happier and chatty with the customers, so I'm a little unsure as to whether there has been a change onsite in the past few weeks but things are definitely on the up at Philpott's and I would recommend giving it another try if you haven't already done so in a while. Yes the prices are a little high, but we are talking about fresh food here (or should I say fresh food NOW) and also lets be honest we all work in business's here, and we all understand the toll that inflation is having on food prices and overheads and that is not the fault of the staff members on site. I for one will definitely be returning more often to enjoy some lovely freshly made deli sandwiches and soups, along with the cheery banter from the staff.

All the reviews here describe a completely different story than my experience in my first month working at the business park and having a couple sandwiches here. All vegetarian sandwiches are one price Non vegetarian All one price. Nothing has been an extra charge and everything has tasted amazing and fresh. One review said it was hard to stay under a fiver and easy to reach £11. If I remember correctly a non vegetarian sandwich with and sauces and salad you'd like is £4.75, which has always proved filling. The meal deal of £2 for crisps and a drink isn't really worth it unless it's a hot drink. Definitely must have had a serious change of management in the last 3 years. Definitely worth a try if you've been avoiding it due to past reviews.

I've been on Booths park for a number of years now and Philpotts has become a running joke. To the point where it's called "Bill-lots" by some. All the sandwich fillings are mayonnaise-based derivatives. It's piled up into bowls in the display case like stacks of baby food. You can't work out which is which. Breakfast and hot lunch items are routinely recycled into sandwich fillings and they think we don't notice?? Everything is extra, staff are slow and they've even discontinued the 'meal-deal' (which is crap anyway), so you have to pay full-whack on your sandwich and wait for an eon for the privilege. Avoid like the plague, unless you like eating food that looks like it's been chewed for you already.

A colleague and I used to frequent Philpotts every lunch time, but we gradually started to notice that we were regularly getting dodgy stomachs - and the only common factor seemed to be Philpotts. It wasn't every single time either of us went there - but it seemed to be *extremely* often, and only after either of us had been there. If we had both been and either of us felt ill, the other did too. If only one of us had been, it was only one of us having the problem. On a recent occasion, we visited after a bit of a break from there, and I felt a bit more ill than usual - and he was violently sick for days. Again, we had been OK until we had visited philpotts. On this particular occasion, I noticed that all the salad items looked particularly dry and wilted (as they often do) - and he simultaneously remarked "I was thinking as I ate that tuna, that it looked a bit dry, like it had been sitting there over the bank holiday weekend..." What prompted me to write this review was that we both stayed away, and have been fine for months - until I had a sandwich there on Friday... and to say I subsequently pebbledashed the washrooms 6 hours later is a bit of an understatement. I have a stomach of iron and don't ever get ill - except, seemingly, after eating here. This is pretty-much the only time I ever have been, so the only conclusion I can draw is that they have some serious shortcomings when it comes to hygeine. Whilst it could be argued it's sheer coincidence, for us it's pretty conclusive and is the reason we now completely avoid the place (and curiously, haven't been getting ill - apart from my one lapse on Friday). To their credit, the staff are really lovely and friendly, but that's Philpotts' one redeeming feature. They charge premium prices. I mean, restaurant prices. If you're careful, you can get away with spending a fiver, but it's completely easy to spend upwards of £11 on a simple lunch for one person. Unfortunately, the food is, when all is said and done, bog-standard economy canteen food. It just isn't worth the money. You're paying solely for the convenience as Philpotts have a monopoly on Booths park and they know it. It's a captive audience so they can charge what they like. I'll happily pay a bit more for quality, but I resent being fleeced by someone who thinks I won't notice the quality just isn't there. Finally, there's the sheer inefficiency of the place. The queues are massive, but not because everyone is desperate to eat there, it's because they're sooooooo sloooooooow. The layout is thoroughly inefficient, leading queues to merge with one another and people to be cramped in corners waiting for things. Staff dart about getting the things they need to serve their customer, which evidently aren't stored near where they're going to be used.... everything is...just...so...incredibly...excruciatingly...unbelievably...slow. My recommendation would be to bring your own lunch, or get it from one of the shops or supermarkets in Knutsford, and to only use Philpotts for anything sealed by the manufacturer (for instance, crisps or chocolate). In short, follow the travel advice typically given for places like the Far East and South/Central America (only eat things you can peel etc. don't touch meat or anything raw).

Apparently due to the Sugar tax, a can of coke at Philpotts is going up by 15p, that is 330 ml, the sugar tax is a maximum of 24p a litre, so that should be an increase of 8p ? So, unless I am mistaken, Philpotts have sneaked in a price rise under the sugar tax !

Very poor hygiene standards, 3rd time I have found hair in my sandwiches! Other colleagues have also found hairs in their food. Think they need to invest in some good hair nets.

The food is good but you pay a lot for it. The chicken tikka is great but you pay £3.20 for a basic sandwich, extra if you want salad, extra if you want a roll. Friendly staff but not enough of them so the queues are horrendous.

This is a fine place to have a meal or a snack but I have to say the cost of the food and drinks are ridiculously expensive to say the least,it's so over priced it's almost criminal. I asked for a salad which I wanted egg with they told me its £1 extra for egg I asked for a bag of standard crisp £1. I said can I have bread instead of a nap they said you guessed it £1 extra. I used to go in often as it is based at our offices but all I here is people everyday saying its to expensive to eat there. No more for me at those rates no way.

The good bits are the breakfast, they are ok and reasonably priced, but otherwise it is like ever molecule is counted avariciously and grudgingly put in bread, the salad is like 60p extra, everything is extra which considering the base price is taking the mickey, all the fillings sound imaginative and impressive but its generally all mushed up in mayonnaise. They have a John Ruskin quote on the wall telling you how it is worth paying a bit more, well, yes, if you felt you were getting the premium service but when they take the napkins off the counter and things like that, which you just know is a way of saving costs 0.1 pence at a time it Rankles, at least Ryanair are upfront about the budget aspect with budget prices, you cant have your cake and eat it, not at Philpotts you cant, it is too expensive. I appreciate Bruntwood probably hammer them for rent but come on, stop being so stingy, people do notice and we talk about this in the office, joking about going to lunch at Philpotts but wondering if they do finance. It is a captive audience but you should see the queue for the microwave and all the staff eating their own stuff at their desks because it has got ridiculous, £3 to £4 for some soup, that is restaurant starter prices, not works cafe, it used to be £150, I suspect they just tip tonnes of stuff away wondering why nobody bought it, then its obvious it reappears in a different form (sandwich filling) the next day. The staff are pleasant but I suspect they are given the Spanish Inquisition if they give an extra molecule here and there, and one was seem dropping a piece of toast by a colleague the other day, that got put picked up and put in the bag, he has not been in since, i suspect this is because the toast would be declared missing if it went in the bin. you can be efficient, but when the customers spot extreme cost cutting, they stop coming, they like to feel they are getting the service they pay for.

Being the only cafe on Booths Park unfortunately they can name their prices! A £3 breakfast sandwich is maybe the cheapest thing on there and is the only thing where you get what you pay for! Sausage and egg sandwich is literally one sausage and a fried egg and a load of bread!! The service isn't great and while there is lots of choice none of it is of good quality! Don't waste your time (long wait times for some reason!) or money!

Overpriced, bad experiences with some of the hygiene procedures. They can charge extremely high prices due to having a monopoly on this business park, the food is cheap and sandwiches have a very thin layer of filling to the point where all you can taste is bread. They need some competition so that they improve, even a sandwich/burger van would be both cheaper and better. Disappointing I have to drive to Knutsford if I want to buy a drink or some food as the alternative is to be ripped off.