Poplar Nurseries 'Thyme Out' Restaurant, in Colchester

Went to nursery for the first time ,restaurant looked inviting so we ordered lunch ,both had pies of the day with veg ,I has potatoes wife had chips,both pies hot and exceptional, veg and chips luke warm.at best , no one asked if things were OK and restaurant very busy, we will.put this down to experience and will try again as it was a lovely couple hours spent in the nursery.

Very disappointing. Today myself and a friend had lunch in the restaurant at Poplar Nurseries. We have had lunch here on numerous occasions and it has always been lovely. However today our choice of "soup of the day" was not a good one. The portion was minuscule and at a cost of £6.99 was grossly overpriced. It has to be seen to be believed. It was ridiculous. I will not be returning in a hurry.

Afternoon tea, midweek plenty of room ,great coffee & even better cakes. Nice genteel room,with sensible table order system.The staff are quite friendly and efficient. Just now ( mid October) there is an amazing Christmas wonderland display of a vast range of Christmas decorations to take home. Young children will find it all enchanting. I expect it's hugely busy at weekends. We didn't try the main menu, but vegans were catered for and quite a variety of dishes are offered, children's portions are also offered. Car parking is easy & wheel chair access seems straightforward.

I went with friends to Poplar Nursery for lunch on Sunday. My partner, who is celiac, had the roast chicken and vegetables. It was the worst roast chicken ever. The chicken breast did not look roasted but more broiled. It had no colour and no taste and was so tough she battled to cut it let alone chew it. She couldn't have gravy as it had thickner in so was brought nothing in its place. We had to ask for some apple sauce as that was all there was. The brocoli stems were so tough and the roast potatoes were hard inside. I had a bang bang chicken salad that was 98% cabbage, with some edamame beans, a few pieces of sliced chicken and a sprinkle of peanut satay, which was hardly there. For the money it was not worth it. The meal did not leave an impression other than to not go there again.

Pleasant and helpful staff. Excellent range of plants and shrubs. Gardening tols, etc Plus restaurant , train rides for everyone and food hall.

Scone cream teas are so far the best I have had after indulging at numerous places including Tiptree jams cafe. Can't beat Tiptree jams and thankfully Poplar nurseries are using their jams instead of cheap alternatives. What makes Poplar stand out from the rest, because they have got all four right, scone, jam clotted cream and tea and to add, the location is pleasant and staff very accommodating. Top marks!

Lovely garden centre. With a great range of plants, gifts and outdoor buildings. Has a great cafe with a good selection.

What can i say ,If you are traveling from distance like me, I'd recommend traveling early incase you get caught in traffic like I did so you have loads of time to buy before closing.Excellent nursery and a new Food Hall. Everything your expect in a Garden Centre. Very Covid aware and plenty of hand sanitiser stations. Plenty of free parking and reasonable prices.

Always love our trips here. The farm shop sells lovely bread, highly recommend the café for a yummy breakfast too!

Nice friendly staff the jacket potato was delicious and the drinks were good however I had a vegan surpose to be cake the cream on top effected me badly went through me please make sure the toppingings of vegan cakes are no lactose in them please as some people can be worse than myself am myself lactose free only effect me with belly problems but there might be some out there that have allergic reactions to milk please list it better with cake or food thank you oh but the oat milk frappe ask for vanilla and caramel mix the the two with oat milk be very good alternative for people like me

Lots of stuff to see, buy and eat.

Great selection of plants, garden tools, lights and more. Also the cafe has some great food. We tried the tomato and basil soup which was yummy.

Nice place to browse around. But the amount of their hot chocolate drink in the cafe barely filled the cup to half way.

Superb experience,.great shopping and excellent cuisine

We had a lovely meal in the restaurant before buying some plants. Good selection and variety of plants and lots of other gardening goodies.

I always really enjoy coming here. Mainly for the huge selection of cake! The restaurant is nice and spacious which is great as I'm usually with a pushchair. There's ample highchairs. The staff are friendly and helpful. There's a good selection on the menu ranging from lite bites to bigger meals. The menu also changes with the seasons and there's a specials board so there's constantly different offerings. I find it a tad on the expensive side however I've always found the portion sizes to be generous therefore cancelling out the extra cost. I like the setting and have always felt comfortable bringing my little one. It can get very busy so I'd recommend booking. Most recently I had the burger and my husband the fish and chips, both were delicious and we realised it's possible to use a tastecard here (must pre book) which made it exceptionally good value for money.

One of the best garden centres in my area,great food as well 👌

I used Poplar Nurseries Food Hall’s outside catering department for a family celebration last weekend. They were superb. Mandy who runs the Food Hall was super helpful in giving me menu ideas and tasters. Lynne, the Head Chef and her team did an excellent job. For the first day of the weekend they provided a buffet lunch of quiche and frittatas and for the evening, chicken and vegetarian tagine with strawberry cheesecake and chocolate brownies. On the Saturday night we hired their young Chef, Chris to cook our BBQ. Lynne and her team provided locally sourced beef burgers, sausages together with the bread rolls, vegetarian and chicken skewers and a side dish of vegetable couscous. They also made a beautiful carrot cake as the celebration cake, duly decorated for the occasion. Chris the Chef was excellent and cooked everything perfectly. He was so pleasant and fun and even watched some of the Euros with us while waiting for the barbie to heat up. On the Sunday evening we enjoyed a delicious Fish platter, again provided by the Food Hall. So I’d like to say a huge thank you to Mandy, Lynne, Chris and the team for making our weekend so special. My family came from the Midlands, Ireland, Australia and the US so you can imagine the pressure I was under to impress. Boy did Poplar Food Hall and their wonderful team deliver!

Really great garden centre, just allow yourself plenty of time before closing time, because even if you have hundreds or thousands of £'s of plants in your trolley they will usher you towards the tills quickly by 16:50 which is a shame because it's my only negative point. The good ones, plants healthy, prices reasonable on most things, you'll pick a few rarer plants up, house plants are great most visits as they offer different to the boring standard as well. If you are traveling from distance like me, I'd recommend traveling early incase you get caught in traffic like I did so you have loads of time to buy before closing

Great place for all your garden needs.... Lovely to just have a walk around. The food is fantastic.

Such a lovely place for lunch and a wander around the nursery and shop

Never seems to disappoint. Xmas area is great for the kids and a great range is available.

Been to popular restaurant many times before and enjoyed the meal. Breakfast or lunch and it’s always been worth the money BUT 29/6/23 the breakfast put us off going again. Two full English breakfasts both came, one with tomato and one without. Both came swimming in cooking oil, you lifted the bacon from the plate and watched the oil dripping from it. Eggs over cooked and toast burnt to the point it wasn’t edible. Oh dear popular what has happened ? Would we…….. Definitely not.

Loved it. Loads of well kept plants. Everything for the garden, as well as gifts, garden furniture and home decor. The food is delicious and with 10% discount on a Wednesday for the more mature it is an even tastier treat. Well worth a visit.

Awesome selection of things garden. Little cafe there with nice quality food. Plenty of parking.

Everything is geared up for the current situation. Staff well trained and ensuring the 2 metre rule is adhered to. Still plenty on offer throughout the shop/nursery but obviously still no restaurant. Everything is back to something like normality. A great range of products and plants available.

Huge garden centre, their food hall is bigger than a lot of shops.

Love going here. Great selection of plants.

Poplar Nurseries is a very large garden centre, with all the normal stuff for sale but lots of it. The items we reviewed didn't look too expensive, the staff we spoke to were all helpful and friendly. There is a tea room, again great selection and good prices. There is a little train for the youngest and you test at heart. Plenty of parking Well worth a visit

Highly recommend the afternoon tea it is truly scrumptious. Fantastic value for money Sandwiches were so fresh and flavourful and the scones and different cake selection were lovely With a very decent pot of tea as well

Great selection of plants and a great restaurant 👌

My family and I had a lovely afternoon looking around and buying lots of beautiful plants and a gorgeous water feature. To complete our outing out we had a fish and chip lunch and wow, what gorgeous food! Of course we went back a little later for a piece of cake and wow again! Definitely recommend. Well done to all of you....a wonderful place to visit! Thank u

Great range of plants and the other things you can buy at nurseries these days. Grandson enjoyed the train ride and the cafe food was good.

Always worth a walk round even if your not really buying becouse you will by the time you walk out

Excellent variety of plants,trees & shrubs. Good restaurant and farm shop. Good couple of hours!!

Wonderful garden centre. Shame they don’t allow dogs like so many other of the best garden centres do.

Well stocked garden centre with a large range of products, a quaint little ride-on-train for kids and adults alike and a lovely cafe with plenty of seating inside and out.

Give yourself plenty of time when you visit , so much to look at. Very nice cafe/restaurant. The service was quick and efficient with good food being served and the English Breakfast being very popular although personally I think £9,99 for a sandwich or a jacket potato is a bit steep. Overall a very pleasant experience, a nice place to meet up with family/friends. Miniature Railway was popular and kept the small children entertained.

I really rate this place, it’s one of these modern garden centres that is so much more than pot plants and compost…. There’s food, a huge shop, a cafe and even a miniature railway…. Not to mention a mega BBQ showroom. A day out almost! 😂

Had an amazing Roast beef dinner in this restaurant. Lovely fresh vegetables, great roast potatoes and more beef than I have had anywhere! Great Yorkshire pudding and tasty gravy....very generous portions. Staff all very smiley and helpful. Would recommend highly.

Best plants in essex just so disappointing the cafe stops serving food so early 😖 Think your missing a trick really especially on a Saturday.

Freindly staff Quick unloading plenty of room in yard..👍

Great range of citrus plants and garden furniture - also has a lovely restaurant!

Went for lunch. Had fish and chips. Batter was not cooked thoroughly, which meant fish not cooked enough. Very disappointed.

This place needs to decide if its a cafe or a restaurant. Despite having at least 6 people behind the counter (1 of whom was the cashier), there was nobody to take our food order because they were all too busy delivering food to tables. We got fed up of waiting, and left.

Great nursery to visit, everything you could need for your garden. Popped into cafe today, coffee and sausage sandwich, definitely go again.

Amazing selection of good quality plants, brilliant gift shop, lovely cafe well worth a visit

I take my elderly parents out each week & often we go to garden centres as plenty to look at, but the restaurant here always has no scones left! Whether it’s because we tend to visit after midday but they always tell me that they have all gone already. Surely if they are that popular they would cook more, I ask them if they could possibly make some more as with a kitchen on the premises it wouldn’t take long. Such a shame as it’s a lovely garden centre & cream tea readily available would be perfect. Now we have to go elsewhere if it’s a cream tea in the afternoon that we want.

Well stocked place and a nice café with cakes. Shame they don't do a loyalty card. Please keep asking the servers about loyalty cards. If the management read this, can they consider putting heaters up for outside seating,as some of us are vulnerable to infections.

We had the Cauliflower cheese and Chive tart. It was not great all we could taste was egg and what happened to the cheese and chives and cauliower. Very poor and will not have it again .

Love it here never manage to visit for a browse always get tempted to buy. Picked up a lovely planter for mum for mother's day. And a couple of bits for Easter

Very clean and tidy! Staff were helpful and friendly

We bought a fresh made chicken and vegetable pie from the food hall. It was delicious. I could not praise enough. Just wish we lived closer.

Really lovely garden centre and the food hall was brilliant. So much variety. Their cafe was really nice. Food great and reasonably priced.

One of the better garden nursery around : excellent restaurant : large garden accessory area with everything required: large outdoor space with plants bushes pots etc This year's Christmas display large and colourful : Another fantastic Christmas display this year ( 2023 ) And then the food hall some good things to be had

Very nice garden centre. Lovely restaurant. Wonderful delicatessen but wait for your inheritance to come through before going in!! Some really lovely products to purchase. You could always offer a kidney in exchange I suppose? But definitely worth the visit and plenty of parking. All on one level so easy for wheelchairs. Staff are friendly and helpful. Lots of products on offer in the garden centre which is nice to see. As said, definitely worth a visit.

Good variety of plants and ideas for Mothering Sunday gifts!

Lovely Garden Centre and even better restaurant. Would highly recommend the afternoon tea.

I’m new about gardening and knowledge is very limited. We went to Poplar Nurseries because some of my plants have problems. The plant advice name Shaz. She is very nice staff and gave me some advice about the plants. I greatly appreciated her explanation and advice.

Lovely place to visit, staff very friendly and a pleasant experience, the cafe is good value. Shame the train wasn't running today. Have been quite a few times always a pleasant visit.

Love everything about this place, best garden centre without a doubt!

Loads of great stuff, love the food hall.

Lovely garden centre, lots of parking, good cafe with plenty of seating and choice and highchairs

This review relates just to the restaurant of the garden centre. Any establishment that does chicken burger and chips need to send their staff here to see how it should be done. Supremely moist chicken breasts (yes, plural) in a very good crumb coating, cooked to perfection and served with the best chunky chips you'll find anywhere.

Good restaurant. Love their Guinness cake.

Great place to meet santa.well done, guys.

Christmas visit. Wonderful displays, miniature train ride perfect to keep the kids entertained. Quite pricey across all areas.

Great but very busy this time of year but to be expected

I've always been a fan but found the stock unexpectedly uninspiring and sadly overpriced. An item you'd expect to be 3 or 4 pounds was 8!

Lovely place. Easy to spend lots of money though! Restaurant amazing!

15 years I work there! & I love it 🤩 wonderful Job! I’m still there. That why I never give up that Jobs ❤️

Love it there the Christmas decorations are amazing and food in the restaurant is delicious 😋

Fantastic garden centre and excellent Christmas decorations

Food was fantastic love the food Hall too Christmas Dec's amazing

Asked for a gluten free cake, what I got made me ill Will not go there again

Good Size Nursery with plenty of choice. Has large Garden Centre. Lots of Garden Furniture and BBQs and currently (Late November 2023) a large Christmas Area with lots of Christmas Trees (both Plastic and Real) The outdoor Nursery Area has a Mini Train that can be taken round a small area of the grounds. There.is also a small cafe onsite as well. Plenty of parking is available.

The kids lived visiting here at Christmas, seeing all the decorations and jumping on the train

Very frustrating experience! Took our family for lunch and to buy our decorations. We waited nearly two hours for our meal. Then, as soon we’re done our daughter Has a ride on the train (crazy price for around a minute ride) and then we head for the shop. As soon as we reach the decorations we’re told we have 15 minutes to get out! So we rushed about, no time to look at what we’d traveled for (nearly an hour)! Queued for the non-Christmas items, only be told they don’t accept cash!!! What a horrible and rushed experience, which is a shame as it could have been nice. Clearly they want your money, then want you to P off as quickly as possible. I prefer to support local rather than Amazon - looks like they’ll be getting our money this year. We won’t be back.

Great day out. The Christmas lights display was amazing .

Great atmosphere and lovely food

Loved it here great selection of everything 👌

Absolutely gorgeous place Really do feel very festive after our visit It looks absolutely fabulous & christmassy Also had coffee and cheese scone in the cafe which was delicious and very reasonably priced Will definitely be visiting again soon..

Cafe is lovely and the food is great. The Christmas section is really festive. There is a train ride out in the garden section. Lovely family day out

Lovely garden centre cafe ok/ cakes great coffee arrived tepid

Such a lovely place to visit,in a great part of our wonderful county of Essex,huge range of plants and garden accessories, and the interior decorations are all very classy,,myself and my girlfriend particularly enjoy how they have set out there jelly cat selection,,

Fantastic place, the miniature railway. Decorated for Halloween and very good value for money. Lunch in the restaurant. Food well presented. The children's activity lunch is good value. There's a bit of a wait for cooked food. Try the honey glazed ham and Cheese Sandwich, the filling is generous. As for all the cakes you'd be spoilt for choice

Extensive choice for a garden center. Polite staff. I bought some travel hard cherry sweets and a seltzer for the journey home. Fast and efficient service.

I found it expensive and the Christmas display is not the best they have done.

Great variety of plants, accessories, gifts and Christmas gifts. Cafe always good, with good service.

Came to this place for a mowtown weekend staff were friendly and rooms were nice but. Drinks were very expensive my partner had a beer and I had wine and it cost £17 that was disgusting so we want be going back there

my partner and I visited Poplar Nurseries for Sunday Roast today we had read

Lovely centre for food & plants.

Lovely place for coffee and cake, or lunch. Rather busy, but worth the wait. Beautiful flowers etc

Lovely place for plants and lunch. Really nice food and reasonably priced. Good day out

Great experience, came here for the gift section and stopped by the flowers and café. Allergy friendly is a massive win for us with a good selection! Happy, helpful and friendly staff.

Excellent stock of all plan 9t types. Family friendly and a good atmosphere. More like a day out than a trip to the garden centre.

Found on line and went to the farm shop today for the first time and would recommend to anyone and will be back soon

Lovely garden centre covering all manner of needs, the center has a lovely clean restaurant and restroom.

Good coffee and great selection of cakes

It's a bit blah I rambert it when there was so much more over there