Poplar Nurseries 'Thyme Out' Restaurant, in Colchester

Lovely place to visit. Especially at Christmas time...

Vast nursery with v.popular cafe.

Nice place, nice cafe. Great selection of cakes. Unfortunately still no loyalty card.

This is a great nursery with a fantastic cafe and food hall

Nice garden centre. Out of town a bit. Good range of items to buy and a nice but over priced coffee shop.

Great range of present ideas, pretty household and personal accessories if you want to spoil yourself, superb range of cards. Great selection of bird feeding accessories and gardening tools, and indoor and outdoor plants.

This review is for the breakfast with Santa. Honestly, wouldn’t book again. Cold cooked breakfast and it was ok but not in relation to the value of the event. Santa was fine. What annoyed me was the staff started clearing away all the tables (including the contents of our crackers!) while we were still sat down. This is a bit ridiculous. Anyway. Lesson learned

Breakfast with Santa. As I took my first mouthful of lukewarm beans I remembered instantly that last year the food was cold also! Beans lukewarm and bacon cold, eggs under so had that under ring of slime around the yolk. Mushrooms were weirdly vile, cooked in a pan where the soap residue hadn’t been removed perhaps? A new breakfast was supplied. All items were darker and more done than the last. Still lukewarm beans and weirdly disgusting mushrooms but the bacon became cold very quickly so it was clear they had a kitchen of pre-cooked food that they popped on to the grill for 30 seconds to warm but it didn’t warm all the way.. we gave up eating! Santa arrived. The last introducing him had a microphone, he sadly didn’t so no one could hear him. He did a good job of making jokes and giving out presents at the table. Then it was story time, which were some blankets - not enough to accommodate the number of children and goodness it was chilly on the tiles cold floor! Struggling to bear Santa as the restaurant too noisy and there are just far too many children to be able to get close enough to hear. Returned to our table mid story to fin me waitress binning table contents including “precious” cracker prizes and stickers from Santa gifts! But left milk jugs and coffee cups. Overall I would say it would be better on a much smaller scale where the food would be warm, the children could hear and have somewhere to sit to listen! Ironically more expensive than fenwicks sotry time with Santa and so so much more disappointing! I will 100% remember to not book this again next year!

A fabulous lunch, served quickly and enjoyed every mouthful. Staff are amazing. Would recommend. Great to have a wander round afterwards.

Wouldn’t even give it one star! Paying £4.99 for a hot chocolate that tasted of just warm water… absolutely shocking! Paying £4 for a slice of dry cake with stale biscuits on top…. And to top it off “milkshakes” or just ice? Also having around 10 staff standing around chatting whilst we waited for cake and a drink for 20 minutes, and when it did arrive we had the wrong cake, the hot chocolate (warm water) with sunken cream as it had clearly been on the side for a while. Looked lovely from the outside. Won’t be back.

Very disappointing. Went to celebrate my birthday and was so busy. Also appeared short on staff. Our food arrived burnt and dry. Tried to speak to staff but they were too busy. Emailed my complaint, received a sort of an apology with excuses they were busy. Not happy with response and customer service. Spent a lot of money between the 4 of us.

Me and my wife stopped today for breakfast , I had a bacon sandwich at 7.99 and my wife had a sausage sandwich £7.99 over priced for what we received my bacon was cold and so over coked and the sausage sandwich the same very disappointed then we ordered slice of cake as still hungry that was dry and tasteless not worth the price

Not worth the drive, over priced and could not get in the cafe

Would give 0 stars if I could. Every member of staff is arrogant and rude. I've never had a good experience in this shop. It isn't good enough to justify the staff's arrogance and behaviour. If you ask for help they make you feel like an inconvenience. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Lovely Christmas display & train

Great value. Mini rail way for kids really great PRICE for rides well done popular nursery. Kids loved it so did we . 10 out of 10

Christmas at Poplar never fails to impress. The time and effort put into the decorations and displays is amazing and even as an adult, still gives the same magical Christmas feel you had as a kid. Reasonably priced items. Foodhall deli items are superb too!! Shame the railway no longer uses steam locomotives. I used to drive all three of the steam locos in the early days. Good to see it's still very 'Poplar' 😉

A great place to pick up all your gardening and Christmas bits and pieces. Well laid out and nicely decorated for Christmas, the kids loved walking around and were excited by all the various treats too!

Great Christmas section and good selection of plants and other gardening items

Fantastic show of Christmas goods.

Superb garden centre a fantastic amount of items for sale a beautiful Christmas display lovely shop with Superb cakes decent sized car park friendly staff and a great cafe highly recommended

Christmas displays were stunning as well however was let down by the restaurant and baby changing facilities. The baby changing is poorly accessible as it is based within a toilet cubical. Changing table was disgusting and looked filthy. I ended up taking my baby back to the car to change in the boot. We stayed for lunch and the beef was chewy and the chefs needs to understand how to cook our soy sauce as this is very over powering. The sponge cakes are beautiful but dry. The chairs in the restaurant also need a good clean. Staff are friendly but this cafe is very much over rated!

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

The Christmas decorations are amazing definitely worth a visit. And the cake in the cafe is perfect for a pit stop

One of my favourite garden centres to visit, very magical near to christmas, the displays are beautiful. Lovely farm shop with a good selection of local things, staff and friendly!

Huge variety of food and plants to choose from

Breakfast was really disappointing here. Egg was snotty and barely any egg white and the bacon was raw and it looked good quality but they managed to ruin it by not grilling it. Think they baked it in an oven for minutes making it tough meat and raw fat. It turned our stomachs. I have eaten breakfast here for many years but not lately and if this is the offering I won't be going again. Their lunches are better. Be assured.

Great Christmas display. Loads of items and good prices

I won't ever spend another penny here as it's gone down hill suddenly.

Came with a guy who has learning difficulties, the ordering drinks is not ideal because you have to get a table then go up an order, it was very busy so I had to leave my guy sitting at the table and get in a very long queue, where I couldn't see him, a qr code on the table to order that way would work better, what would a mum with a small child do? You can not leave a child at the table while you go queue up to order, other than that this is a nice place

a great place great products and lovely cafe staff were very polite

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. The nursery is now geared up for Christmas, whilst there is a good festive display, all the usual gardening products are still available.

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.

Excellent range of Perenials at reasonable prices

Lovely Garden Centre with excellent coffee shop and very tasty cakes x delicious x

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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! 😂

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.

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.

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

Good variety of plants and ideas for Mothering Sunday gifts!

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.

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.

Loads of great stuff, love the food hall.

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

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!