The Balloon Tree in Ryedale

Brilliant breakfast, all local produce, and very good coffee

Having received an email recently that the cafe was remaining open during building work disappointed to find it clossed today. No mention of closure was made on the website which we checked before travelling from Pickering Very disappointed customers

So... I've worked in hospitality and what I witnessed had the appearance of not being a one time blip and was more habitual behaviour. On arrival, we were stood waiting to be seated, and despite making eye contact with several staff members, we were waiting quite a while to be approached. Even when busy you should acknowledge the customer almost immediately. The table we were seated at had not been cleaned with the surface and floor covered in crumbs. I had the liver, onions and mash, but despite its faults I was so hungry I ate it anyway. The liver was overdone, the mash left a powdery texture on the palet and was somehow elastic. It was supposed to be garnished with parsley but someone had dumped some strong coriander on it. A simple sniff test would have informed the cook of this. My wife had a turkey, stuffing, brie and cranberry with chips. There was no cranberry, but they're we're raisins(?!) And the turkey had been shredded and mixed into the stuffing. The chips had clearly been refried several times and there were also some that were fried black. Clearly no one was quality checking at "the pass" before serif l serif l serving. At no point did anyone check if the meal was OK, and the poor cashier, I assume following orders, still pointed out that a tip could be applied via the merchant card device. Neither did the cashier ask if the meal was OK. At restaurant prices I would expect restaurant quality and service, I've been to market pop-up kitchens that are many times better than this experience. I don't often rant about this, and usually add very positive reviews, but it's also important to know where to avoid!

Food is excellent and the place is very clean. Excellent staff and the farm shop is full of goodies. I would recommend strongly to visit this excellent place.

Great farm shop. A little pricey, but good quality food.

We visited here on a Saturday early afternoon for a late lunch. The cafe was busy but we got seen to and seated relatively quickly which was great. Having a look at the menu we thought this would be what you’d expect from a farm shop cafe (sandwiches, salads, toasties and jacket potatoes). But the menu just seemed overly fancy and complicated for just a farm shop cafe and rather pricy. We ordered a Cajun chicken sandwich and a pork and stuffing ciabatta for mains and a side of chips. Both food and drinks came relatively quickly which is always a bonus. Our portion sizes were rather small for the price of them and the tiny portion of chips that was £4.00. The Cajun chicken sandwich came with a tiny amount of salad then the sandwich its self which was nothin special at all and just ok. The pork ciabatta also came with a small amount of salad and again was not amazing. 2 small slices of pork that was just warm and not the hottest and some again just warm stuffing. The pork was mostly fatty and rather chewy. We tried to get a servers attention but no one passed. In the end we left the meat and stuffing on the plate and just ate the bread and the chips. Upon going to pay there was no ask of how your food was or if everything was ok it was just what table were you on and here’s your bill. We will not be visiting here again. It’s over priced for what you get and very disappointing. As locals to this place the food used to be very good but it seems as if it’s taken a bit of a dive. So unfortunate for what used to be an amazing cafe.

Food was ok, although I felt the waiting from placing the order was a bit on long side. However the toilets leave a lot to be desired!!

Great atmosphere, and good coffee

Popped in for lunch travelling towards York Good menu choices If you like cake then get in for a visit when passing Farm shop on site also, a bit pricey but the products sold look locally sourced which is nice

Seems to have put prices up,don't help their customers sorry.

Followed the signs off the main road only to find a sign inside the gate saying it was temporarily closed (building work going on). Someone in front of us made the same mistake and were doing a multi-point turn In the available space. We had to reverse out onto the busy road. Balloon Tree owner - if you read this please take down your signs or put a bigger sign up on the main road to say you're closed.

Always great fresh vegetables and a naughty sausage roll

Very expensive 3burgers 2teas 1coke 1 desert £66

Second visit and very disappointed after first visit was served cold soup thought give it another chance but no more, some staff polite but to many who are not, tall young lad very helpful and friendly didn't get his name Stroganoff was lacking flavour and very runny and £4 for a handful of thin chips which were meant to be thick cut chips don't mind paying top price if quality is good on a positive my partner had pork stuffing ciabata which was ok , Unfortunately these places get to big and loose the personal touches a few words and a smile go a long way.

Cafe - lovely to have the option of a light version of a full breakfast for both meat eaters and veggies and vegans. Very tasty. Friendly service. Great farm shop too.

Great selection of food and drinks in the shop and tasty selection in the cafe too. Top quality.

Lovely place Breakfast very nice and lovely staff Farm shop full of goodies

Smashing rolls with link sausage. Suoer service

Great little cafe attached to a garden centre. We were travelling so only wanted a drink, but the food looked very nice and we've made a note to go back when we're next in the area. Staff were welcoming and friendly, service quick and it was very popular. Plenty of parking.

it follows the standard garden centre eating place and is large and light rather than intimate setting. Food was good, service good and the prices reasonable. Whilst I wouldn't rush to go back, I wouldn't avoid it either.

Encontré esto casi por accidente después de haber revisado un mapa en línea para una parada de almuerzo - una cantidad decente de aparcamiento con una excelente tienda de granja en la parte delantera y una cafetería de buen tamaño con amplia selección

A great place to stop for lunch or breakfast - we loved the hot roast pork sandwich at lunchtime. There’s a great menu and it always seems to be busy. Good outdoor eating and a place for dogs to run around. The staff are brilliant, the place is buzzing, both the cafe and shop. Worth driving out for on a good stopping place on the way to the east coast.

Kids had a fantastic time pumpkin picking, (2024)

El departamento de panadería me hizo dos Tiramisu Roulades increíbles hoy para una barbacoa de hoguera, eran increíbles de ver y deliciosos de probar. Gracias por ir más allá para un cliente muy feliz

1st Nov stopped for voffee and cake at 2pm at 26mins past we walked out as no one bothered to come near us. Not a way torun a business, this us the second time this has happened. Improve

Always meet a friend there. Lovely food and staff

Visited but too busy due to pumpkin picking day

We used to love this place, the food was good and everyone was always so kind, but now it is a little disappointing as the food is limited and average quality. Service wasn't great and almost an inconvenience to serve customers.

Seated quickly then a 20 minute wait to be served even though there appeared to be enough staff.After over half hour wait the food arrived. Two venison, red wine and potato pies with four small broccoli shoots. We could not taste either venison or red wine in the pie which tasted and had the appearance more like minced beef and gravy pie. The farmhouse soup was very thick and glutinous and only warm and the sausage roll dry and overcooked. Only one of our group ordered dessert, vanilla ice cream, which took 35 minutes to arrive after reminding 3 different waitresses. Very disappointing experience.

Food is amazing but the service is very very slow. We were there for over an hour and a half only ordered sandwiches and a kids meal........ was really hard to entertain the 4 year old. The toilet situation left a lot to be desired too, 2 tiny toilets to cater to 30+ tables. If the food hadn't been so good I would have been very upset.

This place was very busy today, the staff seemed to be run off their feet, as a result of this service was a little slow but the food more than made up for it as it was excellent.

It was all ready for Halloween when we visited which is great for kids. Nice products but overpriced in my opinion.

We visited for the first time today. We met family as we do not live locally. It’s a good place to visit to kill a few hours with a good array of seasonal activities. The farm shop is lovely with a few little nick backs too. We visited on a Monday and staff were blaming the day of delivery for the amount of food that was not available from the menu. I think I was on choice four before I found something that the cafe had. First time I have come across that much food no longer available from the menu. However, the food was good, cakes looked delightful and staff were very friendly. We mostly enjoyed pumpkin picking which was set up with some great chances to capture some family pics for the album. We visited on a week day and not on a school holiday so there wasn’t many people around.

Expect to wait at busy times but you will be rewarded with hearty delicious food

The food was pleasant enough. Great outdoor space for children and pumpkin picking if you wanted it. The cafe was fairly busy even though it was late in the afternoon. Staff forgot to serve us and the prices are on the higher side for a cafe...similar to restaurant prices for similar meals.

Not a warm welcome which then led to a very unprofessional, unhelpful attitude when asking if they could meet my dietary requirements. We left and won't be back!

We had a sharing plate of salad, pork pie sausage roll, ham, cheese bread and butter very tasty and we enjoyed the lunch.

We’ve been visiting The Balloon Tree for more than three years, and undoubtedly will again in future. At about 2:20pm on a busy Sunday afternoon however, I felt there was a complete lack of leadership. Despite being able to see multiple empty tables, we queued for about 15 minutes to be seated. That was our choice and might not have been an issue if, once we sat down, we didn’t then see at least five more empty tables as the queue of customers extended outside the door. Our table had not been wiped, the floor was filthy, and numerous staff seemed to be ambling around with no sense of purpose. We watched as staff used a single tray to clear as much of a table before making the long trek to the kitchen area. No use was made of the trolley and the entire operation seemed inefficient and longing for someone to take control. The table next to us went uncleared for about 15 minutes despite the queues, and none of the staff seemed to be moving with much urgency. It was disappointing to watch staff serving food, only to return to the kitchen empty handed, passing uncleared tables on route. We’ve long enjoyed visiting this establishment, but on this occasion the lack of pride, urgency, and good customer service was noticeably lacking.

My kids love this place. Great food and very clean . Recommended

Came here for PYO Pumpkin and will make it an annual tradition now - great little experience, super friendly staff (in the cafe and out on the patch). There are loads of good quality pumpkins to pick from all different shapes, sizes and colours - really fun for the kids! There are a few photo opportunities in the field too which was a nice touch. Great little play area for the kids at the cafe, the food was lovely albeit a little expensive, service was great too. Had a browse of the shop and had a lovely selection - some of it on the pricey side but good quality. Will be back much more regularly!

Had breakfast here yesterday & once again the cooked breakfast was luke warm, under food standards agency guidelines food should be at a minimum of 63°c & if hot holding food the temperature should be at 63°C too to prevent the germination of spores & multiplication of bacteria, fantastic local ingredients but spoilt by the temperature of the food & food undercooked , your charging top dollar & we expect the food to be hot, the staff are lovely here too, it's a shame it's spoilt by not following proper food preparations guidelines. Please cook fresh we don't mind waiting & try getting the temperature to 75°c or above.

We stopped off for lunch when travelling through the area. There were a few tables available and wifi. The food was lovely and there was an extensive dessert menu. Service was ok and food came out fairly quickly.

Nice but expensive. £7.45 for a bacon buttie is up there and whilst it was nice, that's a lot of money for a simple basic sandwich. I think £4.95 would have been a more acceptable price for what there was. Nice place and good quality but value for money? Jury is out.

OMG, if it wasn't for the assistant manager at Paul Smith, York designer outlet, we would not have visited - and that would have been a disaster!! The venue is awesome, people and staff are amazing, the food is exceptional, but the puddings, oh yeah....................... 5☆

Farm shop - please bring back the supply of Lime Tree pies. We have been buying these pies for years and now discovered that you have suspended their account. Tha alternative in house "Original Baker artisan Chicken Bacon & Mushroom pie" is not a patch on Lime Tree. Pastry was hard, chicken pieces were solid and tough, mushroom pieces undercooked. Please reinstate the Lime Tree supply contract. Alan, York.

This place is an absolute treasure. Food is great and the staff were a pleasure

Review is for the cafe. Extremely friendly and welcoming staff. Delicious food that tasted fresh and with excellent portions. Lovely presentation. Sat outside and enjoyed not only the food but the atmosphere as well.

Stopped here many times on the way out to the coast. Brilliant food both breakfast and lunch. Will definitely be bringing my family here back again. Recommended- full breakfast and Sunday roast.

Great food. Excellent coffee Nice atmosphere

Despite asking for ‘extra hot’ coffee and being told by the waitress there was an option for this on her tablet, our 3 coffees were nowhere near hot…..not a very difficult thing to get right!

Don’t really know what to make of this place, we’d been to the large garden/ diy store on hul road with the big orange square logo, and fancied some fresh fruit and a wander round the balloon tree shop and cafe area with our little 4 legged girl. We were delighted to see the dog water bowl and dog exercise area along with doggy ice cream, however we also saw a sign on the shop door saying no Dogs allowed,so while we accept the no dog rule where there’s people eating, how can you go into the shop to buy anything without having to leave your dog in the car while you go into the shop to pay for anything? Dogs die in hot cars don’t they? Think management need to think a bit more about their products they’re selling to their customers as who will come in for dog ice cream other than dog owners?

We called in for a brew and delicious scones (well worth stopping for) whilst on our travels onThursday - l left my glasses on the table and didn't realise until we were back home in Manchester l decided to give you a call and cannot thank you enough for posting them back to me!!! Excellent service and everyone is so friendly and helpful - thank you again Balloon Tree will definitely call in again when l am in the area and sample your delicious food

Nice family company! Loved the bacon roll! Contains a play area for the kids. Would definitely recommend.

Nice food enjoyed it very much but my family member was upset because he couldn’t have chicken nuggets but over all good.

Not the best but not the worst breakfast, as a couple didn't appreciate pulling tables together for a party of 10 with highchairs literally inches from us. A bit of hindsight would have helped.

Friendly helpful staff really good food

The balloon tree has a much more limited menu from when I last visited.

Just beautiful! And a delicious breakfast! Family friendly, and the cutest gift/farm shop. You can pick your own fruit and veg certain times of the year and the staff were friendly! Thankyou the ballon tree!

Food was wonderful lovely setting

We were disappointed at a Sandwich bap X2 costing £13.95 each .We thought expensive really plus coffees we had came there after been at Hospital today .My Husband was not happy paying that was not value for money .We have been before for Breakfast which was worth it but not for a sandwich today shame .

it would have been 5 a staff member was quite rude we've been coming to you 5 years a bit more that's the first time that's as happened so it's actually a shame that I have to put this review

Lovely garden centre incorporating a well run cafe, With an excellent well looked after play area for children up to ages of 6/7.just situated between York and st bridge, well stocked shop selling all from fruit and vegetables to meats from the deli counter amongst other collectable items of interest.would certainly recommend popping in for a visit. Bit disappointed with the recent breakfast last visit, poached eggs were over done, needs a bit more care?

In my opinion this place is soooo expensive in every way! they have a loyalty card which earns you 1p for every pound you spend so that means you can earn £10 to spend there after you’ve forked out £1000 😂😂😂 also they need to get the flour on the shop out of that sunny window, I keep my flour in the fridge since I had a first hand experience of weavels in my pancakes when I was 20 !! In the plus side it’s a lovely place to sit while your children play in the play area and it’s a lovely sun trap.

Love the milk dispensing machine. The milk is delicious! Love the fact that they have free plastic bottles for you (1ltr or 2ltr) and those wanting glass can either bring your own or purchase them instore. Unlike the other milk dispensing machines we have used before, you pay for as many litres as you want up front, because you need to keep pushing the dispensing button for it to dispense. So you can stop when needed to fill the next bottle. This machine also has a litre countdown so you know how many more litres to go.

Great place, lovely food. Cakes to die for. Highly recommended a visit if you’re in the area. Staff are very friendly and helpful.

Good food and drinks, great deli and shop. Daughter loved the outdoor play area. Went twice in 3 days and would go back again. Only downside was the toilets were tiny. For how big the place is and how many people go there it is extremely poor that there are only two cubicles for men and the hand basin is inside the cubicle so you have to open the door again after you’ve washed your hands. Not good enough for a big place like this.

Over priced food.... nearly ten quid for a cheese sandwich in a tiny bread bun. Chips were burnt and virtually inedible. Very poor value.

Great place to stop for breakfast we had our dog Bella with us so sat outside but it’s a lovely area to sit in, staff very polite and friendly, our breakfast was cooked fresh.

Took a detour to get some breakfast and glad we did! Lovely big sandwich with local thick cut bacon! Very pleasant and friendly staff, the service was a little slow but it was busy and the food was clearly freshly cooked to order! We will return, and would definitely recommend 🙂

Must go! Love the Sunday lunch menu, fresh seasonal ingredients, farm shop collection and the seasonal PYO selection. Family friendly and relaxing place. My favorite is their milk vending machine (£1.50 per litre) sourced from a local farm - bring your own bottle!

Come here for Sunday dinner on a few occasions and never disappointed us yet, beautiful food!

Visited with friends and family. Lovely little place and had a vast menu. Some options available for gluten free. The little one wasn’t impressed with her child menu but she is a harsh critic 😂 Enjoyed food all round. They had forgotten to give us cutlery but no major issue.

Beautiful farm shop and cafe. Dedicated dog play area

Excellent place to go on a weekend. Some great walks over the viaduct and around villages. We had a full roast which was great and not overpriced! Lots of indoor and outdoor seating, play park for children and ok to park.

Clean cafe with good choice of drinks and lunch looked good.

Lovely cafe and farm shop, reasonably priced, good choice, delicious cakes

After waiting over 30 minutes for our food I asked if it would be long, it must have been sat on the side as it came straight away - cold!! My ‘hot’ pork sandwich was cold and the pork was all curled up, the luxurious cauliflower cheese was also cold and so hard my friend could hardly chew it, also the fries were cold. We didn’t have time to reorder so we ate what we could. Definitely would not recommend, we heard two other tables complaining about the wait.

Went to the Balloon Tree today and what a complete disappointment. The cafe was so busy and the staff were very limited and could not cope. ( not the staffs fault but management) The queue of people now have to go into the shop even if you wan to sit outside, which seems ridiculous as the que just kept growing and why have an outside stand if it’s not used??To make matters worse the staff with HOT food and drinks were coming past all these people and kids surely a Health and Safety issue!! Not great sort it out!! Or there will be an accident …The table next to us wanted the umbrella up but the young guy didn’t know how to put it up.. so my husband did it.. basic training??? Very poor the only good aspect were the strawberries.

Excellent place go bring the kids for strawberry picking and bite to eat at the cafe

Very nice place to do some shopping. Fresh fruits and vegetables, milk and many more farm products. Very helpful staff.

Nice lunch and a well stocked farm shop

Very good food but please bring back the fish finger sandwich.

I cannot believe I have never done PYO strawberries before today! They have a variety of PYO fruute, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, rhubarb. We went later in the day and u fortunately all the ripe raspberries had been picked but there was ample of strawberries. I took my 13 year old son, who was so enthusiastic and really enjoyed the experience and I have to say the strawberries are divine! It's such a lovely place to visit with play area for the younger ones and place to eat. I think this may have to be a new summer tradition for our family

Expensive but great quality fruit and vegetables

I visited the cafe with friends of mine and was very happy with the experience. I had a full English breakfast, which was lovely. There was a bit of a mix-up with our order, but this was quickly sorted, and we were offered a drink as an apology, which was nice. Enjoyed some cake after - absolutely delicious! They have a great range to choose from and they all looked gorgeous but in the end I went for a cheesecake which was light and yummy. 😊

It's really nice here, the food is great, the shop has some nice things, and the staff are lovely.

£18 for 5 pieces of scampi and a few fries is day light robbery.

Excellent service and delicious food. Our order came out incorrectly from the kitchen but they changed it immediately with no questions.

We found this beautiful little gem after a disappointment in York. A wonderful place, great staff polite respectful and knowledgeable. Well presented in a spot in the country side.

Went in for coffee and cake, when we did eventually get served the waitress was apathetic, the coffee was undrinkable as it tasted very burnt, cake was ok I guess. When we went to pay I said the coffee was undrinkable the guy just chuckled and we were offered a free take away one. Ummm no thanks, we won’t be going back.

Quick, tasty and comfy. I thought that it was very good.

This is part 2 of my review this morning. The 4 stars are for the lovely female member of staff in the shop who I talked to about the disappointing experience in the café and the waitress who seemingly sabotaged my tea! She brought the manager to chat to me - he was equally understanding. Thanks. I felt much better. 🙂

Dreadful overcooked, Stone cold food, eggs awful, replaced with even worse ones, for this price has to be bang on ! Won't be going again never !

Awful stone cold food, over cooked and overpriced, asked for kids and my eggs to be replaced, they was with even worse. For this price its got to be bang on, not poor quality and badly cooked ! Never again sorry ! The same staff replaced our eggs with worse, this is a bit worrying.

Lovely little place. A little expensive but aren't they all these days. Some staff could do to be friendlier so customer service needs a brush up and some training.

Lovely ,Had a Bacon sandwich,Vegan Breakfast,Lighter Breakfast,Hot chocolate ( gorgeous) and 2 soft drinks ,Sat outside as we have a Little Dog , Thoroughly enjoyed everything and Very nice Staff ,Thankyou .

Hidden little gem welcoming staff

Lunch was excellent, really enjoyed it.

Good food cooked badly imo burnt breakfast .. try for yourself but be advised we did request the chef was advised so may be better next time

Had a great gluten free breakfast