The Elm Tree Restaurant in Taunton Deane

I come here frequently with friends and family. There is a good variety of food. I always aim for the pynes breakfast full English. It's lovely, and good value. Service is never too long either. It can get busy, but I've always managed to find a seat. Well worth a visit.

Friendly and helpful staff, good food, sometimes a bit noisy in the main restaurant maybe due to amount of glass. Good variety and average prices. Come here regularly for coffee and cake with friends.

Great leadership by lisa. Great leadership over staff. Always look smart dressed. Always smiling and helping. Food is great.

We usually come here for lunch as we much enjoy the place. Unfortunately we grow fed up with staff wearing same gloves for cleaning and serving food, also bringing dogs water bowls in the kitchen to fill them up. Not even then changing their gloves. No infection control rules here. Maybe somebody from management will read this and put some measures in place.

Very great food, service and lisa runs her team excellent. Always has smile on her face.

Really gone down hill such a shame too

A very busy and popular cafe/restaurant. Nice offering

Food was standard. Definitely pre cooked and left standing. Not good quality for a standard £10 breakfast. Bread was from a standard loaf . So not brilliant . Food was warm . Not even hot . Coffee wasn’t good at all . Would not recommend at all .

beautiful place to have breakfast. lovely staff. great food.

Excellent menu that also caters to vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diets. Spacious seating area. I can recommend the pie of the day Excellent table service and friendly staff.

We booked the Teddy bears picnic and it was brilliant. Easy booking system. Well organised. We turned up to the cafe part of the restaurant and the tables were ready for us. There was a good selection of cuddlies. The activity was fun. The lunch came in a picnic basket (to leave when empty). It was relaxed. Enjoyable. Good for the hols. Thanks

My wife and myself have just eaten probably the best breakfast in Somerset. They have used high quality ingredients cooked by a very good chef and it was very reasonably priced as well. Definitely will be putting this restaurant which is situated at Monkton Elm garden centre which is also worth a visit at the top of my list to eat at again

Sunday lunch was amazing ,roast pork was cooked to perfection,crackling so crispy it melted in your mouth. The presentation was spot on,will definitely be returning and will recommend the Sunday lunch to family and friends.

Breakfast standard seems to have slipped ,no tea pot anymore,got very dog friendly by the children’s play area all the best seat to keep &eye on your children our now set aside for dogs ,coffee on the bitter side

We visited here after the garden centre only a quick snack but the food was very good

Good menu, reasonably priced. Good food well presented. Lovely environment and friendly staff. Good place to meet up with friends or just drop in for quick coffee

Called in on a Sunday lunchtime. Food was great. Really tasty. Despite how busy it was, service was fast, friendly and the food well priced.

I have lived in Taunton for 25 plus years and only recently visited this place. What an absolute gem, lovely atmosphere, super friendly staff, excellent service! Needless to say it won't be quite so long before I return!

Every visit is just great, that's why the wife and I keep going back.

Nice clean modern light café serving a wide range of snacks and meals. Well worth a visit if you are at the garden centre.

A good place to have a coffee cake or even a light lunch

Much better than last time with mid week roast roast Extra * all round

Excellent service and fast service

It's a nice place to visit, great cakes and it doesn't feel rushed to leave. Plenty of seating and it's clean, tidy and airy. Good to visit with family.

Lovely food. But we ordered tea for 3 and bearly got 3 cups out the pot. So I had to ask for more hot water.

Lovely lunch with son and granddaughter

Good garden centre cafe/restaurant. Large and airy. Not cheap but good vibe.

This restaurant is certainly worthy of 5*, the staff, service and quality of food is excellent, the dining area is spotless, the food is fresh and plentiful with the addition of excellent range of drinks, you can even have a glass of prosecco😊 we met our friends there yesterday and it's just so relaxed, no pressure to vacate your table and an extra special mention for Sarah who was such a lovely friendly helpful lady. Thankyou monkton elm, you certainly are a great place to visit, plants, shop, etc. we will be back many more times. 💞

Lovley atmosphere, gorgeous surroundings. Staff are often friendly and polite. Food looks great but lacks. Pannis are normally half filled and found the cakes to be dry. Had a roast dinner here once and never again. It tasted absolutely awful. Was so bland and the meat dry, potatoes were soggy. Do recommend the fish cakes and jacket potatoes! I have also included the up to date menu.

I have NEVER given up on a piece of cake in my life, but I have found my kryptonite. The chocolate orange layer cake was so mind - bendingly sweet that I had to quit three spoons in because I was starting to shake! This is just my opinion of course, others might find it just fine.

We had chicken coronation sandwiches which came with salad and a portion of chips. The chips were tasteless, warm at best and soggy. The sandwich had a very slight taste of coronation chicken and the bread was a little dry. The salad sat next to it looked like it needed some crushed anti-depressants sprinkled over it to try and make it look less sad. The half cup of coffee my wife had was “average” but it did taste like coffee which was an enormous relief given the bland food. If you’re thinking lunch, just don’t.

We were regulars here, but new menu has next to no vegetarian dishes on the lunch menu. Only vegetarian choices are the sandwiches/paninis or the jacket potato. It's a shame you have removed your vegetarian options, we left without eating and won't be returning unless the menu caters better.

We have been regular visitors here, today we went for coffee and toast. Prompt service, but the butter portions when they arrive are completely liquid. This makes for a messy business trying to spread with fingers inevitably getting greasy. Unfortunately this isn't the first time we have experienced this. Perhaps don't put the portions on a piping hot plate sitting under hot lights.

Had breakfast here before going christmas shopping in Taunton. Lovely breakfast, bacon was delicious.

Been here several times The food is always good some things on the menu seem a little expensive for what it is however the quality is good so I never mind paying more,I always find they run out of cakes early on weekends so if you want to pop in for a late afternoon coffee and cake there isn't alot to choose from. Barista training is needed for the team however as on several occasions the coffee has either been too bitter/burnt or too sour meaning the espresso hasn't been made correctly. When I returned the drinks the team said they are flat whites they're stronger. The strength wasn't the issue, it was the flavour of the espresso. Sour espresso means it's been brewed too quickly and come out of the machine to quick and bitter/burnt is the opposite and it's taken too long to come out of the machine. I would recommend that you ask your coffee provider to give some training to your team please.

The atmosphere of the place is very spaceous which is okay. And the food is decent which is okay. However the main thing that bugs me about this restaurant is that it physically cant handle being busy. The tables fill up which you would expect from a very popular garden centre therefore you would think there would be prepared. But they are not. There is always a massive wait time at the least 25 minutes. They struggled with my drinks order as i got a latte when i clearly asked for a mocha. And when the food finally came. Its was just average. Nothing awful but nothing special either. Nice experience but just takes ages. Time management should be considered

Waited an hour for our food. Told it was in oven. Quiche and salad cold rubbish excuse. Given cup of coffee free. Would not go again

Chef special chicken wrap that’s not what I would call it . Luke warm with a chicken nugget in it . Chips nearly cold and not nice . Traveled 30 miles for utter Mac Donald’s food

Egg benedict was faultless and so reasonably priced

Ordered quiche which was supposed to come with cherry tomatoes but was served with just a half of a smallish tasteless tomato. Upon querying this I was told that was all they had. The cucumber was so hard it was impossible to cut small enough to eat. Shame as had a lovely meal there in the summer.

Ordered chef special, game pie chips & veg. Slow service but pleasant waitress. Pie was awful pastry burnt black around the edges. Filling well who knows what it was supposed to be. Carrots and peas were cold gravy very salty.Chips hot.

Restaurant prices at a garden centre. The food was good and arrived quickly.

Ordered jacket with prawns x 2 , arrived promptly but so disappointed, served on a tea size plate with the smallest side salad, prawns more the size of smallest shrimps! Jacket potato was well cooked on outside but not so inside. It was it was all only just warm, I had my doubts about eating the prawns, but the worst part was the sauce it was pink coloured water, I make this sauce and I'm not a chef it's not difficult!I was with a friend who paid so didn't make issue at the time. My friend said so sorry that wasn't great was it. Come on, this is just not good enough on such a basic item of cooking.

Always pleasant in the restaurant, never had lunch today just coffee

We love going to the Coffer Lounge at Monkton Elm Garden centre, Sue makes a lovely cup of coffee and is always cheerful, nice to see in this day and age.

Lovely staff. Good choice of food

Nice place to go free parking nice food , coffee and garden centre shopping , x

We attended the tea light painting session so thought that we would go to the cafe to take advantage of their kids eat free offer. We arrived at 12:00pm and the restaurant was already very busy. I was served by the supervisor who explained that the children’s lunch box was not included in the free meals for children. I explained that my daughter has additional needs and would only eat the lunch box. I asked why it was excluded and asked whether this could be fedback to management as they have already tried to accommodate SEN children by offering quiet time slots in their activity. The supervisor became very sarcastic at this point and said that they were very nice for offering this deal at all. I ignored the sarcasm as it’s not worth an argument and ordered a cake. She told me that I had to get this myself before going to the tills. Explained that I wasnt aware that it was self serve as there are no plates. Again the supervisor became defensive and said that they were very busy. I found her incredibly rude throughout the interaction and it really dampened the experience.

We went for breakfast a full English which is to die for, the food is superbly cooked, well presented the restaurant is clean, light and spacious. The staff are attentive, polite, helpful and extremely friendly nothing is too much trouble and they never rush you to eat and go.

Expensive, but then, isn't everywhere lately?

Ordered a ploughmans platter. Very disappointed with what arrived. 3 pieces of cheese - brie, Stilton and cheddar. And one very sad 1 inch thick and 3 inches round described as home bake bread. No butter. An over dressed salad, a pot of pickle and 2 huge pickle onions that looked like potatoes. I spoke to the waitress and showed her my dry bread and she went off to fetch one more slice of the same bagget. This was meant to be my main meal for the day. Needless to say my cheese had noting to go with, so I took them home. The cheese was good though. Less cheese, more bread with butter next time please for someone else, because I left hungry and won't order that again. A dressed salad is not something that I thought would go with that meal, I missed the apple, celery and cucumber. I decided not to overly complain while there because i was with my friend and it was her birthday. I choise to call the garden centre later, still not had a returned call. Thanks.

Booked afternoon tea for 5 of us including one veggie and wow was not disappointed at all, amazing value for money, sandwiches, sweet treats and scones were just lovely and the service from Sue was 100%, would definitely go back and 100% recommend their afternoon tea.

I have visited this venue on several occasions and have found it a very pleasant experience. But I’m afraid their policy of charging 40p for a dash of soya milk in a Cappuccino or any other hot drink is in my opinion extortionate. I’m lactose intolerant so have no choice to pay this Levi. Many other establishments across Taunton recognise their customers intolerances and preferences and cater for these FREE OF CHARGE. I’m afraid you have now lost my custom and I will make my choices to go elsewhere. Please reconsider your policy.

No breakfast on offer - Just a bap with a 2 extras ti choose from, but they won’t allow you to just order the extras or a bag and extras on a side plate, menus states sides ‘from 99p’ but they are 1.50… just paid 41.16 for 4 x bap’s with 3 extras… and 3 x cold drinks… really a complete and utter let down… save your money, read the reviews here … to the Restaurant…. Heed the feedback, be more open minded and don’t try and trick people with your pricing. If you can’t offer breakfast why advertise and state it in your website ? Don’t even bother if it’s this poor…

The cafe offers a great selection of food, snacks, cakes and beverages all at reasonable prices and in a relaxed environment. Very good wheelchair access in the garden centre, cafe and car park.

Very nice meal, excellent service

The regular breakfast is very good and well worth the money.If you go early the food is served very quickly as the morning goes on the service becomes slower.

What a dreadful lunchtime experience! Find a table no problem then realised needed a smart phone as QR code needed to read menu. Trendy but not convenient or user friendly when you have two small children needing attention. Fortunately managed to find written menu otherwise a trip back to the car to get phone. Then go to the till to pay - I nearly lost the will to live. The service was so slow the queue just got longer with no urgency on the part of the sales person or dare I say awareness of the growing frustrations. At this point the second till was opened by a younger person. This actually made the situation worse as they needed the wisdom of their colleague who proceeded then to talk across customers about which codes to enter. No apology or thank you for waiting, just oblivion. My wife ordered the soup of the day which came with croutons and bread and butter. I ordered the all day breakfast, two eggs, two sauces, chips, bacon and baked beans. The food actually came quite quickly but that is the best comment I can make. The soup was warm and what my wife described as 'gloupy' and the texture of wallpaper paste. She thought the soup was leak and potato but couldn't be sure and said the croutons were 'rock-like'. At least the bread was edible! With my dish the chips were soggy and tasteless ( I noticed a woman at the adjoining table pinch a chip from her partners plate and after sampling pulled a face and spat it out so not just me), the bacon was dry and more like cured ham which I left, even the baked beans had no flavour. The eggs were ok and difficult to ruin and the sausages passable if you put enough sauce on them All-in-all not a pleasant experience and this on a day when the restaurant wasn't particularly full. Seems such a shame looking at previous reviews that this has been going on for some time and despite management protestations they haven't learned anything or appear powerless to make the necessary improvements: Employ a chef that can induce some flavoursome food with proper portion control (lots of plates being left half eaten so either too much being served or maybe just the tasteless experience but equally wasteful) Employ some staff that have personality and a degree of urgency that actually want to and enjoy pleasing customers. In the meantime we will vote with our feet and that includes the garden centre where I have previously spent thousands of pounds.

Went for Sunday lunch my friend had beef I had the nut roast. I would not recommend the nut roast, very dry, had a very nice sauce with it but not enough.

Always have first-class service, food is outstanding. You should go and find out for yourself, you will not be disappointed.

The menu has gone downhill. We used to be able to lovely fresh made sandwiches with quality fillings Now, it seems only a Sunday roast is available 20 minutes wait for drinks to be delivered Ordered a pasty which was obviously externally supplied: cheese & tomato. Yes, a cheese & tomato pasty. No description next to the item. Only found out when arriving at the order point after a 20minute queue Signs asking customers not to take it out on staff suggests that people do, which is not right at all, but perhaps look at why customers get frustrated?

Because of the long queue at the coffee lounge we decided to order our second coffee at the main restaurant till, after checking we could do so. After waiting twenty two minutes, after we ordered, I went back to the main restaurant area to find out where the drinks were to be told by a very rude woman behind the counter that she had a very long list and we would have to wait until our drinks order came up. I therefore went to the till to get my money back but the very polite lady said she would check where our drinks were. Coincidentally our drinks were just being prepared, now twenty five minutes after our order. My suggestion to Monkton Elm is that they should tell you when ordering how long the wait is for drinks. Better still open the coffee lounge as you used to at 0900 so you don’t have to go to the main restaurant to order. We, along with many other customers, used to visit the coffee lounge regularly before covid but since then the service has deteriorated so badly and the counter doesn’t open now until later, that all the regulars have gone elsewhere. If you want to meet friends for coffee I suggest you go elsewhere, where the staff are more welcoming and the service more prompt.

A garden centre restaurant, good food and cheerful staff, very clean and a good meeting place

Dropped in for coffee and cake. Both were excellent.

Lovely new restaurant, very comfortable and lots of room

Filthy. Food all over the floors. Tables not cleared for 15/20 minutes. Portions looked small for the prices. Many items on the menu not available.

Good tasty lunch. I had the pie off the specials board, big pieces of meat were nicely cooked.

I don’t like to write poor reviews, however this time I was so disappointed that I am rating my experience. I visited The Elm Tree Restaurant today and when we arrived the only table available was near to automatic doors which lead outside. Unfortunately every time the doors opened we were blasted by very cold air. It’s a shame the restaurant hadn’t closed these doors off during bad weather, as there was an alternative exist through the store. The lunch I ordered was faggots with carrots, peas and mash in a mushroom and tomato sauce. I initially asked a staff member if the faggots were of a course texture or smooth like pate. The lady in question did ask the kitchen staff who confirmed they were course. However when my lunch arrived the faggots were in fact a smooth pate type texture, which I dislike and which was not like a faggot at all. They were also very dry and did not have much flavour. Added to this, the peas were cold and did not look freshly cooked. The mash looked over heated and the carrots must have been days old, as they were very soft and many were shriveled up. The carrot tops had been left on, but not cleaned properly as some still had grit on them. The sauce was ok, but the mushrooms obviously came out of a tin. The quantity was large, but unfortunately the quality of the meal was very very disappointing.

This was the second time we have had lunch here in the last month. Both times excellent food and service. Today I had the chicken breast in shallot and mushroom sauce. It was absolutely delicious and cooked to perfection, will definitely be coming again.

So we arrived to have a wander and choose our purchases then popped to the cafe. It was 11.10 so we missed breakfast but instead choose the all day breakfast only to be told by the cashier this was not available until 12 ! Clue was in the title all day breakfast. Left ordering nothing ! What a shambles

Very good service on a busy mother's day.

Went with my husband for breakfast, arriving at about 10am. I had the waffles and the other half had a bacon sandwich. The hot drinks arrived quickly and the hot food arrived about 10 minutes later. Both items were fine, although the waffles were a bit too dry. We went for lunch on another day and the wait for hot food was over half an hour. We went with friends who had cakes only and they were finished with their cheesecake and drinks way before we got anything. It's a popular place but when it's busy be prepared for a long wait.

We love the garden centre, and have had cake / coffee in the past, which we enjoyed. At the weekend, we decided to have lunch. I’m not sure we will do this again. Meals were expensive and portions small - so much so that my...

Ordered coffee and tea cakes for two. Arrived promptly but were hard as ginger nut biscuits! Either very stale or had been reheated to the point of death. Just awful. Didn’t bother complaining but yes I know I should have, whoever plated them up must...

Go here often as it is very accessible and my mum likes it as other stuff to look at and buy too. It was extremely busy on the last visit but staff still very friendly & helpful. Long Q at the till as many only deciding what to have once at the till! service after order not too long a wait . I just wish it wasn't so 'clattery', a result of little soft furnishing. Considering the volume of numbers, the food was really good ( Sunday roast) and tasty. Good value.

Go here regularly, great place.

My partner and I have regularly had light lunches in this cafe over the last few years. All previous visits had been good, with the food being par for the course at a garden centre cafe. On this latest visit, we had been looking at...

Ordered fish and chips, would not recommend. The piece of fish very small and thin inside nice crispy batter, tasted ok. I thought at first they had served a child’s portion, not good value for money and would not spend £11.99 on it again. Disappointed...

Unlike previous reviewers four of us had a good experience when going in for a light lunch. I have been to this restaurant several times over the last couple of years. What was apparent there appeared to be less staff on site compared to previous...

Having eaten here many times for Sunday Lunch, we were very disappointed with our latest visit. The quality, quantity and general standard of food has gone downhill dramatically. Previously we have been used to really enjoying the copious amounts of really tender slow cooked beef...

Visited again for quick bite, again the cafe lets itself down by having vast amount of tables needing clearing, just like a previous visit. Prices around same as most garden style cafes. It was not very busy food fair hot chocolate warm.

Food was nice but portion was tiny and not worth what we paid for it (Fish & Chips at £11 each). Would have compared the portion size to that of a child's. Shame as the service is great and it's a nice little restaurant/cafe. Just very stingy compared to other garden centre cafes around the town

Lovely breakfast, friendly staff & good service

As you arrive there are lunch menus laid out, no timings on them. The guy queuing in front of me wanted to order lunch at 11.30, ‘no orders until 12pm’, what about a sausage sandwich? ‘we have stopped serving breakfast’. What can I have? ‘a...

Not a place for a decent roast sorry..

Nice coffee and good range of cakes.

Clean friendly and food amazing.

We went for a Mexican feast, on me birthday. Staff were very helpful, made us welcome. I've never tried Mexican foods before, but mine was good and tasty. But hubby and me friend had meat platter, and they said it was bland? Mexican feast isn't for everyone. Mexican flan was nice, different. I had poached pears with blueberries.

Was prepared for the worst having read previous reviews of the Elm Tree restaurant but despite being half term and a busy lunchtime our food was served complete and fairly quickly.

We went in for a Sunday lunch with the two toddlers. Our food arrived but without our drinks. We chased up twice to be told they will be with us soon. We finished struggled to finish our food as a drink is always handy to...

Called in for lunch. Good menu, easy to order (although special list only by the tills) friendly service, jacket potatoes arrived in good time. Easy access toilets

Lovely cafe/restaurant area and reasonably priced. Plenty of seating and adequate service. Disappointing garden center as mainly focused on general shopping rather than the dead or dying plants covered in cobwebs on broken stands.

Delightful restaurant in the garden centre.Was very busy.Staff seemed overwhelmed towards the end of the afternoon- mixing up orders....

Had the ploughman’s and chicken & bacon salad. Absolutely lovely! Had a bit of a wait, but was worth it! Top end of acceptable price hence 4 stars.

After a few days traveling we stopped en route here for some breakfast. Lovely light and airy and so much to choose from. We both had the Elm Breakfast a coffee and a tea which cost £19.00. Good service very clean and would recommend for...

No customer service here today I decided we would not be returning no one wanted to say sorry or apologize.

Having visited Monkton Elm cafe over many years yesterday I was very disappointed in the attitude of one of the waitresses in a mix up over our order

I have been a regular visitor to the garden centre and then pop into the cafe for a light lunch. On this occasion I found the layout of the cafe had been altered - why?It is certainly not for the better. There was total confusion...

Haven’t been here for quite a while and won’t rush to do so again. Had bacon baps and coffee from very limited breakfast menu. Drinks were plonked down on our table and we were told ‘your breakfasts will be coming out of the kitchen.’ I...

We arrived at the Monkton Elm centre to buy a few bits and have a spot of lunch. Decided on the pork baps, then discovered at the point of payment, there was no pork but beef so settled for that. The meal advertised chips with the meal, what did we get? Roast potatoes and gravy, to go with a bap, Tried to get the waitresses attention, she walked off. What else can I say, obviously customers are listened to or respected, won’t be back.