The Garden Restaurant at Woodlands Nursery & Garden Centre in Leicester

Large carpark, but very long queue at cafe at least 20 minutes , with 1 till open. The prices are very high although the food did look nice, won't bother eating here again but the other shops were good.

It's been taken over by Dobbies, ordinary that's ok, but, the food choice and quality in the cafe has gone down hill. Also it's infested with flies and bothersome wasps. Not what you want when already massively disappointed, I'd brought my fiancé here for lunch, after singing Woodlands praises, and was expecting the prior great food and fabulous atmosphere. We will not come back, I'm sorry to say 😔

Lovely place and meal, enjoyed visit with friends and staff helpful. Would recommend d and return. Nice location and pleasant situation.

terrible roast pork sandwich for £9 , it was dried up with no stuffing or apple sauce ,looked like leftover bits from day before, with bread hardly buttered .This was after a 30 + min wait and after asking where was our food . We would have taken it back but there was a long queue at 12.30 . We will not go back and would recommend family and friends eat elsewhere unless management rectifies this issue.

What a dreadful place,absolutely diabolical,We were in the queue for over 25 minutes just to get a coffee and a piece of cake,There was no system in place ,Staff were working at snails pace,didn’t know what they were doing at all,Thank god I never had a hot meal,when we eventually sat down, waitresses were bringing food out and wondering about aimlessly,then walking back into the kitchen,and people did have numbers on their table.is this really the best way to run a business,I think not,We won’t be going again that’s for sure.

Admittedly I havent visited this garden centre since pre covid but we wanted somewhere nice to go on a rainy sunday. We ordered 2 x cheese/tomato toasties and 1 x cheese sandwich. We sat in dog friendly area, having to tidy the table of previous persons debris. Ordered our food, food arrived and had to call the lad back to take the dirty crockery. Considering the food had to be ordered and was presumably made fresh, the toasties were barely warm which wasnt good especially as they cost over £7 each! When I mentioned this on our way out, was told they were busy!!!!!!!

First visit,fab garden centre with lots of choice & not pricey,ate in the restaurant,really tasty freshly prepared food at reasonable prices,only downside was it was really hot in there,no fresh air or fans,glass roof,felt sorry for the staff,who were all red faced. They had a dog friendly area,but it was way too hot to have dogs in there.The material seat pads on the chairs were badly stained & really needed a good clean or changing & quite a few tables we tried were unbalanced & a leg was propped up with serviettes.

Visited with my mother as soon as we arrived a dog had pooped near the entrance the smell was very unpleasant. Not more than a few yards away a further dog had done the same !!! Then we witnessed another dog cocking it’s leg up on the plant stand

Absolutely shocking experience we had to walk through dog poo on entry shortly followed by a further lump of dog poo inside .. Then we witnessed a dog cocking it’s leg up near the garden furniture.. Not everyone likes dogs .. Then there is a dedicated area for dogs in cafe .. We won’t be going back there

Have not been to the centre since before the lockdown. It is as I remembered. A very nice garden centre with plenty of other shops within the garden centre. There is a Sainsbury's outlet there which is new. Having walked around the centre and shops we then went to the restaurant. We both chose the chicken sandwich and a cup of tea. The sandwich was a large portion, plenty of filling with a salad on the side. Very nice indeed. The restaurant was very clean. Tables were cleared in good time and wiped down. The restaurant staff were very pleasant and polite. The shops were interesting and again they were neat and tidy. The staff everywhere were polite,helpful and always on hand. Al in all a very nice day out and we managed to get everything we wanted.

Whilst visiting Dobbies today we decided to pop into the restaurant for lunch. I really wished we hadn’t of bothered . The member of staff taking the hot food orders named Tracy and her colleague that was working next to her serving hot drinks should be moved from their positions and trained in customer service. They were rude unfriendly and unhelpful. When asking what the soup and food was on the hot counter, Tracy’s attitude was unbelievable. Her unfriendly and unhelpful manner was shocking. I felt like I was taking her time up. She slapped the food order and table number on my tray without a thank you or smile. The lady serving the hot drinks literally scowled at me. She rolled her eyes when I asked if I could have a different drink. (She hasn’t started making them at this point). She was dame right rude. She throw the cups and saucers down on the counter. I could tell she was muttering under her breath. The lady on the till wasn’t much better. It wasn’t just us that was subjected to this behaviour I witnessed several other customers been treated the same way. The only member of staff I could honestly say was friendly from the restaurant was the man clearing tables and serving the food. The scones were lovely but the soup was very bland. Dobbies please please teach your restaurant staff some manners. A smile and thank you goes a long way.

Expectations fairly low having read the reviews but in fairness lunch was pretty good. The pea and mint soup was piping hot and flavoursome. Staff were friendly and tables were cleared and cleaned quickly.

Had to clear own table and luckily I had wet wipes to clean table. Girl walking around with trolley but not doing a lot. If they want us to clear tables so we can eat and drink items we've got from their cafe at least leave cleaning items to do this

It saddens me to write this. We have attended here for breakfasts or lunch over the last 5 years up to 3 times a week. It is very disabled and dog friendly. We have spend £100s (in fact well over £1000) at the garden centre and in Weird Fish, Pavers and Pets Corner; at one time we had 4 loyalty cards so that we could benefit from the free monthly coffees. The service has not always been fast but you can forgive that if the food is good. and the staff are friendly. Well, the staff are still friendly but the last twice we have visited for breakfast the food is greasy (I mean saturated in cooking oils) and the sausages are very low quality (at one point they had excellent locally sourced sausages). For a very low quality (traditional) breakfast that has gone up to £6.50 , unfortunately can't temp me to travel 40 minutes each way to spend my hard earned cash with you.

My sisters and I took our elderly mum for Christmas shopping and lunch at Woodlands Garden Centre on Saturday 27th November. It was freezing everywhere and even in the restaurant and we had to eat while wearing our coats! My mum was still feeling cold the next morning! Surely the restaurant should be separated from the hangar like garden centre as it is not pleasant eating lunch in the freezing cold! We won't be visiting again - especially in the winter!

Very disappointed waited in queue 30mins my partner wanted breakfast we was in queue from 10:40 cafe opens at 10:30 as we got closer to order which took ages couple in front where next to order the guy wanted breakfast but as it was almost 10:30 instead of asking customers in queue that had been there since opening at 10:30 they took away all the breakfast items to bin. Started bringing dinner stuff out so it could ld sit for 30mins till they would serve that. We eventually got to till non of us had food it took 15 mins for them to make 2 lattes a mocha and a cappuccino. Won’t be coming here again . Also as someone else mentioned overpriced. Had to give 1 star to submit review.

I have been a customer at Woodlands for many years we visited today met with family and had fish and chips, the quality was poor the fish was at best Pollock and was poorly presented with more batter than fish it was very poor and somewhat overpriced for what you get when we go again I would certainly avoid the fish, and likewise would advise anyone to avoid it, it was for my wife's birthday and very disappointing.

After a 30 minute wait to be served , I and a few others gave up and walked away. It’s extremely frustrating that they have such a slow service. The cafe (another on site ) was closed. A lady at the check out of the garden centre said that they have recruitment difficulties owing to the low pay offered. Pre Covid, I used to call in for a cup of coffee and a cake but now the restaurant seems closed at 5.15 when I turn up even though the rest of the centre is still open.

The restaurant at Dobbies (it's not called Woodlands any more) is pretty good. It's a garden centre cafe, not a Michelin-starred restaurant, but I was surprised by the negative reviews. I've been here a few times for lunch when I'm in the area (usually shopping at Lakeland next door as I'm not really a regular garden centre customer) and it's good. Today I had a very tasty macaroni cheese, served with a salad and garlic bread; my partner had a mature Cheddar sandwich, again served with a salad and the sandwich was on very nice wholemeal bread that looked quite artisan - definitely not standard supermarket sliced! Tea was served in a pot, the staff were friendly and helpful, and it was spotlessly clean.

As members and regular visitors to Woodlands we find it much more enjoyable to visit now owning to the higher hygiene standards there is constant clearing and cleaning of tables. Previous to the Coronavirus epidemic the restaurant was left with less than clean tables and floors. Now it is a pleasure to sit in a clean and comfortable environment. Lovely cappuccino served but as I call in late morning there is always a scarcity of cream cakes. Mostly longer life sweet eats are on offer which are not so good and very expensive for what they are. My mincemeat slice is around £ 2.35? For a miserly slice about 1.5 inches by3 inches, so please up your cakes Woodlands!

Ordered a jacket potato for myself and fish and chips for my son. Waited 20 mins, the people who were in front of us got their food, we waited and waited, then the family of 6 who were behind us all got served their fish and chips, then the couple behind them got jacket potatoes and fish and chips. Manager blamed a broken fryer! In the end we complained to the manager and left with a refund

Food was cold by the time it was delivered to the table . Something as simple as jack potato with one filling shouldn’t really be that challenging to get right ! Really unimpressed.

My wife and i went to meet friends in the cafe at aadobbies on 12/02/ 20 we have been many times before and have seen a gradual fall in standards since Dobbies took over, overpriced drinks and food, this time the queue to pay was about 4 minutes and the scones were the worst i have seen there did not seem to be any heating in the place most people were still wearing coats. And than to top at of you get dogs barking you can not hear yourself after 20 minutes of this we left as did a lot of others, i will wait for some good reviews before i go back.

Denies member so had vouchers overpriced if you don't.food is always cold if you have a coffee staff so slow always the same to be fair to them bearing in mind prices Dobies could employ more staff.Seems more interested in profit then anything else captive audience.

Overpriced sub standard Christmas dinner. Carrots raw, peas rock hard. Turkey was like eating dust. At £9.95 it’s basically a microwave meal

We decided to visit here and have breakfast. The garden centre was quite busy as was the restaurant. We were stood in the queue for at least 15 minutes before we got served. We ordered the full English which consisted of two sausages, 2 bits of bacon, hash brown, beans, mushrooms, two tomatoes, black pudding and a slice of toast. The plate wasn't overly big and the portion sizes varied between customers as did the plates. We had to wait a few minutes as they had run out of something and had to wait for more to come from the kitchen. We then moved down to the hot drink section and ordered drinks and paid. The breakfast was ok, not overly the best and the portion size could have been better for what is charged. The sausages were nice as was the bacon and black pudding. The toast was really dry and wasn't the nicest. The tea was quite nice. Overall some of the staff could have had a better attitude. One member of staff (lucky not one who served us) had a cold/cough and coughed over someones plate as they were putting the food on the plate. A couple of the staff were friendly and seemed happy the rest didn't. The place was reasonably clean. The service is slow and could do with speeding up or a redesign of the layout to better speed up the process as the hot drinks section held up the queue for the hot food.

Miserable staff and not welcoming at all. Standards have gone down since it become Dobbies. Need to train staff better in customer service

Lovely hot food served promptly by a smiling waitress, all staff were more than ready to be of help & very pleasant.

My fiancé and I visited here on Saturday, for cake and coffee. We were very disappointed. We queued for over 30 minutes, just for a coffee and cake. The cafe seemed to be very poorly organised with only two people serving coffe, at a very busy time.

however lovely food, when its busy its a bit of a pain as the organisation of the tills isnt great, but food and choices are good, cakes are good,

Pleasant cafe in Dobbies Garden Centre where cakes especially are really nice -in particular the scones! Always freshly made. Has a good loyalty scheme too that’s worth doing!

We visited today for lunch and whilst my chicken meal was delicious coated with peri peri just right amount .yorkshire pudding huge and lovely .my husband meal of fish and chips was a big let down totally tasteless disappointing as this not a cheap meal the only reason giving 3 stars was because servers and young lady on till were so pleasant shame as last time we visited was much better meal .

It’s an easy place to eat in the middle of this mini shopping centre/garden centre complex. Food was ok, but curry and rice was lukewarm and had to be sent back. Plenty of space and easy access for mobility buggies and wheelchairs. Toilets nearby too.

Well, what a disappointment. This place has taken a big downturn since it became Dobbies. The meal in the restaurant was dreadful - over cooked and tasteless fish, poor helping of badly cooked chips and lumpy mushy peas. Used to enjoy the fish and chip treat here but won’t bother again. Also, everything seemed more pricey now.

Always enjoyed my fruit scone at the old Wyevale . What on earth is the scone at Dobbies?

Visited on Sunday for coffee and cake with a friend - we've been regular visitors for many years. Unfortunately our visits have been more and more disappointing and this one was the worst yet. We headed straight for the restaurant and joined the queue. The choice of cake was very limited; there used to be loads of choice but only 3 to choose from, or scones (which incidentally are placed in open baskets for everyone to breathe over). We made our choice and joined the queue to order coffee. There was obviously a problem with the person at the head of the queue and as there was no-one else serving we stood waiting for well over 10 minutes. When we did get to the front of the queue there was no apology for the wait and the gentleman who served us barely acknowledged us. I must say the coffee was lovely but the cake was nothing special and the cutlery I picked up was not particularly clean, I had to rummage around the cutlery tray to find something a bit cleaner.

I only wanted a bottle of water and to ask if they did gluten free (which they did not) and it took about 10 minutes. There was only one person in front of me too! There were two staff and the lady of the till was making drinks and preparing food and serving. The other staff member was making toasties. It didn’t seem a very productive use of responsibilities.

This has also become part of the Dobbies chain but has a much nicer cafe than some of the others. Cakes especially are fresh and tempting and wider range of drinks than some others in the chain .

We have been here many times when it was Woodlands, this is the first time we have visited since it changed to Dobbies, and wow what a difference?!

The rest of the garden centre is lovely but take your own picnic if you go!! I have eaten here on too many occasions and always been extremely disappointed!

We have visited Woodlands (now Dobbies) many times and today has been the worst ever experience.

Since the change over to Dobbies the price of meals and snacks seem to be even more expensive!

Very well organised garden centre. Prices typical of big garden group. Quality and variety of plants very good. Aquarium area clean and fish of good standard. Restaurant busy but staffing adequate. Cakes and coffee very nice. Soft play clean and safe, good visibility from surrounding tables.Gift section and food shopping with fresh veg etc. Lake Land, Edinburgh wool and an Outdoor Wear shop outside. Not our first visit and won't be last.

Went shopping, thought we may have a nice sandwich, boy were we disappointed.

Im in love with the cheese scones!!!!! My family had the breakfast which they enjoyed too! The cakes looked delish also

A girlie trip to the garden centre for Mother’s Day.

We visited here in May 2017 and gave a poor review. My visit this time reveals that since Dobbies have been taken over there has been little or no improvement. In fact I was very critical of the staff and their customer relations. This time they seem to have got worse. As a family of 5 visiting at lunchtime we walked towards the soft play area prior to ordering lunch only to be challenged by a member of staff Rosemary in a rude and aggressive manner that we weren’t allowed in the area before we had purchased a child’s wrist band. We seated ourselves and purchased food for lunch. Strangely Rosemary served me and thrust a clip board in my face asking for a signature without any explanation. We did enjoy our 90 mins in the safe play area but it ends there. Strangely when we left there were other children in there not all wearing wristbands. Dobbies need to get a grip of their staff and improve their customer relations before they drive all the customers away. Dobbies need to read some of these reviews and respond. finally they also need to review the furniture in the restaurant area..most of the chairs have material seats and are filthy. There’s no excuse for cleanliness.

Really good place. An Edinburgh Wool shop and Lakeland on site. Garden center is full of various shops. Garden center is well stocked and varied.

We visited the garden centre ,decided to stay for lunch, and we're very satisfied with the choice on the blackboard. We had jacket potatoes and different fillings. Each was served with a small salad.

Went to garden centre and dropped into the cafe. As always lovely food and good service. Just a shame more staff on in the week than a normal Sunday when you are wanting more staff

We visited here after hearing the garden centre had changed to Dobbies from Wyevale. Unfortunately not many changes have taken place since the switchover and it needs a bit of an injection of Dobbies into the food area - the food at the Dobbies in Nuneaton is so much better. My in laws had a hot meal and they did enjoy it. I had a panini which was huge but very tasty. I was impressed with the kids eat fre deal though and my three year old had a picnic lunchbox for free. What really bugged me though was when I came back to the till to pay for my son to go in the soft play I was completely ignored by the staff. It’s like they only wanted to serve drinks. Louise particularly was so rude and she was saved by her colleagues how I think realised she’s like that all the time and came to her rescue!

Visited here with our granddaughter (2) on a Friday afternoon, it was really quiet at the time. we had food, lasagna and chips for the adults and sausage and peas for the granddaughter. Food was OK, the lasagna was a little limp and chips a little over done. Child's meal was OK. This is a good place for under 5's to let off steam, free kids meal with an adults meal you have to pay to access the play area. A touch pricey for the quality.

Came to buy a voucher and look around, the centre has been taken over by dobbies but I think it isn't as good now. The restaurant is ok but pricey for what they have, the jacket potato was good but they had ran out of certain fillings which was poor for early lunchtime, the good thing is that you can bring your dog to certain areas,

Recently visited since it has changed ownership. We went for breakfast, I had the big breakfast but was charged £1 for one round of toast, surely it should be included. The queue for drinks was also long as they only had one person making the drinks and taking money, staff saw the queue but didn’t open another till just walked off.

We visited Dobies, formerly Wyevale, garden centre on 24 Jan 2019 primarily for lunch. Unfortunately our experience was anything but good. The Hunters chicken was very dry and jacket potato reheated. The chips, with the fish and chips, were cold. All the food was overpriced at, on average, £9.50 a dish. The only good item was the salad which was fresh. It is a shame as the Dobies at Atherstone has an excellent, comprehensive restaurant with good food on offer.

Used to visit quite regularly during the holidays for a Spot of lunch, after a visit round the various shopping outlets available onsite, but will not be calling again in a hurry. Found the prices have risen dramatically and the standard and quality of food has decreased. You once had a toasted sandwich or panini and a full salad, now all you get is a slice of dried up cucumber, lettuce and tomato. Drinks prices at extortionate for the size of cups. Many tables were left uncleared throughout our visit.

Ques were a little long, but the choice of the hot food, or the quick service till for cakes and beverages is very good. Staff happy to help as well.

The staff here were friendly, and the whole centre is nice enough for a garden centre. Food on offer all looked decent, just a little expensive perhaps, but not bad by a long shot. The fresh baked food market area (by the exit tills) is top class through and through.

A bit disappointed, prices were quite steep, wrong meal brought out and had to wait for replacement. has gone downhill since last visit

I met a friend here as previously visited at this time of year and had lunch. We asked for a baked potato with cheese and beans but we're told by the staff that they'd ran out two days previously. I asked why they didn't use cheese from their on-site Farm shop or venture to the supermarket, I was told they were not allowed to. My friend then asked for a scone with butter and jam, only to be told that she would have to have clotted cream as there was no butter. I was told the other choices, one being scampi, but there were no fries, I would have to have it with either mashed potato or sweet potato fries. I opted for the steak and ale pie but left half of it.

We went for lunch it was not hot ,the garden centre it self was good, has a play area for children witch is good, also at Christmas time we take r grand daughter for tea with santa and she loves it,.

Restaurant - Waiting ages to be served. Told to NOT help ourselves !! Hot food was cold by time we had paid for it. Staff did not appear to know what they were supposed to be doing. Toilets were dreadful - needed a commercial deep clean. Bowls full of paper, no toilet paper. We used to enjoy a morning here but will not be coming back. Understand Wyevale have sold lot of their centres - so can still use my loyalty card !!!

We were not aware that Dobies had taken over the garden centre, so it was rather a surprise when we went today. ( we were primarily going to Lakeland on the same site). The garden centre left us cold....the Christmas display was very depressing, along with most of the rest. We bought something from the butchers and left. Yes it's probably early days but it may be somewhere to avoid for a while. We've previously been to a Dobies near Atherstone and I'm afraid that wasn't impressive either. Au Revoir Wyvale.

Used Woodlands garden centre for about 15 years. First time in a long time that I can say service in the restaurant was good. Pleasant staff, served quickly which doesn’t normally happen and cheesy scones as lovely as always. Other meals looked lovely will definitely be back again.

Woodlands garden Centre in Stapleton has been sold and transferred from Wyvale Dobbies garden centres on November first as part of the sell off of the Wyvale portfolio.

The choice of food is limited and having to queue for food, then for drinks and then to pay means hot food has turned cold by the time you sit down to eat. The restaurant is also too cold to offer a pleasant environment. The scones on our visit were stale. For what we paid, we expected better.

We found the experience very disaapointing.

There food is really good, well worth the money, look out for special offers, get the woodlands loyalty card. Also they have a soft play for a small fee, not very big, but really good

Over 30 minute wait for a simple toasted sandwich. Had to chase food and restaurant was not busy. The sandwich in the end was small and very basic for the 5.50 it cost. Over priced for cheddar cheese!

We found the experience of eating in the restaurant quite stressful. The food is expensive and despite choosing some of the special offers and choosing light meals our bill for 4 adults and a child came to a staggering £49.70. The girl who was manning the till hadn’t got a clue about pricing and as a result we had to wait for a more experienced member of staff to come and assist her. Meanwhile our coffees and soup were getting cold and our grandson was getting increasingly restless. The food was adequate and my son enjoyed his fishfinger sandwich. I decided to check the receipt and found that we had been overcharged and asked the counter staff to check which they did and refunded the money. All staff should be aware of the correct pricing and with a large garden centre chain only a few miles away Woodlands need to get their act together.

Great deal for pensioners. Starter, main course and drink for £9. And these are not "specials" reduced in size to match the price, they are from the main menu. All the food was good and plentiful.

Where are the managers, where are the people in charge? I really felt for the young staff trying to cope with the volume of customers and the poorly organised flow to the cafe and the customer complaints that naturally arose from the situation. The coffee wasn't bad and the chocolate cake I had was really nice. Unfortunately the bad outweigh the good and customers will only vote with their feet.

I used to love coming to this restaurant but it seems to have gone right down the pan!

Went for a breakfast and we arrived 5 minutes early. Instead of a "Good morning" we were greeted with a miserable lady outside watering plants. She grumbled "we ain't open". We decided, we'd have a look round outside while we waited.

Today my husband and I decided to bring our granddaughter to meet old friends at Woodlands Garden Centre. We used to live in Hinckley, moving away 17 years ago. We often visited Woodlands when our children were little and loved seeing it grow. We filled the garden of 3 different homes with plants from Woodlands. We planned to have lunch and a "mooch", reliving the past. How disappointed we were. The food was ok, not great but the worst part was customer service. The staff were not helpful and everything was too much trouble, the cafe staff were unwelcoming and seemed to find it difficult to do anything beyond the basics. This was compounded by the staff at the cash tills. Having waited to be served I was told, with considerable disdain that I should have paid for my items in a different part of the store. Fair enough but the tone and attitude displayed by John left me feeling as though I had committed a terrible crime. The situation was redeemed by lovely service from Chloe at The Works franchise. Service used to be high quality at Woodlands, it might be an outdated virtue but I don't think so. I think some staff training should form part of any future plans. My first visit for such a long time was a real disappointment.

Visited today Waiting half an hour to pay for a scone and a coffee.Why does the person on the till have to serve the coffees and come back to till.Place was heaving today but the inefficiency is about par for the course.

The food was good and quality was good. Visited for soft play but it was slightly overcrowded. Long wait for food!

Don't bother eating here in the summer came twice in the space of a month and on both occasions we were attacked by wasps and had to move tables!! .The staff don't seen to care as their was dirty plates left all over the tables to attract them all. It made a very unpleasant visit.

Seen More flies in the restaurant than on a dead dog! Get a Zappa- disgusting! They are breeding in the spotlights!! Urghh!!

We chose to have a coffee and cake at the smaller coffee bar rather than the main restaurant as we were with friends and the dog, it’s a lovely smaller corner area, quiet and out of the way where you can sit comfortably with your dog and fellow dog owners! There are only four tables but that didn’t pose a problem for a Saturday lunch time. The coffee was lovely and the cakes were light, fluffy and delicious, average garden centre prices and the staff at the coffee bar were very friendly. Water was available for the dog. It’s great to find a place where your dog is welcome and you don’t feel like you’re disturbing anyone!

We noticed how unhappy the staff seemed to be and when our strawberry milkshake arrived they plonked it on the table without saying anything and for £3 the strawberry shake was not worth it, no thank you at the till when you pay the bill, the restaurant lets the whole of the garden centre down

I was in the area and I have read the bad reviews for the restaurant so I decided to go to the restaurant and yes all the reviews were right. We were confronted with such a miserable woman on the till who was blunt and didn’t even say Thankyou for our payment, we ordered a strawberry milkshake but had to sit down and wait for it when it did arrive the young girl slammed it down on our table and walked off, the milkshake which cost £3 was so small and was mostly milk, I have attached a picture.

We regularly visit after having a look around the garden centre, to get lunch and so my son can play on the soft play. Although the food is nice overall, particularly the scones, the staff always appear so unhappy. It seems if you ask anything you are putting them out - whether it's a huff or a roll of the eyes, you certainly aren't made to feel like nothing is too much for the customer. Having paid over £30 for a lunch (I think they need to reconsider the prices for some things...you'd be outraged by the price of their sausage rolls!) you'd expect to be made to feel more welcome, especially when you visit regularly.

Popped in today for our usual weekly mooch & having got the items we needed, decided to enjoy the best toasted teacake ( Brake Bros) in Leics went to the cafe. Comfy in our big leather armchairs, we munched on our teacakes whilst perspiring profusely! A few months ago it was the underfloor heating, now it's huge lights (only on in cafe area) belting out the heat plus roof lights flooding in the sun's rays. I know aircon is unlikely to happen due to cost, but at least switch off the lights. Alternatively employ somebody to mop up the puddles of sweat.

Visited on Saturday. There is a separate café area away from the main restaurant, billed as dog cruet. Excellent we thought as we had our pup with us. Completely understand not allowing dogs in the main restaurant so what a great idea to have a separate area.

I last tried breakfast at the Woodlands Garden Centre restaurant about 3 years ago when I wrote that the food quality wasn't bad but the quantity was poor, it was barely warm and definitely over-priced. Trying it out again yesterday I'd have to say that there has been some improvement though there is still a real issue over the temperature of the food. Quality was quite good and there was a decent plateful at a reasonable price (particularly taking advantage of a '2 for £12' offer), but much of it was only just about warm.

Admittedly, the reviews are pretty much spot on, the displayed food doesn't look good at all. You buy with your eyes.....well, not this time.

Visit Woodlands often but hardly ever eat in the restaurant because I find it is overpriced for what you get, however I was given a gift voucher so we decided to spend it in on their afternoon tea, which at £14 for two is excellent value. We went quite late in the day, about 4.30pm, when it was very quiet, but this was the ideal time to go as it is usually very busy earlier in the day. The afternoon tea was delicious, couldn't fault it, lovely sandwiches, huge scones which were very light and a selection of patisserie and plenty of tea and coffee. I can't comment on anything else that they serve but can highly recommend the afternoon tea!!

Visited the garden centre restaurant today and so disappointed with the meal and service. The Hunters Chicken meal was dry and overcooked. The dish had been sitting in the servery and the bacon topping was dried out. The chips appeared to have been reheated. After queuing for the main meal and drinks and also paying for a hot dessert, I then found that you also had to queue again after eating the main to get the dessert delivered. The dessert then arrived at the table 25 minutes later. For the price you pay the meal was very substandard. Will not be visiting again in a hurry.

As a regular customer of the garden centre, decided to treat my mum to lunch. We opted for a jacket potato with cheese and salad.

Lovely coffee very friendly staff. Dog friendly very clean lots of seating lots to see and buy. Busy but still found parking. Will visit again soon

With the weather a bit rubbish, we decided to have a wander round the delights of Woodlands. Lakeland was the usual load of items that you think you need but you probably don't. The garden centre has a good range of attractive plants & an...

I visited here with my grandparents for lunch. They had a variety of meals to suit all. They had offers on for over 60’s where you got a main meal, drink & pudding for £9.50 which my nanny was impressed with & I was (even thought I’m 20 & didn’t get it Ahha) as the meals themselves were around £8/£9 each so it was worth my grandparents getting that offer! Plus with them being a garden club card holder they got another discount!

Had a lovely Afternoon Tea today with a friend. The service was polite and friendly and the place was so busy . Food was yummy. We had a refil Tea ,and were given fresh pots, how good is that. Excellent value .

For years we have been coming to woodlands as we love the garden centre and we always visit the restaurant. The manager who works here ( a guy but don’t know his name) is lovely but the rest of the staff......

Always a good choice of menu and plenty of seating. Really adds to the Woidoands shopping experience.

This place used to be the best for food. I have tried it many times over the past few years and its still poor in all areas.

I have been a regular user of this facility and have watched is decline. I only give it one star as I cannot give none. Rosemary who serves the coffee is rude, bad mannered and miserable. The hot chocolate and mocha are pre loaded with an extreme amount of sugar, the lemon meringue hasn't got any lemon in it and the two scones with jam and cream - very cheap jam and the scones were so dry I'm guessing they were made last Friday!!! or of course, frozen for too long or simply dreadful scones. I took an Australian guest and was very embarrassed to have wasted over £18 on snacks we actually had to leave. NEVER AGAIN!!!!

Yes, it's a busy time of the year, but 25 minute queuing time at the servery, it remined me of queuing for school dinners. The food was mediocre at best and overly expensive.

The restaurant is grossly understaffed resulting in a very long wait for our lunch. We had to leave without pudding due to time constraints. Avoid.