The Garden Room At Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve in Shepway

Fantastic food. Great service Best restaurant at port lympne animal park. Could not fault it. It is a must when you stay.

If you like your food bland and overpriced, and your service slow then you need look no further than the Garden Room at Port Lympne.

When you visit Port Lympne time is important, although service was quite slow it wasn't too bad. The food was good quality and well presented and for a captive audience the prices were reasonable. There are other options available at the Park above and below if you want to up or lower what you get.

Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve – Garden Room Restaurant Stayed as a couple in the hotel, on a 2 night short break July 2nd - 4th 2024 Breakfasts A good selection, but seemed let down, by no cereals on the menu. Apart from that, food seemed to be from local suppliers, and the quality was excellent. The full English, to die for. Evening meals Once again, I believe, local suppliers were in evidence. Food was well cooked, tasty and presented extremely well. Must give praise, though, to the Minestrone soup and the Korean Style Chicken Wings, these were ordered as starters, on both nights, just so good …………. Also discovered Romney Best Bitter ………… nectar of the gods ……… Staff and service You just could not fault the service at all, as for the staff, they were above and beyond all expectations. The dining experience thoroughly enjoyed, got to give you all, a good 11/10 ……………..

Went for dinner before leaving the reserve. What a great way to finish the break. Staff were so friendly and efficient. The food was really good and a great way to end the two days. Great ambiance in keeping with the whole estate

Hoping for a relaxing meal after a long day, we're very disappointed. Very intrusive pop music with way too much bass. Asked for volume to be turned down or off but only turned down a tiny fraction. Service was not good. Asked for well done burger (not cheap at £20) to be told when it arrived" they all come out the same"! Also no mayo available. Shame as it is a lovely space.

This restaurant is highly recommended, not only if you are staying on the park but also to travel in from outside. The setting is beautiful and the atmosphere very relaxing. Service is great and everyone was very helpful especially the Events Manager who seemed to be on duty most of the time! See sample menus in photos. If I were to criticise anything it would be the toast served with breakfast which rather spoilt things being extremely thin, cold and a bit soggy. I had to suppress a smile tho when I asked the young server what other type of bread they had, hoping maybe for some granary or similar nd he answer was "Supermarket Bread" ;o) It also would've been nice to have a separate knife for the toast and butter rather than having to wipe the knife used for breakfast on the serviette - this was not a one off, it was the same both times we ate there. We also ate there in the evening and found the standards to be the same.

The garden room was a great place to eat. Food was very good and staff excellent. George the barman was really friendly and made a lovely cocktail

Quite disappointing, breakfast service was extremely slow. Took 45 minutes to get a croissant and a fry up to the table. When you only have until 11am to use the buggies that come with the hotel sitting in a restaurant to eat a croissant for an hour felt really frustrating. Staff are really under trained and the food isn’t great. Think the restaurant is really letting down the experience of the stay.

After a fantastic Ultimate Safari we headed off to the garden room for lunch. Our food was delicious and perfectly cooked and presented , there was a decent wine selection that was reasonably priced. It was a lovely room to just sit and relax after our fabulous experience and before setting off again to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. We are going to book to stay on site next year so will definitely return to the Garden Restaurant. Thank you all xx

Great standard of service, lovely food, friendly staff, beautiful setting……. What more could you ask for, we would thoroughly recommend.

After a delightful Sunday lunch for Mother’s Day, I must say, the food was finger-licking good… literally! However, I couldn’t help but notice a peculiar sight - one of the patrons continually licking their knife like it was the last lollipop on Earth. While it certainly added a touch of adventure to our dining experience, I must recommend the management considers adding ‘knife-licking etiquette’ to their menu of house rules. Overall, a quirky dining adventure, but bring your own utensils if you prefer them without a side of saliva.

This is such a shame ! As we’ve had some fantastic meals here!!! But we haven’t been since the beginning of the summer. We came last weekend and stayed the night. So we had breakfast the following morning. Service was unbelievably slow! There seem to be staff but no one was doing anything. We had to keep trying to flag someone down to order drinks. The food was okay but it’s very expensive Which you wouldn’t mind if the food matched this. My husband had eggs Benedict and the ham was so terrible quality. We was meant to stay and have lunch but we cancelled our table and left the park.

Reasonably good service, starters ok, mains terrible, attitude of waitress when we mentioned this was awful, terrible. Apparently this is what you should expect when visiting a zoo. Money not well spent. Seriously, we thought it was an animal reserve that concentrated on sending beautiful animals back to the wild. Upsetting ending to an amazing day.

Lovely setting & nicely decorated. A lot of staff scurrying around but not very attentive. Service was very slow. The menu hasn't got a huge selection with prices on the higher end. There was no check in to see if we were happy or needed refills. Once the food arrived we were asked if we wanted sauces, which never turned up. After flagging down a waiter to order more drinks we reminded him about the sauce. Not sure if they crush the tomatoes back there themselves but by the time the sauce did arrive my chips were pretty cold to finished. I had the service charge removed as I don't think it was exceptional service. 2 hours we were in there to have 2 hamburger and 4 drinks at £84

Thus is the main restaurant at Port Lympne. It is quite pretty. The service is a bit hit and miss. The costs are way over the top. If there are noisy kiddies there the ambience is not good. It is obviously a family restaurant but the prices do not reflect this.

Amazing food fantastic food and super lovely staff. Could not find fault with this experience. Food was delivered in a flash and comes highly recommended

A real let down i self sorry for the Restaurant Manager! It took 3 hours to finally eat Our Grandson was a sleep by the time the food came out. The menu was limited the food was cold the service was young staff who didnt care. The food was of very poor quality a waste of money TBH. The breakfast was NO better cold tea luke warm food. I think they need to invest in a good chef as the restaurant lets the whole experience down such a shame!!

Booked in advance for Sunday roast at the garden room, as it was my mum's birthday. So paid £20 each deposit. Was expecting a fresh tasty plate of food, so was in shock when we ordered and they came back within 2 minutes of ordering with our food. Was very disappointed indeed as roast potatoes were reheated and hard, plus beef was very rare. The whole plate of food was cold. Ordered 2 cokes also 2 coffees. Was in shock with the bill. All together £90.00 Rip off...

Wow - excellent fresh food with amazing staff and my daughter and I loved it there. We stayed at Port Lympne for 2 nights and ate here on our second night, it did not disappoint. The ambience was beautiful, the grounds both outside and inside the restaurant gave you the Garden Room feel and it was a lovely treat. The staff were fantastic making sure we had everything we needed. We had the warm dough balls to start (I shared my daughters!) then I had the burger and my daughter ate from the children’s menu. We had two of the Citrus mocktails and I had a cheeky glass of red wine too. A great evening and will definitely come back. Leonora x

Having booked an overnight stay at Port Lympne we decided to book a table at the Garden Room. From the moment we walked in the staff were very attentive and looked after us superbly. My wife had the chicken and I went for the bass. Both meals were generous portions and tasted delicious. The meal was washed down with an excellent- if pricey- rose wine. An excellent meal in beautiful surroundings

We had Lunch and Breakfast here whilst staying overnight at the reserve. We arrived for a late lunch but able to get a table easily. Limited menu and the children’s menu was great. Chicken breast and fries and a Caesar salad. Waiter apologised for the delay with drinks due to a large cocktail order ahead of ours but we didn’t notice the delay. Breakfast was great and able to accommodate two fussy children who wanted to pick and choose from the breakfast options. Overall a good experience but a little overpriced.

We stayed here during the week so the restaurant was relatively quiet for our breakfast sitting. This being said, service was slow. When we eventually got our breakfasts it was clear they had been reheated. Everything was just about warm, not hot at all. Luckily, the breakfast was included in the hotel package, but way over priced at £18 a head (not including drinks) - you can get better in a local greasy spoon!

This restaurant is the best in Port Lympne Park, the food was really lovely. The only suggestion would be to add more healthy vegan options. Thank you!

We had breakfast twice and dinner twice in the Garden Room. The service in every occasion was really good. Both nights dinner was good. Breakfast was overall good but hubby was disappointed that the sausages and bacon had been pre-cooked and left for a while in the warmer.

We stayed at Port Lympne for my husbands birthday and booked into the Garden Room for dinner. I had booked the evening menu specifically but upon arriving was told that only the roast menu was available. We both had soup to start which was so bland and tasteless. Then the roast came, the yorkshire and potatoes tasted like cardboard and were quite obviously reheated. Gravy like water - not really my thing either. Washed down with a soft drink each, and yet still, the bill was £90. I couldn't believe I paid £90 for two tastless bowls of soup, two reheated roasts and two cokes. It's a shame that you can pay such a premium for accommodation which is beautiful and yet the restaurant is so below average standard.

So first of all this was the only place with tables available on the day, we went to ask if they would do just a little salad rather than something from the menu and was told absolutely not they could only serve what was on the menu as it was all pre made. So we didn’t book and managed to get a take away from the nearly pizza restaurant instead. Then when we had breakfast the next day we felt like a total burden on the staff. None of them really wanted to be there and service took so long. Seeing as a breakfast was £18.30 this should be much better staffed.

Went for a Sunday lunch while staying at the Bear lodge. The chicken and beef roasts were amazing with awesome roast potatoes, great veg, stuffing and Yorkshire puddings. I asked for extra gravy which was no problem. Deserts were great too and £33 for two...

Terrible slow & rude service. Asked about how long our food would be & the waitress replied ‘how would I know I’m not the chief!’. Enough said. 50% was taken off food without asking.

The restaurant has an interesting lunch time menu. The service was welcoming and efficient. The dining room is pleasant enough, but I could do without the masses of plastic foliage. The food was well presented and prepared. The portion size was too large for me...

A really good value meal. Nice nibbles of focaccia and olives followed by a decent short rib starter and monkfish curry. Nice wine and excellent service

Five of us dined here, we all have different tastes (including a five year old), we all found something on the menu we like and only one thing we ordered was not available. I would admit the cost was on the high side but expected...

At the time of booking I mentioned it was for my husbands 30th birthday and we were staying for a very special occasion. I was told to book the garden room for this. We are hugely disappointed. Very young staff who didn’t give us the...

Lovely breakfast and evening meal. Not cheap, but great food and service. Good menu choices and wine list.

I'd probably have only given 4 stars, but due to some of the poor & I feel unfair reviews left by others this may help to balance the books a little. We had an overnight stay at Port Lympne Safari park on 10th/11th May &...

We booked an afternoon tea through virgin experience which was £60 for two people…this also included entry to the zoo. Considering it’s £27 per adult to enter the zoo alone, this was really good value. On arrival, we were shown into a beautiful room and...

What a lovely place, staff were friendly and helpful, service was quick and the food was delicious and hot when arriving! We had a lovely afternoon! Will be coming back for the Sunday lunch!

On this occasion we were only booked in for breakfast, but what we had was delicious & well presented Staff were polite & attentive.

We had dinner here while staying overnight at the reserve, couldn’t fault the friendly chatty staff, amazing food and lovely atmosphere. Would definitely visit again, one small point would be not a huge choice and I did struggle to pick a dish but that’s not...

Very well done food, very good service, lovely decor and it’s in Port lympne reserve which is awesome.

Took our teenage daughters for a birthday meal. Beautiful decor. Excellent and delicious food. Glass of bubbles. Attentive intelligent happy staff who were able to assist with gluten free ideas and options. Walked out to a starry sky and howling monkeys…magical and unique.

We spent the evening in the bar within the garden room at Port Lympne and we have a brilliant evening. They had a wide selection of beverages ranging from wines and spirits to some amazing cocktails! (Also a range of board games if that’s your...

We stayed at Port Lympne for my husband’s 40th birthday and had Sunday lunch at the Garden Room and breakfast the following morning. We arrived on Sunday and tried to go in for a coffee at 10:30 but was told we couldn’t and directed to...

We only ate here for breakfast and what we had was very nice indeed but it was very expensive for small portions. You have a choice of continental or cooked, we opted for continental and were given a tiny fruit salad, delicious but very small...

We stayed here for a night and ate in the Garden room. We had lunch here which was nice (although small) so we were looking forward to dinner. How disappointed were we. The food was tasty, no denying that. But for two of us for...

We booked lunch to celebrate dad’s birthday. We managed to get meal and safari package (although bad weather it was superb but please wrap up) We arrived at restaurant and received a friendly greeting. Unfortunately the waitress we had lacked training and came across as...

We normally go to Bear Lodge when staying, but they now close it during the winter months. I must say having read the recent reviews I was dreading our 2 breakfasts and 1 evening meal. We started with dinner on the Sunday, we had booked...

We booked Port Lympne for our wedding, our wedding breakfast was situated in the garden room which was decorated beautifully by the staff. Stefan and Darren are an asset to the Aspinall foundation, nothing was too much of an ask. All of the bar staff...

1 the service was awful the waiter was creepy and disgusting they served a alcholic beverage to a clearly underage girl the staff was rude the toilets smelt all and all was an awful experience

What a shame, has such potential We booked weeks in advance as a table of 10 for a special birthday meal. Upon arriving were impressed with the decor and design of the restaurant… that is about as positive as the experience we received went. After...

My partner and I turned up for our pre booked dinner slightly apprehensive as we had read the bad reviews about this restaurant beforehand however we decided to give it a go and give it the benefit of the doubt. Upon arriving we gave our...

We were excited to go to the garden room a Porte Lympne.. it’s in the same room had our wedding party in so thought we would take my mum for lunch . Looked at the menu , the descriptions sounded tasty and for the price...

Visited with family for dinner while staying at Port Lympne. My son has allergies which always makes eating out difficult. While checking into our accommodation we mentioned to the concierge about this, so they made a note and said they’d advise the restaurant. When we...

Terrible, we stayed here for 2 nights and ate at the garden room for breakfast twice and dinner once. Very expensive for what it is, around £60 for breakfast for 4 and dinner for 6- £240. Service is beyond slow, Staff just standing at the...

I came with my family as a weekend treat for dinner our experience just went from bad to worse upon arrival. there were no dairy free options on the menu, we ordered a bottle of wine to be told 30 mins after that they didnt...

We stayed at Port Lympne this weekend and opted to dine for dinner and breakfast in the Garden room as we had not been here on previous visits. Upon arrival the restaurant decor is stunning, we waited over 30 minutes for our drink orders to...

We had a bit of anniversary weekend and popped down for dinner. They weren’t extremely busy but we greeted and sat down promptly. Unfortunately my first choice of wine was out and asked for a full bodied red recommendation. Starters were lovely, mains were great....

My husband & I recently stayed at Port Lympne and had both dinner & breakfast at the Garden Rooms. It is a tale of 2 halves! Dinner was lovely - he had the gilt bream and I the whipped goats cheese to start, we both...

I stayed at port lymph with my wife and two young children for a weeken recently and the setting is fantastic. We popped in to the Garden Rooms earlier in the evening to see if we needed to book a table to get a drink...

Decor is a wow factor and we enjoyed dining here. The menu (in my opinion) is quite limited and the prices are high. If you want a full meal you have to order sides separately but there isn’t a lot of choice so that’s disappointing....

Great food & decent portions. Recently refurbished the decor is great. I had the Scallops & my husband had the Hallomi for starters which were delicious. For The mains we had Lamb & Chicken. Both very tasty.

Just had an amazing meal in the garden room, great service from all the staff very well looked after. Definitely be coming back

Admin appalling- I phoned and emailed requesting confirmation of our booking weeks before going (I had paid in full on line and received a receipt of payment only) and received the official confirmation of our booking 1 day before our brunch. I had phoned prior...

We had a lovely afternoon tea here. The garden room is airy and beautifully laid out. Entrance to the park was included in the price so we made a day of it. The food tasted lovely and our server was great too despite masks and...

Had our evening meal here. The setting is very relaxing and the staff attentive. My daughter had pork belly, my wife had chicken and I had steak, the pork belly and chicken were excellent but my steak had to be sent back. I asked for...

Ok I get it. With Lions and tigers chewing through horse meat in the garden this restaurant was going to fit with the theme. A vegan and a vegetarian child turning up might not fit with the canavore country theme ....but it is 2021 after...

We visited in Oct. Lovely large restaurant. Service was a bit hit & miss. The food was good, just missing a wow factor. Though the cost high, not sure we would return.