The Garden Tea Room in North Somerset

Disappointed as they only had one savoury and one cake option for vegans. Also I was left hungry after a very mean portion of lunch so had to buy a cake to fill up! The cake tasted synthetic. Overpriced. I won't be eating there again. Having said all this the staff were very friendly.

Very upset that on Saturday 10th August my mum and friend was treated awfully, they ordered and payed for two coffees and two cheese and bacon Panini , to which the panini’s came out with hardly any bacon in it , a man came over to them and said I’ll see what I can do as my mum complained and he took them away , he never returned back to say anything and when my mum and friend finished their coffee she ask at the kitchen what was going on as they had not received anything back , the lady said it was your choice not to eat it, my mum never got given it back to have that choice to eat it and the lady was very rude , she also held a phone up ( looking like she was filming her ) not very business like !!! And was smirking at them she also told her anymore bacon and they wouldn’t be able to close the Panini there was hardy any in it from the start. A couple sat next to them agreed it wasn’t good, and you have a right to complain if it’s not up to standard. My mum and friend paid £16 for nothing no food !!! They haven’t got a lot of money and this was a treat, her friend got told to get out of the cafe , my mum is in her 80’s and has always supported the garden centre and brought lots of plants and been to the coffee shop loads , to be treated like that, all the upset that she has had, now has made her poorly and Im so upset over this and this is disgusting behaviour and I wish nobody to be treated this way. I would also like this investigated further on why two elderly people should have been treated that way.

The Cafe has ben compldtely revamped and is now as much of a gem as the garden centre itself, my goats cheese salad was delicious.

I visited with my mother as we were buying some plants at the fabulous garden centre. We decided to have coffee. I don’t eat here as I don’t rate the food but coffee is ok. Anyway while we were having coffee on the next table was a lovely lady and two men. There was a problem with their panini. When they asked if it could be rectified a waitress stormed towards them and very rudely and loudly said “what exactly is wrong with it?” The attitude was unbelievable. When the lady on the next table explained, the girl was defensive and rude and told her she wouldn’t be redoing it and neither would she issue a refund. I have never heard such rudeness. It left a bad taste in my mouth. The lady on the next table was so polite she did not deserve to be spoken to or treated in the way she was. This cafe badly lets down Brackenwood as the garden centre is excellent. It is run by an independent business. May I suggest those wanting a coffee and lunch go to the delightful George Inn which is two minutes up the road towards Abbots Leigh.

What an unpleasant and extremely upsetting experience. 3 of us visited for lunch. One of us chose a Brie and Bacon Panini priced at just over £6 On its arrival it didn’t appear to have much filling so pulled the tops open to find small pieces of bacon. We complained but received an extremely rude response……”well what is wrong with it”, we explained again but was told “that is how we do it”. We asked to speak to a manager and suggested perhaps we could have more bacon (at least one rasher) or please can we have our money back….to which she walked off and never returned. Her attitude was disgraceful and extremely unprofessional. The plate was then taken to the counter and asked again if something could be done and openly showed them and other customers the contents. They refused to correct the contents or give us our money back. The Brackenwood Nursery owner kindly came and spoke to us, explained he was independent from this cafe but would speak with them later after service. He did obtain our refund. On walking out of the cafe, one of the young girls said as she passes me…….”thank god for that”. I reacted with telling her how rude and unprofessional that behaviour is and that her attitude is disgraceful. An argument broke out with all 4 young girls stood behind the counter yelling out at us to go away and never return. Shouting “good riddance” and then proceeding to dance with arms in the air as we walked away as if they had just won a victory. Customers stood waiting to be served were aghast. I have never is all my life been treated or spoken to in the way we were today. Clearly no manners, decorum, pride or self respect let alone respect for others and definitely no training in the service industry. I will never return to this cafe. Brackenwood Nursery however is an amazing place with a great variety of plants and always happy to help you.

Disorganised. No pricing on a variety of individual items (against trading rules?) - “if you want to know the price you ask and I tell you” - was the response to my enquiry. Overcharged for a product I did not order and told that a correction would be made on my credit card transaction. It has not yet occurred! Cooked food uninspiring a had the look of “Brakes” catering about it. Avoid!

How this place is still running is beyond me. Gave it yet another go. The staff are disorganized and seem unable to cope - every second sentence seemed to be “we don’t have that” or “we can’t do that”. Long wait time and the place wasn’t even half full. Brilliant garden Centre. Terrible cafe.

Good cafe in a small garden centre (which has some unusual plants). Both are independent businesses. Am surprised at 2 recent negative reviews: I’ve always found the staff v friendly, the beverages & food good. The cakes are home-made & superb. Interesting decor,with lots of character.

I think the tea room must have changed hands used to be our go to café & garden centre ! Our last two visits the food has been so disappointing . How can a sandwich be so uninspiring fresh bread but left uncovered so drying out & who in this day and age uses margarine instead of butter 🤢. Don’t cut corners as you will loose customers . Cold drinks poor choice too . Will think twice about returning!

Poor experience the last two times so won’t be returning. Each time the older lady behind the counter with the messy black hair is stressed and grumpy and acts like you are doing them a favour in ordering food. There seems to be no proper system in place and it’s chaotic - they should have one person taking orders but instead everybody seems to do everything - leaving the counter unattended. We waited a ridiculous amount of time for a cheese and chutney sandwich which was overpriced at £6 and almost thrown together. The goats cheese salad was their basic side salad which accompanies other dishes, with some chutney spooned on top with goats cheese. No finesse and poor. They need to take some classes in customer service (certainly the older lady with the black hair) The coffee is good.

Located at the back of the garden centre, this is a good sized café with both indoor and outdoor seating areas. There was a good selection of lunchtime dishes chalked up on the board behind the counter, and the process looked quite reasonable. There was also a tempting array of cakes lined up on the counter which is what we opted for as we only wanted a snack. I went for the Victoria Sponge, and this was a pretty decent example with a light and fluffy texture and a very nice buttercream and jam filling. My only slight criticism would have been that it could perhaps have been a slightly more generous portion, but other than that it was very good. An accompanying latte was also very good. I really liked it here, the staff were pleasant and friendly, it had a nice vibe and the limited amount of food that we tried was very good. I would definitely return to check out one of the more substantial options on the menu.

My elderly mother's favourite place to eat. Very friendly , great food, fantastic customer service. Very busy so booking a table in advance is recommended. Portion sizes very generous. Wonderful atmosphere. Very hygienic , outside seating undercover also. Not dog friendly.

The breakfast bap - served open, is fantastic. The local bacon, sausage and egg are freshly cooked to perfection, plus the cakes are homemade. Food can be eaten on the terrace overlooking the gardens. Not to be missed for a relaxing start to the day.

Visited the garden centre here several times and of course, the tea room is a must! We have had lunch a couple of times and the food is always nice. Maybe a bit on the pricey side, but it's worth paying for. The cheese scones and lemon curd cake are really nice. The actual garden centre is a delight to walk around and well worth a visit.

As reflected in another review this place seems to be run for the convenience of the staff with little care for effective customer service. The management should not confuse having a relaxed cafe setting with providing slow service. A simple cake and sandwich order seemed to be beyond their ability to get drinks served before the sandwiches were served and eaten. An enquiry of the waitress was given a short response, along the lines of you will have to wait your turn!

Hearing that the cafe was under new management we came along hoping it would be as good as in the past. We have visited twice and was disappointed both times. Visit one was for lunch which is served 12-2 with a limited menu of about 6 items. We arrived at 12:30 and already several items were sold out. By 13:30 everything was sold out. Queues were long and the staff hand write orders which takes AGES. Visit two was on a bank holiday about 3pm. Knowing lunch would be over we hoped for tea and cakes. There was NOTHING, other than crisps. Although there was only about five other customers it took nearly 30 minutes to serve two cups of tea. They need to speed up, they need a bigger menu with more cakes and enough portions for all the covers they have. The café looks lovely and has potential, but I get the impression it is run for the staff and not the customers.

The Brackenwood garden centre is a little gem and is always well stocked with quality plants. The staff are pleasant and are on hand to offer advice. The cafe despite being recently renovated just doesn’t cut it. I attended yesterday (Spring bank holiday) at 1315 to find it had completely sold out of food and people were awkwardly having to fight ( in the nicest way possible) over scraps of cake! When I remarked that I was surprised at the cafe not having catered for a busy bank holiday the owner was quite rude and snapped that they had planned for it which was slightly confusing when there was no food to offer hungry gardeners wanting to spend money at the cafe. Sadly, this isn’t a one of, my parents have been previously and again “sold out” was written on the board. Other friends have visited and been told the same. Anyone involved in catering knows that you always over cater and to run out of food at 1315 on any day of the week is simply a poor show.

We dropped by for tea and cake. The cakes were freshly made. The staff were friendly and it was a really nice place to stop and talk! Would recommend as an alternative to your traditional coffee shop chains!!!

We booked for the whole family for afternoon tea, there were 7 of us, and we had a fantastic time. The food was beautifully prepared and presented, the service quick and attentive. Most of all the atmosphere was lovely with background music which added to the atmosphere without being obtrusive. This will now be an annual event on our calendar.

Situated in the Brackenwood Garden Centre, which is one of our favourites, decided to give the cafe another go as it has new management. Unfortunately, the service has not improved at all. Very friendly staff and the drinks were excellent (alas the jam/cream sponge was a little heavy as it was under cooked) but all at a very reasonable price. Staff just seem a little out of their depth when it comes to organisation so the wait for something as simple as our order was rather long in appearing. Pity, because it is now bright and welcoming just a tweek needed in service and it would be up there nearer the 5 star rating.

A friend offered to take me here for lunch, I felt I couldn’t tell her I wasn’t impressed the last time I went. We both chose the wild mushroom stroganoff only to be told they only had one portion left at 1pm! My friend chose something else and I had the mushroom stroganoff, the plates was stone cold therefore the food became cold very quickly, it was a very small portion for £7.95 and I very much doubt that the mushrooms were wild!! I would have complained about the cold plate etc but I was too embarrassed as my friend was paying. We had coffee afterwards which was very good. I will never eat at this disappointing place again to be ripped off with inferior food. The previous chap made excellent meals worth every penny he charged. I look forward to the place changing hands one day as I love the surroundings.

We used to have a very good roast dinner on Sundays with previous people. It’s been beautifully refurbished but the food is very disappointing. No Sunday roasts any more expensive not particularly good sandwiches. Sometimes you can’t have a drink after 3pm because they close. People do like to be able to have some tea and cake about 4pm!! One day we were told we could only have cold drinks because they had run out of milk, what a shambles! It’s a pity because it’s a very nice setting but the food isn’t tempting. I do not recommend it.