The Old Potting Shed in East Dorset

Went into the hut to have breakfast but had to walk out for the smell of stale fat from the kitchen and they had not started yet was sickening, how anyone can sit in there with that smell is beyond me and pay top end prices. We left and walked down the hill and went past the back of the kitchen and had to hold our breath until we got passed it

Popped in after wonderful walk on Cranborne Chase and visit to the garden centre. Delicious pecan slice and lemon cake and good coffee. Very happy and will visit again having not risked it after previos disappointing visit.

Just make things a bit cheaper It’s ok not food is good but it’s too expensive for what it is. Slightly cheaper would make a difference then you have people,going more often. Recommendations are key to business

Simple lunch for two in mid January of ham egg & chips plus tea , quite expensive and only average in quality and presentation. The menus seem posh and high end in price.

We walked here for lunch. Table was prebooked as there was 12 of us. The service was exceptional. Staff very pleasant and nothing was too much trouble. We all ordered different dishes which were served promptly and were of good portion. The cafe was busy and I can see why as everything from meals to the cake on display looked fabulous as I’m sure they tasted too. Thank you for a lovely lunch.

The coffee is pretty good but I’ll never have another cake there; I’ve had a few and NONE have been good. They offer many gluten-free options, but I suspect that they are ALL G-F, that might explain the weird textures and uninspiring tastes. I love scones but for the price they charge I’d expect one that’s fresh and ideally, still warm. They pile them up at the counter with cream etc. Pre-applied; poor. If you enjoy a great scone, go to the National Trust cafe at Corfe Castle.

Popped in for lunch on a weekday. Food was ok but, and it’s a big but, the only other people in the cafe was a group of 12 rather loud ladies who showed absolutely no consideration for anyone but themselves. I would have had no objection to their presence if they had kept the volume down but they shouted at the top of their voices and all talked at the same time. Two separate couples entered the cafe while I was there but left before ordering no doubt due to the noise. I understand that all business is valued but a polite word from the staff might have quietened the volume. The opposite actually happened - one lady actually joined in the rabble causing even louder shrieks of laughter from the assembled women. I should add that I am female and of a similar age to these ladies but I would hope I would have conducted myself better in such circumstances. Sadly this experience means I am loathe to visit this eaterie again.

Popped in for coffee and cake after a fabulous walk across Cranborne Chase. Very polite helpful staff let down so badly by dreadful offerings. All of the cakes we chose we’re stale. The coffee was one degree above ditch water. So disappointing given the beautiful setting. The final insult was the price. One never minds paying for good quality produce but this was way below par. Decided not to embarrass the young server behind the counter. If the owner or manager had been present we would have make a complaint on the day.

The setting and planting can't be faulted. However the cake at £2.95 a slice isn't cheap and was rather dry. A miniscule amount of milk was given for 2 teas and, until requested, no additional hot water was given which would have made for an extremely small cup of tea. These small things wouldn't cost much but would make such a difference to the experience.

Lovely experience and great food , friendly crowd can highly recommend . Attention to detail and very welcoming staff .

Dropped in for a bowl of soup at Saturday lunchtime. Excellent cauliflower and cheddar soup in pleasant surroundings. However it did take quite a while both to place our order and then for the soup to arrive. The cafe/tea room wasn’t full, so not sure why we had to wait as long as we did. Would I go back? Yes, but would try to go on a quieter weekday.

Following my last review (below this one) and unpleasant experience we thought we would give it another try for lunch/dinner last Saturday and so glad we went back! Food was served efficiently and tasted great!

This was our destination lunch stop for a three bike Saturday ride and we were not disappointed. We didn’t really have lunch as it was a bit early but we enjoyed coffees, cake and a sandwich. We were able to take a bikes in through a side gate so they were within our sight, which was very helpful. It was clean and tidy and we would go back if our route takes us that way.

Usually avoid this garden centre and eaterie, as it is so overpriced! Upmarket atmosphere throughout, cold reception, no warm smile or greeting when entering the shop, soft background music would help. Used to be happy warm and inviting, a privilege to shop and eat at, prices to suit all! It has so changed!

My friend and I visited here on a lovely Thursday afternoon and, considering it’s a little ‘out of the way’ kind of place, I was pleasantly surprised at how busy it was. The Old Potting Shed is nestled between the displays of plants for sale but it adds to the garden feel of the setting - it doesn’t feel like a garden centre at all. There is seating inside, next to the counter service, a shaded terrace area, and picnic table seating in the open. We ordered a cream tea at £5, which consisted of one scone (plain or fruit), jam and clotted cream, and a generous pot of tea. We also indulged in a slice of cake each. We carried out the tea and cake and the scone was delivered to our table freshly baked. It was a good size scone with a deliciously light, moist texture and just the right amount of fruit. The cake too was definitely worth the extra calories. I had a strawberry sponge with meringue topping, which added a perfect amount of sweetness that was complemented by the tea. I found the staff to be very polite and attentive and will definitely return. They also offer an affordable afternoon tea, which you need to book in advance I believe. After our indulgence, we took a little stroll through the plant displays and the little garden area. There is also a cute little vintage shop and a shop selling garden centre type goods and gifts.

Recently moved nearby and visited this garden centre on a Saturday morning for breakfast. Seemed very understaffed and was told unable to do a poached egg? went for mushrooms on toast which was luke warm and toast already buttered, had with almond milk cappuccino which was fine. Family member ordered scrambled eggs on toast with added bacon but came with no toast which we had to wait for and another ordered the full breakfast which came with no sausage so we mentioned this and they bought one out which looked cooked but was stone cold, was offered a free latte which was much hotter than the first two that my family had. Bacon, egg and toast was fine but over all very disappointed! cakes looked nice so maybe if we head back (weather was horrid so didn't look at many plants) we might try them!

The mushrooms on sourdough were excellent and the salad with it excellent it is a bit expensive but good

Si quieres un café a gusto de café que tienes que pagar un extra shot - nunca antes he probado tan débil sin sabor Americano - tenía que tener una chupito de café puso en sólo para el sabor. En una nota positiva, el té está bien, la ubicación es muy agradable y las tartas de aspecto muy tentador

Hemos ido a este café durante un número de años. La unidad es precioso, pero hemos encontrado que la comida no es demasiado buena. Una vez que teníamos bollos eran muy grandes y duro y en otra ocasión, habiendo magdalenas ordenados, fueron duras, como si, habiendo sido congelados, fueron descongelados en el microondas y a la izquierda en demasiado largo. Sus pasteles en las ocasiones que he probado, no ha sido fresca. Una gran pena. Doy estos ejemplos para demostrar nuestras experiencias no eran un 'uno'. También es bastante caro.

We were recommended to come here as a lunch destination for an autumn cycle ride. Only 3 other tables taken by couples having coffee and sandwiches which at 12.30 on a sunny Sunday lunchtime should have been a warning. Ordered Chicken and Butternut squash pie off the 'Specials' board. So might have been prepared... er, no....After 30 minutes nothing had arrived. On politely enquiring was told '2 minutes'...time passed...12 minutes later, food appeared. No apology. Pie OK but tepid, uneatable lumpy semi-cooked mashed potato, hard peas swimming in lukewarm water on a cold plate. Lady on desk said she was sorry that we had not enjoyed the meal but no offer of refund. No response either to emails of comment and then complaint. Probably they could manage a coffee and the cakes looked quite tasty. Otherwise avoid. Lovely venue but appalling cooking and dreadful customer service. First revue I have ever written. Sorry, but it was that bad.

Visitamos el antiguo Potting Shed para el desayuno el domingo 18 de septiembre y no nos decepcionó. El tiempo era soleado y wam, así que pudimos sentarnos afuera, disfrutar del sol y escuchar las campanas de la iglesia mientras comíamos en un buen desayuno inglés. ¡Perfecto!

Popped in for afternoon tea - a good selection of cakes was on show. Service was with a smile. Really noticed the new developments at the centre including the new events Garden Room alongside the Potting Shed.

Una comida sencilla, con ingredientes de calidad, fuera el jamón hueso, pan y café marrón que podíamos probar. Un ambiente encantador en el café/fuera. Muy tranquilo. El personal es amable, sonriente y siempre agradable. Un lugar encantador para estar en una cálida, soleada tarde, y alentador en una aburrida. Gracias.

A lo largo de los años hemos hecho el viaje aquí muchas veces. En esta ocasión, en un domingo de junio en temporada, toda la web, incluido un centro, parecía casi desiertas. Este impacto en el ambiente. Tarta y té pastel estaban bien, pero no es histórico. Señorita detrás del mostrador era encantador. Curiosamente, hay algunas nueva diversificación en la ropa vintage y muebles de jardín en el centro. Parece haber perdido su camino.

El jardín del centro en sí es un especializado en rosas y clematis. Fuimos a la cafetería y decidieron una merienda. Encontramos una mesa fuera, pero no muy limpio. La merienda llegue y maravilloso. Luego encontramos que ambas cuchillas estaban sucias, así que tuve que volver. Nos dimos cuenta de que alguien en la mesa de al lado tomando un cuchillo y tazita (atrás. No puedo quejarme de la merienda y los bollos estaban deliciosos amplio cuajada y mermelada. Hubiera sido bueno que podría haber dado una jarra de agua con el café para ahorrar tener que caminar a través de la cafetería y la cola.

We have been regular visitors over many years but the recent decline in standards means that we will not be returning. This afternoon around 3pm we called for afternoon tea which consisted of tea for two, one piece of Victoria sponge and a ham sandwich,...

Este debe ser uno de los pocos cafés centro jardín en el país, que es tan bueno que es aconsejable reservar una mesa! A la hora del almuerzo se llena. La luz, luminoso edificio con vistas al jardín amurallado es el lugar perfecto para tomar un café, un aperitivo o una comida. El ambiente es alegre y hablador.

Lovely new building, light and airy, excellent view outside through all glass doors which can be opened in better weather. Nice clean tables and chairs plus good service. Wine & cider available. Really good food. We had a main course & a dessert. Main course was Roast Cobley Wood Lamb, roast potatoes, large Yorkshire Pudding, carrots, leeks, cabbage and more. One of our party had the Wild Mushroom & Tarragon Pearl Barley Risotto which was also good. We tried both desserts, a dark chocolate mousse and a tropical fruit fool. Both excellent as was my previously requested Cheese & Biscuits which came with chutney, celery & watercress!. The chutney was really good!

Visited the Old Potting Shed today for lunch, very nice relaxed and bright interior out the back of the garden centre. This was our first visit and we enjoyed the meal, Hubby had the Welsh Rarebit which he enjoyed however it was a little pricey and I had an egg majo sandwich which was very nicely prepared and quite reasonable at £5.00, it was very filling. Both the coffee and hot chocolate were good, freshly prepared and hot. Very pleasant meal and a popular venue for "ladies that lunch".

I used to love this place and we visited regularly once every couple of months or more often all year round. We always visited for the cafe more than the garden centre, but often spent far more than we should have in the gift shop than we should have. But no more - not since it changed following the handover. The cafe never used to be the quickest in serving, taking its time, but always with a smile and with good care. Not anymore. We now wait for ages at the till with no-one acknowledging our presence, as they rush around seemingly achieving little. They are miserable and harassed looking getting orders wrong and mishearing what you ask for. The crockery is dirty and grimy, with marks that a fingernail could pick off, so clearly not just wear and tear. The food is nice enough, but nothing to write home about. And the atmosphere is noisy with screaming babies and children, with the inevitable dirty floors that such visitors leave behind them. Visitors aren't the café's fault, however it seems to be the clientèle that the cafe is actively seeking now, rather than the more discerning genteel crowd that used to frequent it, so they get what they deserve. Such a shame - 6 years of regularly visiting a sweet, local business now at an end.

We called in here for an afternoon tea today. We have been here several times before. The staff are bright and cheerful. Sadly some of the main courses are a bit overpriced, £7.50 for a Welsh Rarebit (Cheese on toast) with salad garnish. A lady on a table next to us had a scone. Unfortunately she couldn't get her knife through it. She returned it, did not wan't a replacement and took a refund. Average age of the customers here seemed to be about 78 at times I have visited here so in all fairness maybe not a place that suits us

Since the recent changes at Cranborne the menu is more varied and we thoroughly enjoyed our Welsh Rarebit one of the best ever! Great service and good value for money, presentation excellent - thoroughly recommend!! Looking forward to our next visit.

After a very pleasurable wander around the garden centre we had lunch at the Old Potting Shed and thought it was wonderful. We had Bubble and Squeak served with crispy bacon and hollandaise sauce. It was absolutely scrummy! Although very filling we then had coffee and walnut cake and chocolate and Guinness cake. Lovely! The only comment I would make is that the coffee cups were rather small and the coffee very frothy and so there was not a lot of room for the coffee in the cup. However, the staff were welcoming and very friendly and it was altogether a very pleasurable time.

Had a cream tea to celebrate my sister's birthday. The table was dirty and when the waitress eventually came over to wipe it, she did so very half heartedly, and missed some of the mess. The cream tea came without enough plates, no knives, no napkins, and a tiny amount of jam. I had to go up three times to ask for things that were missing. The staff were busy drinking tea in the kitchen with the chef. Service was slow, and by the time the scones arrived, we had finished our tea, and there was no hot water to top up the pot, and no milk left! I had to go up yet again and ask for them. Left feeling very underwhelmed, especially as it was not cheap.

Lovely friendly cafe with great staff and wonderful food and cake. As nice to visit for coffee and cake as for a special meal, new ebpvening set menu nights and activity meals really add something differrent

We had been monitoring the progress of the Cranborne Garden Centre for a while, excited by the reopening. We organised a group trip for 7 of us and we're excited. Unfortunately the reality was not as expected. My mother ordered a ham sandwich but asked for no butter due to a dairy intolerance, unfortunately it was delivered full of butter which was sent back. When they brought it back the chef had clearly taken offence as instead of the nice slices of ham as seen in the first version, this sandwich came with fatty off cuts only. Once removed there was little left of the ham in her sandwich. With hindsight this should have been sent back as well but with other people at the table it was embarrassing. We also ordered 2 side salads of which only one arrived. Eventually a second was delivered but I then had to get up again and pay as they hadn't charged me. Given the fact that this was the second error I would have thought that they could have given it to us to compensate for the errors.The other meals that came were good (ham, egg and chips and vegetable soup) but not great given the costs and the coffee was served luke warm. The cakes on the other hand were delicious and really made up for the other issues but again I would say that they were quite pricey.I'm really hoping that these were teething issues and that the staff have now been trained to deal with issues more effectively with the customer in mind. I used to love this place and hope that the standards will improve.

The set up looked nice and the lady behind the counter was very pleasant. However the tables were filthy and the floor covered in food crumbs. We arrived just after 12 so hardly after a busy lunch session. The young man who served us our food had a really dirty apron on and he was constantly touching and fussing with his hair. Perhaps basic hygiene is beyond him and his superiors. The food arrived fairly quickly but the salad leaves I had were partway to wilting and the hot goats cheese was far from hot, in fact dry, crumbly and very cold. My friend had a bit of a doorstop bacon sandwich but the chips were ok.

This may seem as though I am on a mission- I'm not! Having been ULTRA impressed last month I have since visited on two or three occasions each time have noticed a slight decline in the food until last Sunday when the offering was quite frankly dreadful. I can only assume the chef was off? The menu was extremely limited to three or four items on the main board ( plenty of sandwiches etc). Having been blown away by the ham egg and chips last time we visited we were really looking forward to having this again. Unfortunately it was unavailable but bacon was offered as an alternative which my partner chose. When it arrived it looked barely cooked although he ate it without complaint. I ordered the cheese and onion tart. Having sampled the tarts previously they had always been creamy and tasty. Not this time. I think a sweet pastry case may have been used in error. The filling was a bit on the dry side and bore no resemblance to the food I had previously sampled. The chips, previously the star of the meal ( in my last review I said they were the best I'd ever had) were soggy and not that pleasant. The salad now included a tasteless coleslaw and an equally bland potato salad. The red onion even had the outer skin left on! Overall a huge disappointment. We won't be back until we hear reports that this place is back on track. Shame.

Had lunch here today and it was great! We both chose the cheddar tart which was served with a garden salad and we shared a bowl of chunky chips. I have to say that the last time I visited in March I was disappointed but the new menu ( new chef?) this time around gave me a completely different experience. The tart was delicious with thin crispy pastry and a scrummy, cheesy,creamy filling. The salad was fresh and nicely dressed- nothing extraordinary in terms of components but just a well done salad. The chips were piping hot,well seasoned and lovely and crispy on the outside and fluffy within. I'd go as far as saying possibly the best chips ever! The quality of the food was reflected in the price and lunch for two with a Fentiman's lemonade and a cappuccino was £21. I consider it be be a good value quality eatery now and I will be back.

We used to go here frequently, but on visiting a few times recently will be avoiding in the future. The food prices have gone up and the quality has gone down. We visited with young children; where they used to welcome children, now I am not so sure ... They have highchairs, but no childrens menu? Shame.

We had breakfast at the Cafe earlier today. The food was very good in terms of quality and value for money compared to a lot of places close by. Service was very good and all the staff were very pleasant including the shop assistant. We were surprised at the last post on this site and each to his own but our experience was very good and hope this now revamped business goes from strength to strength. We will certainly make it a favourite for a Sunday breakfast and they produce yummy cakes too.

Popped in for breakfast on a Monday morning. The server was friendly and jolly though the tea room lacked atmosphere. Having ordered a breakfast ,which at £7.50 including coffee appeared to be good value. The breakfast arrived,on a hot palate, with each item piping hot which is a rarity. However, that's about where my praise ends. The food itself was ok with a generous serving of 2 of each- sausage, bacon, eggs, toast along wit baked beans, fresh tomato and mushrooms. I have a healthy appetite and I struggled to finish the meal. Personally I found the sausage and bacon to be of poor quality and would much preferred to have had less food of better quality. The Garden centre bills itself as a rather upmarket establishment but I'm afraid the breakfast didn't quite match up to this. It was all ok and perfectly edible, just not great.

After hearing positive things about this place I thought I would visit it. I left Salisbury & headed towards Cranborne.I entered through the main door to the shop,& there was no one to be found on the shop floor, I waited to be served ...no one appeared, I then went to have lunch in the little cafe there. Again I waited by the service counter for 5 minutes , no one appeared.I left to walk round the " garden centre" they only had some roses for sale. Disappointed I went home.I will not be returning

Stopped by for a quick lunch. Went for the soup, but it was very poor, watery, seemed that the small amount of vegetables were dunked in hot water. Never again.

We stopped in as we were passing through the area.It is located in a semi-derelict Garden centre attached to Cranborne Manor.We were assured by a notice in the shop that it has been taken over and a revived business will rise from the ashes during the winter of 2014.The tea room is excellent,serving snacks as well as meals. We had tea and cakes which were delicious and at very competative cost.The lady who served us was delightful.Drop in if you are passing.

Excellent afternoon tea stop - massive scones, good clotted cream and freshly brewed tea. Staff were chatty, and welcoming.

Myself and the other half have been coming here every Sunday for the past year and still love it. The hot food dishes are delicious and we can't get enough of the yummy cake and coffee! The staff are extremely friendly and I'd highly recommend this restaurant/tea room to anyone visiting the area.

They are a small tearooms, with friendly atmosphere.Homemade cakes & good range of drinks.Good serviceHave also had lunch there, very good value and lovely food.

Cranborne is a quiet little village in the centre of rural Dorset. It is dominated by the Cranborne Estate which contains a popular garden centre and its restaurant - the Old Potting Shed. This is frequented by both locals and visitors alike and offers breakfast and lunch in addition to cafe staples. The afternoon teas are delicious and the generous portions of home made cakes are very tasty indeed. The best time for a complete visit is on a Wednesday afternoon when one can combine refreshments with a saunter around the lovely Manor's gardens. This is the only time of the week they are open.