The Potting Shed Cafe Ltd in Cardiff

Visited for the first time yesterday and would totally recommend. Fab little tearoom in a beautiful setting. Went for coffee and cake but couldn't resist the savoury snacks first! (Hog roast sausage rolls, lamb and mint pasty & leek and cheese pasty all very good). Cakes were delicious and super fresh, don't miss the Spiced Plum cake if there's any left when you visit! I thought the prices were reasonable for the quality and setting. Drinks and food are served in recyclable card cups and boxes, but I honestly can't see why other reviewers have had a problem with this. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly and we'll definitely be back, thankyou. (N. B. If you enjoy reading there's a fantastic little second hand book shop, Butlers Books, in the main Insole Court House)

Coffee is decent. Don’t bother with the food as it’s so ridiculously overpriced. £6 for a bun and a single bit of bacon!

Lovely placed in Insole Court. Great coffee and cake

Warning: do not upset the young poorly trained staff at this establishment. Nobody explained to these 3 very young staff that the customer is always right. When asking for hot coffee be prepared for an argument and staff justifying tveir methods rather 'Yes Sir/Madam, no problem I make you a hot cup now.' My partner had to complain about her coffee not being a full cup and that it was too cold. My first cup was cool but I did not take it cak as had drunk a good mouthful. When I ordered a second cup and asked for it to be hotter, they were defensive about the first cup, stating the temperature was ok when it was served. When I pointed out it was rather cool and would really appreciate a hot cup without the defensive argument, they decided I was being aggressive and despite ringing up the sale, then cancelled the order and refused to serve me. No manager on site. Very poorly trained young staff who are not willing to put the customer first. Shame really as they have now lost three previously loyal customers.

Edit. We have since been back (wanting to show a visiting Canadian relative the house) during the week with a different staff team and very, very much better service. Service was appalling. Because of my arthritic hips we took a menu to our seat. I asked a member of staff who was clearing tables what their cakes were and was told they were in the cabinet. When I said I didn't want to go back to see she just said she couldn't remember. So my husband went to the counter and ordered 2 coffees, a soup for him and a cake for me. He gave our table number and came back to join me. During our wait a man cleared tables and dropped the lot,, with no remorse and no apology to the customers who had such a shock. We waited a good 10 minutes for our coffee to be brought to the table, even though it wasn't busy, and were very surprised that it came in paper cups. The explanation was that they had run out of coffee cups. It was another 10 minutes or so before the soup arrived, at which point I asked the rude male waiter (who had dropped all the dishes) about my cake, only to be told we would have picked that up from the counter when we paid! We hadn't. It quickly arrived by the only pleasant female staff member out of the team of 4. I must say I was very wound up by the whole experience and certainly will never be back.

Lovely cafe with good coffee and smiling staff. Space inside and outside, variety of corners for intimate couch spots to reading corners to shaded picnic table. Great location in beautiful Insole Court.

Great choice of tasty food served in a delightful setting.

Love the location but to pay over £19 for 2 lattes, a small can of San Pellegreno, one brownie and two slices of cake is ridiculous! The brownie went in two bites! Won't be visiting again unfortunately....

Ordered a cappuccino and americano, to go with a granola (which was delicious). 35 mins later the granola had come and gone. Still no coffees. After 4 polite requests, they were finally brought to the table. Nice setting, nice food & coffee (once it has finally arrived).

Food and drink was lovely here and nice place to have lunch but my god the attitude on the lady who served us was descusting we were greeted with filthy looks from her an attitude while ordering and when asking questions she replied with "mhmm" she needs some serious customer service training or find another job if she hates it that much.

Had a piece of carrot cake, which was 😋 delicious . Coffee ☕️ and tea were very nice too but very small cups.

The potting shed is wonderful. Great coffee, cake and more. Friendly and helpful staff, loads of seating inside and outside and a very tempting menu. A real secret gem in Cardiff

Great food in a lovely location. Came for brunch and coffee with my friend and our dogs. Counter service can be a bit slow at times.

It's better than ever with all of the homemade fayre - the fresh cream chocolate cake is a particular favourite. With supper clubs and street food events, they're really pushing on. Nice work, well done :-)

Disappointing. This place used to be very good. Unfortunately, it is no more. Food was mediocre and many things unavailble. Staff not welcoming. Will not go back again

Perfect dog friendly cafe with lots of yummy bakes and breakfast / lunch menu. Perfect spot not too far from city. Friendly staff and beautiful ground

I wanted to be able to give a good review as this has the potential to be a lovely place. I visited last about 6 years ago and had dreadful service for my elderly mum's birthday, we visited as it was very local for her. Meeting a friend for lunch on a rare sunny day we decided to try the Potting Shed again. My cold drink was not refrigerated and I was expected to drink out of the can. Whilst delivering our food outside the waitress dropped a fork on the floor which she picked up and went to put it on the food, we asked her to change it. Food was nice, not cheap, whole place needs better management.

I’m so sorry to be writing a bad review, but I feel so strongly that I’ve searched the internet to find out how to. My husband and I visited insole court today and were looking forward to our lunch. The service was appalling. Because of my arthritic hips we took a menu to our seat. I asked a female staff member who was clearing tables what their cakes were and was told they were in the cabinet. When I said I didn’t want to walk back to see she just said she couldn’t remember. So my husband went to the counter and ordered 2 coffees, a soup for him and a cake for me ( he knows what I like). He gave our table number and came back to join me. During our wait a man cleared tables and dropped the lot, with no remorse and no apology to the customers who had such a shock. We waited about 10 minutes for our coffee, even though it wasn’t busy, and were very surprised that it came in paper cups. The explanation was that they had run out of coffee cups. It was another 10 minutes or so before the soup arrived, at which point I asked the rude man about my cake, only to be told we would have picked that up from the counter when we paid! We hadn’t. It quickly arrived by the only pleasant female staff member out of the team of 4. I must say I was very wound up by the whole experience and certainly will never be back.

Lovely setting in grounds listed Insole Court Cafe serves good coffee and food, including attractive looking cakes. That’s the good news. Sadly, it is run in a very amateur way. Lots of staff (too many of them?) dashing about and making one enormous noise - talking/shouting with each other. Frankly, in a coffee chain they would last five minutes.

First time for us to eat here. The food was excellent as was the service and cost.

Basing this on service alone. Unwilling to provide information and help relating to menu, specifically soy and dairy free options/content. “Too busy”, so no food consumed.

Just lovely, everything was perfect.

Lovely, friendly place. Great setting

Really cute café. Wish there was a bit more seating but also went during a busy time. Definitely a good cup with some tasty sounding food options.

Great place to relax and catch up with friends - staff so friendly and positioned in the lovely setting of Insole Court, in itself a!lovely place to visit.

Haven't visited for a while, but felt cafe had gone downhill. It looked grubby & jaded. Cobwebs, tired cushions, dirty walks/ skirting boards. A shame for a lovely location.

Excellent place for tea and cake 🎂☺️ great staff

We like Insole Court and want it to do well. This time we visited the second hand bookshop and were very impressed. The Potting Shed however seemed to lack the fine edge it used to have. Still using paper cups even inside the cafe, it doesn’t seem to have moved on from Covid times. Our coffees, sausage rolls and carrot cake were ok but not exceptional. Mid morning it was busy but sitting near the counter, the atmosphere was not very relaxing. This was mainly due to the loud voices of the staff talking to each other and to customers in a way that was more Greasy Spoon or Beach Cafe than Heritage Culture. Maybe it’s better in the summer when you can sit outside.

Visited The Potting Shed this morning. Don’t write reviews but I felt the need to comment. Our food was poor. The Rarebit was tasteless and cold, and the topping/filling of our coffee & walnut cake was rock hard. Staff surly and completely lacking in any customer service skills. All in all a very disappointing experience. Shame as I used to visit the cafe regularly several years when the food was truly fantastic - guessing it’s changed hands ?

A really attractive venue, with pleasant staff and plenty of seating, including in an outdoor courtyard. The indoor space feels crowded and noisy to me, however. Decent coffee and snacks, and plenty of cakes on offer at reasonable prices. Everything is served in paper cups and takeaway cartons, however, even if you sit in. I'd rather crockery and cutlery.

Stopped by for a Sunday morning breakfast. It was quiet and the staff were very friendly! Food was good - particularly the toast with poached egg! Very nice soft bread without the painful crust you sometimes get on a large slice. Lovely atmosphere as well surrounded by nature and in the block of buildings that make up Insole Court. Would definitely return as the calm and quiet was perfect for an early spring morning!

The cafe is hugely improved. Food is good. The interior of the cafe is nice enough but the overall location of Insole Court is lovely. There’s also an excellent music school on site which I run.

Good strong coffee and enjoyable, big slices of cake.

Visited early on a Saturday morning and it was empty (perfect). Nice to have a quiet coffee and relax. Service was friendly and coffee was fine. We will visit again when in Llandaff.

This is in the grounds of insole court. Everything was perfect, will eat there again

Chose the Welsh Rarebit which was presented on soggy bread and tasted of wholegrain mustard rather than cheese. Overpriced and poorly executed.

The surrounding gardens are lovely so is the Manor House. The cafe is dog friendly and serves food with hot or cold drinks. Food is over priced but is claimed that it is “homemade”. Drinks are a lucky dip. Depending largely on which staff are working. Some of the staff are fantastic, very helpful and polite. Sadly not all the staff are like this, as some are happy to serve watered down drinks both hot or cold.

Lovely surrounding gardens, dog friendly and service food and drink. Food is very over priced but claims to be “homemade”. Drinks aren’t cheap but can be nice. Really hit and miss depending on the staff. Some of the staff are brilliant and very polite but others couldn’t care less, cold drinks with no flavour. Good luck 🤞🏼

The last couple of times I have been here they were not selling food. No explanation except “kitchen closed”. A bit odd for a cafe not to serve food so often. Had to go elsewhere both times. Also didn’t even have decaf so we could have a coffee yesterday.

My husband had carrot and coriander soup which was very tasty but wasn't very hot and I asked for the rarebit with bacon and got it with mushrooms. I asked for bacon twice at the counter. This wasn't very hot either. Very disappointed.

Lovely and quaint café. It was a pleasure to visit!

Friendly, tasty generous cake, nice coffee, perfect if you can sit outside in autumn sunshine😀

Rude staff who ruined the trip. Had friends visiting from Chicago and went to visit the old house as I had heard wonderful things. After we stopped for a late breakfast. With two two year olds and four adults we were keen to try the food, as again, friends and family had said how wonderful the place was. However the man at the desk was BEYOND rude, abrupt and blunt. Really disappointing. We decided to leave as it was completely uncalled for an not needed.

I had bacon and avocado on gluten-free toast, dressed with a few tasty salad leaves. The dish was lovely and bacon was superb. Just the job on a Saturday morning, washed down with a smooth latte. Bendigedig.

V tasty cake. Friendly staff. Nice ambience Can sit inside or out

The cafe in the grounds of Insole Court is lovely. Staff are friendly and helpful. Insole Court is a hidden Jewel well worth a visit.

Lovely day spoilt by a very rude and aggressive man called John at the Potting Shed. He was so unhelpful. Very upsetting. Charged me £4.50 for a bread roll. Shocking. His attitude spoilt the whole experience.

First time visiting. Lovely staff. Beautiful setting. Although I didn't eat (so couldn't rate it) the food looked incredible. Looking forward to my next visit.

Lovely lunch here, served as take away only at present, loads of places to sit outside. Recommend the pasties, we tried chicken & leek and cheese & onion, both delicious. Update April 22, full menu back in operation, inside seating all available. We had delicious tomato soup and sausage bap. June 23 another lunch visit, excellent poached eggs on very thick toast.

A hidden gem. Don't tell everyone 😉.

Eggs Benedict / anything with bread - The bread is too thick and as such the crusts were inedible. The food came in 5 mins suggesting not much care was taken. It’s a shame as I ate here last year and it was much better. Perhaps there has been a change of chef but a little more finesse would go a long way. We basically left 4 plates full or massive crusts 1 inch. Poor.

Gorgeous little place and the food is delicious. Good portions, tasty and very affordable. Really enjoyed our lunch

Due to energy costs, gone are the days of our last visit whereby cup&saucer or mug & spoon were of the norm. Except for cooked meals. Now replaced with a take away set consisting of cardboard mug & box with wooden cutlery. We enjoyed a carrot slice & courgette walnut with lemon zest butter cream.

I enjoyed the caramel slice I had on today's visit. It might have been too sweet for some people. The hot chocolate was good - the oat milk that was used did overpower the flavour. There was a small event on in the Insole Court gardens, so they weren't bringing drinks to the tables outside. I'm not sure if that is something that is usually done here, though.

Disappointing. Unfriendly & unwelcoming staff. Sadly very average.

I’ve given this cafe the benefit of the doubt several times but unfortunately it remains the same. The staff (particularly the older man) are just so unprofessional. He gives off an air of ‘lazyiness’ tbh. I order a slice of cake and they produced an old piece from behind the fresh cake and handed it to me. He then scoffed ‘oh, this is yesterdays cake, we didn’t sell much!’. Handed me a tea in a shallow coffee cup with barely any water and a floating teabag. I think nowadays there are so many fantastic coffee shops with lovely staff this sort of attitude doesn’t go unnoticed. I’ve given it several chances but sadly won’t be back and certainly won’t be recommending.

The food was fairly quick and very tasty but the staff were really unwelcoming and unfriendly. As young mums, we had 2 pushchairs with us that we tried to get out the way as much as poss but 3 separate staff rolled their eyes and one even acted like she couldn’t get past when there was clearly enough space. Two of them asked us to move the pushchairs to two different places. I understand they are bulky but there is a nice way of asking and that was very much lacking here. Such a shame as it’s a lovely cafe!

The staff are always very lovely and friendly, the food is always gorgeous and the atmosphere is always lovely. Breastfeeding friendly!

I have never seen such an unwelcoming group of staff who were working serving the food and drinks in this rather attractive cafe. The only person who had a smile on her face was the girl on the till. Due to the unfriendly staff we decided not to be tempted by the cakes. We ordered a hot chocolate and a double espresso; the hot chocolate was a very dark cardboard cup full of tasteless dark brown liquid, (I suppose most people don't see this because they have cream and marshmallows). I would challenge anyone on a blind tasting to say what the liquid was supposed to be. I only drink double espresso and I have enjoyed it all over the world but not at The Potting Shed; here it was bitter and unpleasantly rough. Somewhere I would definitely avoid in future.

Very good choice and nicely presented

Such a shame this cafe isn't open for the morning school run. So many passing parents would benefit from this! And give them plenty of business!! Cakes are nice, coffee good.

Lovely cakes and a very tasty hot chocolate.

Lovely setting and friendly staff BUT only one vegan option for food and it wasn't even on the menu (soup of the day, which came with bread and BUTTER?!). Would stop me from returning

Delicious cakes and coffee lovely seating area!

A great place for coffee, cake or a light snack. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. Lovely coffee, delicious cakes. Staff friendly.

Enjoyed my hot chocolate here today!

A complete rewrite of my review as this is not the same business as when I first added the Potting Shed to google maps a few years ago. Since then half a million people have clicked on it. My favourite coffee stop now. Half of that is due to the lovely location and easy parking. The other is due to the coffee being good and still being under £3. Lovely small garden area to sit out in. Great for your dog on a sunny day. But dogs not allowed indoors unfortunately. There are picnic benches and parasols. My only criticism is the cakes. I find them stodgy and tasteless.

Visited Insole Court today and had a delicious meal in the cafe.We had a wonderful Welsh rarebit accompanied by a delightful salad.The service and food was excellent and will definitely be returning.

Very nice coffee and a superb eggs benedict. Got there a half hour before closing but they didn't make a fuss and still us served freshly cooked food.

Really nice Bacon roll. Very nice coffee. Reasonably priced. Nice staff.

Excellent Excellent Excellent Staff food &location

The drinks are great, the staff are lovely, it's kept clean however I would not call it dog friendly - more dog tolerant as they are not allowed indoors apart from to walk through into the outdoor courtyard. Unless the weather is good enough and you're happy to sit outside then it's not dog friendly!

Not sure why we didn't get any cups or plates when we were sitting in and the coffee was not great. The service was nice and it's a lovely place to be however.

Nice quiet cup of coffee with my son and daughter in law in the garden.

Love this little dog-friendly cafe.

Carrot cake was nice but the Americano was very weak and watery.

Lovely place to stop off for a coffee , with a variety of delicious homemade cakes.Lovely gardens.

Great coffee cakes & home made snacks - delicious. Plenty of seating under a marquee in the courtyard, outside in the pleasant walled garden & inside the cafe itself. Recommend a visit

Lovely café located at the beautiful Insole Court. A great range of lunch items from sandwiches and soup to homemade pasties and scotch eggs. Great coffee and Lovely cakes too. Currently only outdoor seating available but outdoor tables have large parasols so it's perfect!

Lovely place for an outside coffee and cake in these Covid times. Feels well organised and safe. Staff all wearing masks and good coffee!

Nicely presented cafe, coffee was very nice and so was the vegan chocolate brownie. Plenty of seating was available and they adhered to the social distancing rules. Unfortunately lost a star for the fact that service was not with a smile but apart from that it was great and will be visiting again.

Lovely cakes and good coffee, friendly staff

Lovely surroundings with lots of outdoor seating (indoor seating currently closed due to Covid) and friendly staff but they are only providing a takeout service, at the moment, so the number of sandwiches is limited. Don't leave it too late. Good coffee and lots of cake.

Lovely location but service was pretty slow.

Coffee good staff lovely weather great sat in Courtyard

Lovely little place, but menu is small, example it's just sandwiches, cakes, crisps

Nice staff, good environment, Covid-19 restrictions in place and accessible to all.

The food was very tasty and good quality. The cakes were delicious especially the courgette cake!! The coffees were very good ,my mocha was just right, not too sweet. They have a good selection of milk alternatives. The experience was good, the small selection made for quick service and the Covid arrangements were good. We sat in the covered courtyard which was ideal for containing our toddler.

Really nice place, good selection of cakes and snacks. Staff friendly and proficient.

Our first time out for coffee since March, the gentleman made us feel very welcome plus the coffee and Chelsea bun was lovely, hot and fresh. Will certainly be going back.😊

Great hot chocolate, friendly staff.

Thought the lunch deal was good value for the quality of the food

What an absolute awful place. Charged £4 the world's smallest worst scotch egg. No menu. Slowest service ever. My latte was terrible. I'm not exaggerating worst place in Cardiff.

Nice little coffe shop with decent selection of drinks, snacks etc. Located in one of Cardiff's hidden gems, Insole House and gardens.

Lovely little place. Good cakes, good coffees, in the heart of lovely insole court. Doing a great job in COVID times too. Felt very safe.

Such a shame! This place used to serve amazing food. The most amazing bacon sandwiches with chilli jam, homemade hash browns. Today I had a hard white bap with no jam and frozen hash browns. Used to love the breakfast’s here!

Nice interior. Friendly staff. Pity the delicious coffee was in a take away cup.

Had coffee with my cousin today and it was very clean and friendly coffee and cakes were very good

Great food, good atmosphere, out of the way, relaxed staff.

Great breakfast selection, nice coffee and friendly staff.