The River Bank Tea Room in Basingstoke and Deane

We arrived at 11:10 hoping to slide in a quick breakfast order before the cut off point at 11:15 and, once seated, grabbed a waitress who looked at her watch and said we were too late for breakfast. Fair enough. We considered having coffee and cake instead but, of the dozen or more items on the cake menu, we had already seen that only three or four were actually available. We had the option of ordering from the lunch menu and were told that chef wouldn't even look at it until 11:30; we ordered, expecting a wait, but asked to have our coffee in the meantime. Half an hour later the food arrived, but we still hadn't received our coffee. This was brought after asking, but completely defeated the object of asking to have it while we waited for our food. The food was good, as always, and the coffee was hot, but we are regular customers and the service time - even for just a drink - generally leaves a lot to be desired; we can't come if we are on a time limit.

Decided to go for lunch but very disappointed. Have been there before, the service was OK then but today was the worse lunchtime experience in any restaurant we have been to. Arrived and waited in the queue. After five minutes given a menu and a table. Waited approx ten minutes and the waitress still not had arrived. This was the same person that had greeted us. Finally grabbed thd waitresses Attention and told she will come back to us. We waited and still no one took out order. After another ten minutes asked another waitress that was cleaning the table next to us could she take our order. She said no problem and then told the first waitress!!! Eventually we get our order taken. Menu states maximum 45 minutes. Ordered a tea and a coffee and 2 sandwiches. We waited another 20 minutes and still no sign of our order. I asked the waitress and was Told soon. Eventually we get our coffees. Approx 45 minutes after we had arrived. No sign of our food. We asked about our food and was Told 5-10 minutes but we can give you a takeaway. Still no food and we ask again. 5 minutes later food arrives. I asked the waitress are your normally like this. She replied yes. I said we have waited around 45 mins for a coffee. She apologised for the sake of apologising. Our food was OK. We ate it quickly and rushed out. No place should take 45 minutes to serve a drink. Service is terrible and food is OK. Will Not be returning to this cafe. This place needs major changes. Don’t go there for lunch unless you have plenty of time.

Just 2 of us for lunch,, ordered nothing complicated, just a Prawn wrap, a salad, a Cup of tea and a cappuccino. Restaurant had just a handful of people in it, so why did it take 30 mins before they could even get our drinks to us? And no one cleared our empty plates, even though we were there for an hour after we had finished eating. And using the toilet was an absolute shambles, there is 1 key, first time I asked, they couldn’t find it. I asked again 10 mins later, key had been given to someone else who had gone off outside with it. The setting is lovely, the food was good, I live a few minutes walk away. Will I be going back? I have my doubts

I remember this place before the revamp and it was drab, boring and over the top with prices . The This week after returning since I can’t remember when .. well what a surprise , totally shocked . Great food , fast service and amazing cakes. The added bonus is the outside eating area . Sadly the toilets haven’t changed and weren’t exactly pleasant but the store and cafe are superb. Well done guys ,

We didn’t order anything complicated-two bowls of soup and some chips. The place wasn’t busy-around half full. Food took almost 30 mins to arrive. How long does it take to ladle soup out of a pot? I would say open a tin, but there’s no way this was from a tin. It was too awful. We had to check the order to remind ourselves because you’d never have known from eating it what flavour it was supposed to be. The chips arrived with the unexpected addition of hair. When I sent it back I was asked whether I wanted a refund or a fresh portion. That seemed a strange question-so I asked if refund meant the whole meal, or just the chips. The waitress didn’t know. She just went and got chips. No hair though which was a surprise result. We had to ask for the manager who, to be fair refunded the entire meal. But in all honesty it was so bad in all ways that I felt they should have refunded our time too.

Drove past and decided to pop in for a cup of tea. What a great decision. The selection of home made cakes is amazing. We had the orange millionaires shortbread and the mincemeat shortbread. Both were excellent. Also a very good cup of tea. Hot food selection looked good as does the afternoon tea so we will be coming back. Nice bright & airy seating area, even on a dull day and also a patio for the warmer months. Is also located within a garden centre & gift shop so can do some shopping at the same time. Very impressed

The Tea room was a welcome addition to the garden centre. A good place for people to meet. Food is a little on the pricey side but is always fresh.

Popped into here for breakfast while my car was in for a service. Had the hungry gardeners option, which I must say was really nice and filling,. Comes with toast and tea or coffee. Staff very friendly and helpful, nice and clean great selection of other stuff around too. I would say leave getting there until around 9.30am as they need to set up lol. I will definitely be calling in again, thanks 👍

Great selection of food for a lunch or cake for an afternoon treat. Beautiful presentation and lovely staff. Doubled in size since my last visit which is no surprise as I bet it gets busy at weekends. Loved the little flower-pot garnish on my baked potato - made me smile!

I would highly recommend a visit, the food and service are excellent My husband I often go for afternoon cake and a cup of tea, the cakes are delicious

The staff are so friendly and the food delicious. It does get busy but definitely worth the wait. The new patisserie is open now and they bake fresh cakes on the premises.

Went for cooked breakfast, which arrived quickly and was very good. If you want tea/coffee, recommend having the hungry gardener's breakfast, as included in price and therefore works out cheaper than standard cooked breakfast. Have been here several times for cake before. There is a large variety of tasty cakes and they do generous sized slices. Looks nice after recent refurb, but can be chilly in Winter.

Enjoyed several mid week lunches here over the years and have not been disappointed would recommend.

Visited this week to see the tearoom completely transformed and is at least twice the size and beautifully done too. So light, pretty and spacious. One of the excellent changes is that the door to the outside area is now part of the tearoom which is brilliant. Food and drinks good and well priced and friendly staff. The changes are a huge plus

Such a menu for such a tea room Food makes your mouth water, susbstantial portions that are filling and makes you wish you had room for more. Cakes are to die for and the sticky toffee pudding makes me go weak at the knees. Clean and friendly. Will definitely go back

I visited here with mum in law, hubbie & children for lunch. Quite a number of changes have been made for the better. The menus are vast with so much lovely choice. They have all sorts including sandwiches, toasties, wraps, Panini's, jackets, Mac cheese, salads,...