The Secret Garden at Dundonald Nurseries in Castlereagh

Food is just standard. We had eggs with toasted wheaten. The wheaten itself was lovely texture but lacked taste. Nice thick bacon but too fatty and eggs were overdone

Friendly staff, tasty food and plenty of items for your home or garden

We had Mother’s Day lunch here yesterday and were very disappointed with the food and service. Not only was the salmon overdone. We had to wait ages for our drinks to come. I also feel it could be a possibility in future that you offer a 2 course option as we had to take 3 courses when we didn’t really want to although we were allowed to take it away.

Always so well organised. The staff are lovely and a great varied menu. Food always arrives quickly and very tasty. Great afternoon tea too.

Staff member was very rude. Taken dishes away when not everyone had finished. Not even letting children with special dietary requirements have their own food in with them even though my friend and i were paying costumers. Never had this problem in any other restaurant.

I had the vegetable soup at lunchtime which was really disappointing as it was a half bowl of mostly bland stock. It was expensive for what I received.

We met up with friends for breakfast and the restaurant provided an Ulster Fry. This is like a “Full English” on steroids. It had soda bread instead of toast and potato bread instead of black pudding. Tasted fantastic. The place is staffed by very cheerful and helpful women who bring you hot food out fast and a lovely banter.

Lovely lunch as always in the secret garden

Very disappointed in afternoon tea.No variety of sandwiches which weren't even cut daintily. Cakes were tray bakes cut into small squares. We asked by staff member to " Clear the table " when she arrived with the cake stand. Didn't feel like the treat it was meant to be.

I was impressed by the staff helping myself and wife getting flowers for a office

Just discovered this place and love it. Food is excellent and it has a lovely gift shop. A good variety of plants at a reasonable price.

Great service and the best scones! Toastie was great as well!

Excellent food and a great friendly place

Warm, excellent service. Pleasant atmosphere, always dependable.

Great place for any occasion great food and service with amazing views across to Stormont.

Poor service, bad and cold seating upstairs directly at the door table #35, Food very cold and a very expensive breakfast. The place was a real go-to place for us and our family members but not any more, we will never go back.

Nice atmosphere, friendly staff and great food

My husband and I went to Breakfast with Santa with our two young children (5 and 3) and had the best time. All 4 of us had lovely fried breakfasts (including a vegan version which had been requested at the time of booking and was remembered on arrival which saved any fuss!), a chat with Santa as he went round the tables while we ate, and a gorgeous photo with Santa in his grotto. I've been now for the last 4 years - it's such good value with the food and photo and will definitely be back in future. Thank you!

Had the turkey and ham. The gravy is on another level. Then into the gift shop and got some of the delicious chutneys they offer. AMAZING

Called in after a hospital appointment,had one turkey dinner and one roast beef dinner. Both excellent in quality and quantity. Staff friendly and helpful.

The vegan afternoon tea here is second to none! Had a lovely afternoon with amazing vegan sarnies and goodies. The staff are all so friendly and attentive and the atmosphere is warm and cosy. Cannot recommend highly enough! (they also have a huge vegan main menu). Thankyou!

The restaurant was quite busy but staff were very efficient and welcoming. Speed of service could not be faulted. The tea and scones were lovely and I would say they were as good as Perrywood Garden Centre, Essex. I will definitely be back when we are in the area again.

Called in for snack lunch Very good not over priced and tasty Staff attentive

We visited The Secret Garden for lunch & then for breakfast. Lunch was good I had a toastie which was really good. For breakfast which I’m not normally a breakfast person so I opted for their pancake stack with berries & cream. The cream was a bit sparse as were the berries.

I had a lovely BLT sandwich on very fresh wholemeal bread. It was lovely. Coffee is average, but you can't have everything!! Staff were also very nice.

Always a good meal and chat with staff

Food was very good but I went with my family, including a 3 year old girl. We were made to feel very cheap when we opened up a lunchbox comprising crackers and cheese to feed our daughter (who is a fussy eater, and we know from experience that she would not eat anything from the menu - incidentally there was no equivalent to what we bought for her on the menu). We were told that it was not normally permitted for food that wasn’t purchased in the restaurant to be consumed on the premises. Although the allowed us to continue to feed our child with the food we bought with us, it didn’t make us feel particularly welcome and I felt that the only 2 options agreeable to them would be to pick something off the kids menu for £8 that we knew our daughter wouldn’t eat, or let her starve whilst we tucked into our very nice lunch. I would not have objected to paying a ‘corking fee’ equivalent to the profit they’d have expected to make from serving us with a child’s portion to allow us to feeding our child from her lunchbox, but I do object to a policy that does not fully consider the requirements of their patrons. As a result, we will not be returning as there are plenty of businesses that have a more family friendly ethos (merchant hotel, culloden hotel and the crawfordsburn inn spring to mind). Sadly, there is an old adage which applies here - if you have a good experience you’ll tell one person, if you have a bad one, you’ll tell 10.

Another hidden gem this time in Dundonald Co Down. Myself and one of my best friends from school went for breakfast. It was absolutely lovely! A beautifully prepared Ulster Fry with great coffee served by lovely, warm, friendly staff! The nursery its located in is superb and the shop is extremely well stock with gifts and clothes for all tastes at prices to suit everyone. I noted although I wasn't buying anything today that there were many clothing items discounted and really were very good quality and again a wide range (mostly womens fashion). Now the garden shop had nothing short of an excellent range of gardening tools and implements including the Wolf Garden range which I rate very highly myself and will add to the few things I need from this place. All in all I think The Secret Garden restaurant along with Dundonald Nurseries shop and garden centre really do without reservation,deserve five stars! (November 2023) I am going to add a little remark here and say that recently I have found it has become a little pricy! It will not lose its clientele but I personally am reluctant to go as I did before!

Delightful place for coffee/ lunch. Staff pleasant and service good. Scones delicious!

Lovely place to eat and shop. Food generous portions and well priced.

Delicious lunch and dessert, great portions. We had the Hawaiian Chicken Burger with chunky chips and Panini and skinny fries. Followed by lemon meringue and cheesecake of the day. Empty plates all round.

Love the food in here, coffee is first class. Staff are really nice.

I ordered a selection of tray bakes for a family party and I was absolutely delighted with what The Secret Garden were able to turn out! Fresh, flavourful and beautifully presented. Will definitely order again!

Love this place. Have never had a bad meal, be it lunch or breakfast. Or just coffee and a scone. Food is always first class, as is the service. Highly recommend a stop at this place. The nursery and shop is a bonus and the plants are of the highest quality and very competitively priced. Can’t fault it at all.

Seated quickly on arrival unfortunately service ended there. No menus provided even tho been waiting 15mins. Just left after table just given beside us given menus&order taken. Will visit shop again but eat elsewhere.

Went for breakfast and honestly had the best vegetarian fry ever! Staff were all lovely, very friendly and super attentive. I will definitely return.

Great spot for lunch and a browse around the shop. Food was delicious and the staff were very attentive and friendly. Great over all service.

Latte coffee very weak it's just like a cup of heated milk 😞

Unas ensaladas riquísimas, con una ensalada comes muy bien

Lovely food amazing prices now prefer this over hillmount which is over priced and not as welcoming as here

The food was amazing and the cleanliness is immaculate in all areas. Great choice of plants, gifts and furniture. Highly recommended.

Normally I find the staff rude in here, but today they were helpful and pleasant. So a totally praiseworthy experience

We were there today to celebrate my mums 90th birthday, I have never been before but I will certainly be back, the food and the staff were just amazing, so helpful and friendly. I would highly recommend you pay here a visit

I met a few friends for morning coffee so apart from a coffee and a scone I havent really sampled the food. What I had though was really lovely. Service was very efficient.

Love secret garden food delicious and have gluten free options .Also a great shop to go into

Afternoon coffee and scone soo tasty

I didn't go here to eat unfortunately 😕 but I did have the absolute pleasure ☺️ of spending ages in their gift shop. To me, it was like a treasure trove, and I didn't know what to look at first, and they also had a 50% off sale. Their goods are of excellent quality, and they're like 1 offs. You can only buy so many, so you won't see everyone wearing your outfit or handbag. The biggest problem is that once you get in, it's very hard to leave. So be warned ⚠️ 😬

Good menu, excellent quality food and fantastic range of choices for dietary intolerances. Wish all restaurants had this choice!

Always enjoyable experience. Staff in the garden section are very helpful, and knowledgeable....and go above and beyond to assist you. Special mention to the Spanish gardener, and a local Belfast guy who simply made my recent visit special. Did not dine in the restaurant this time, but I know it to be a joy.

Omg, first time here and I couldn't rate it high enough for staff friendliness, extensive menu, food quality and reasonable costs. It Is fully accessable inc a lift to the upper floor and to top it off it is located in a garden center as well.

Excellent gluten free options for my daughter

We took our mother out for her 80th Birthday to make a nice memory but unfortunately this was not the case. Our elderly parents took 10 to 15 minutes to decide what they wanted and 3 times the waitresses keep trying to push them to order. Then when we tried to change a tea to coffee on the afternoon tea, as the waitress was taking the order, she said it was too late. A young waitress was rude to my mother and when I spoke to her asking if she could be a bit more polite her answer was "I am" abruptly. My sister-in-law spoke with the assistant manager who did apologise and took one of our afternoon teas of the bill but that wasn't what we wanted just a lovely day as a family with our mother. This was one of the worse experiences we all ever had from start to finish. It ruined what should have been a wonderful day.

I enjoyed an outstanding Chicken Satay Salad. A generous portion, superbly flavoured and all served in a restaurant with a buzz.

Just amazing food was out this world

Very disappointed with my first experience here. The kids, aged 11 and 9, had their kids' meal brought out on a tiny plastic plate. Quite expensive for all they got. My mum had the beef and hardly ate anything and my bang bang chicken was OK. The banoffee was also very disappointing. Not one member of staff asked if the food was OK etc. Will not be back!

We waited a very long time for our meals. As always the beef was very tender. However, the vegetables were undercooked. At one point the chef came out of the kitchen. We were horrified at the state of his ‘chef’s’ jacket, which was supposed to be white, as it was filthy and a dirty grey colour 🤦‍♀️

It’s like walking back in time to the 1980’s, the decor is so dated, time for a modern look. Food is lovely but menu could do with a change, been the same for years, very little from main menu for people with celiac disease to choose from. Staff were very helpful and friendly. Nice place but just needs brought up to date to bring in the 40+ people.

My friend and I loved are meal it was very warm served on warm places it was really lovely wud recommend for any 1 easy to get to plus if you needed plants 🪴 you can get most things for your garden

Malcolm and Anne run a great business. Good choice of goods, plants and food in the restaurant, all top notch! Bought more winter plants, great selection and advisory help from the employees, always welcome! Still the restaurant standards are high...and bought two lovely Geraniums..oh, and a hanging basket ..great selection.

Really nice restaurant ( gift shop), has a lift to first floor. Great service, big portions. Best Scampi I've ever had. Chips could have done with 30-60 seconds more- just slightly firm. Good desserts and coffee.

Popular restaurant with good food and pleasant staff. A little more expensive than other similar places and regular coffee was quite small.

Excellent food and so fresh Hoping to be back soon As cousins birthday today as a treat Thanks for good service today

Fantastic lunch, fantastic Staff, fantastic venue 😊

Lovely food and staff. Lots of tables upstairs and downstairs including an outdoor area.

Lunch out with friends today. Very disappointing. My friend wanted a small meal as she has stomach issues and diabetes. She choose sausage beens and chips from the children's menu as she is elderly and very petite. The staff member was extremely blunt and rude and told her she was not allowed as she was not 12. There was simply no reason in the world why they could not have accommodated my friends need. I would not recommend this establishment if you are an adult wanting a meal but cannot take a big plate of food. The staff also came over to the table and removed my husbands rollator . This meant he was unable to get up to access services like the bathroom without having to ask staff to retrieve it. If you have disabilities or are elderly BE AWAIR THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS NOT AS HELPFULL AND ACCOMODATING AS It SHOULD BE!!!! RESPONSE Of course this is set up so that replies are not encouraged. I'm not entirely sure why it was unusual to be able to talk with a customer who has written a review flagging up shortfalls. As for my friend she is indeed a lovely lady who is a diabetic . On talking with you , you admitted that there was no physical reason why a smaller meal couldn't have been provided apart from your policy NOT TO DO THAT! So you have a policy that forces people who are elderly or infirm to buy bigger meals than they could possibly manage to eat. Thus wasting money and food in order that you profit from that ummm not a very good policy and certainly not in customer best interest. You mention you have other things on the menu however my friend did not want the other things. So in affect you are by your own words preventing some people from accessing the entire menu choices. The dictionary has a word for that! I stand by my original post. I didn't say you did not cater for those with special care requirements but rather that your customer care in this area could and should be better. Thus I have given you 1 star. Which reflects that alone. As you said my friend wants a function and she is a lovely lady and so I do hope all will be as it should for her.

Very friendly staff and a great variety of plants plus the coffee@ apple tart I had was lovely would recommend going to any one

Fantastic meal today at secret garden! Great portions and also had lots on menu for gluten free so I was delighted. Staff were also lovely, they even approached me to ask if I required assistance and offered me use of the lift because they seen I had a bandaged ankle! This was great help as I had my grandmother with me so took a bit of stress off! We even ventured for dessert and coffee for after and the tray bake I had was huge and so tasty! I will definitely be back again very soon. Thank you again to the staff for a great service, they are a credit to Secret Garden!

RUDE and VERY AGGRESSIVE waitress. Dined upstairs was 3 of us and put at a table for 2 so I was perched at the side. There was plenty of free tables but the staff seemed more concerned on cleaning up (it was only 1.45). The door and windows were wide open and my back was to the door. When I asked for door to be shut I got a glare. Ordered prawn open and the wheaten bread was like doorsteps and only a handful of bland prawns salad was garnish of a bit of lettuce and some onion.(that is not a salad)Not worth£15. Rude waitress younger blonde with piercings removed our plates and my friend had not properly finished. We decided to order desert we asked what there was and she spoke so fast, loud and aggressively we felt like we annoyed here by asking andbeing there. We waited 20mins for dessets and my apple pie pastry was raw plus no dessert spoons or napkins plus she shoved sundae dessert physically into my friends hand. When I called her back over about the pie she snarled at me and said do you want something else or not!! Waited another 20mins for a mediocre sundae shoved at me!!! She marched off aggressively I did not have a spoon!!! I really couldnt be bothered with anymore confrontation from her so I lifted a spoon fron another set table....she seen me said something to other waitresse"s. Then marched done past me glared and slammed down spoon on the set table. Whole experience horrible and upsetting on paying/leaving I spoke to one of the older staff and said that the waitress was really rude to us. She said "Oh thats not like her".....and said sorry. The bill was approx £80 too for poor quality food and totally apalling service. This experience left me very upset and another friend of mine whom I bumped into in the restaurant on the same day also said the waitress was awful and quality of food very poor.

Won't be disappointed, well worth a visit.

Great place for a coffee and catch up. Fantastic selection of plants and shrubs. Highly recommended.

A lovely lunch backed up with excellent customer service

Very helpful staff + great fresh produce!

Great restaurant beside the garden centre.

Amazing garden centre hidden in plain site with a wonderful restaurant to boot !

Only bought plants. Beautiful place. I remember it years ago whenever it was run by current owners father Bobby Hutchinson, a gentleman if ever there was one

Lovely food and friendly staff.

Disappointed in early lunch , had seafood tagliatelle , vary bland , no flavour from sauce and pasta not fresh , also potatoes hard and over cooked ( why potatoes in tagliatelle? ) . Don't know why this was down as chef's special . Couldn't taste any seasoning ,dill,garlic or lemon. My wife's meal was cod and she enjoyed it , full of flavour and well cooked.

Great variety of food served on silver cake stands. Friendly waiting staff, all made it a very enjoyable evening, before attending the great fashion show.

Nice lunch although the service was slow. Afternoon tea was delicious

Met with friends for lunch. Good atmosphere, nice surroundings, good friendly service, wide choice of food. Will be going back.

Brilliant food always busy were folk go to catch up and off course eat and drink. Staff excellent good prices. Vegetarian option very good. Staff very friendly.

Great breakfast with lots of veggie and vegan options. Great lunches too.

Beautiful really good, and reasonable

The Secret Garden at Dundonald Nurseries Called weeks ago to book a table for afternoon tea for a special occasion to be told that they would only accept bookings of 10 people with a deposit, as there were eight of us it wasn’t possible to book a table. I then checked again a few weeks later for availability for today Thursday, the 13th of April at 1 o’clock and we would have a couple of children and my pregnant daughter. I still couldn’t book a table unless it was for 10 people and when I asked if the deposits just came off the bill I was also told any deposits paid would not be taken off the bill if the people didn’t turn up. With a few special dietary requirements I was dubious of not booking a table but wanted to try here. I said to the person that it was the Thursday of Easter week and surely would they not be very busy to which they replied yes but they had plenty of seating and the restaurant was over two floors and I would be able to get a table no problem. So today I traveled from Glengormley with my family, and when we got there the restaurant was very busy. They said all the upstairs big tables were taken and after standing for 10 minutes the woman said she would go to check when the tables would be free. We were told people had only started eating, so it would be a while. I had worried about this being the case and really it wasn’t acceptable and we ended up coming away and having to find somewhere else to eat in the area. When we were deciding where we could go to eat I phoned them to complain and got a not very helpful assistant manager and the person I was actually talking to inside the restaurant had been a supervisor. What I would like to suggest to you is that you change your policy to let people book in for afternoon tea, or for less than 10 people to book a table, I was more than happy to pay a deposit. Surely you need to have an idea how many people would be wanting afternoon tea to book it in advance. It really ruined our day and I am still very annoyed at what happened I certainly wouldn’t recommend the restaurant and anyone telling me they are going there I will be telling them about my negative experience

Another great visit for delicious lunch at the Secret Garden! Staff again so attentive, welcoming and friendly! and the food was just to die for! The sweet chilli panini is honestly the best I have ever tasted and I have eaten quite a few 🙈 we were seated upstairs with a beautiful view out the windows, the restaurant again was immaculately clean! Had some tasty tray bakes and a coffee after! And of course an afternoon well spent looking at all the lovely boutiques in the gift shop! We have eaten here now a few times and the standard has been amazingly consistent, and I already cannot wait to my next visit!

Always enjoy this Garden center and the food is very good in the restaurant.

Food was lovely, staff very friendly. Very busy but fast service when a seat became available.

We visited during the Easter weekend for lunch and were seated quickly and given just the right amount of time before the waitress came to take our order. The waitress was very attentive and wrote the complicated order down exactly. I had the Bang Bang chicken and my wife had the bacon and cheese burger with home made chips. All the food was delicious and good healthy portions. The food was also very reasonably priced. All in all a lovely visit and I would not hesitate to recommend it to couples or larger groups.

Very disappointing, went for my husband’s birthday and the food was very awful! Ordered a ‘steak sandwich’ which turned out to be tough fatty stir fry pieces. The meal was swimming in watery pepper sauce and the coleslaw was slapped into the swimming pepper sauce. Husband orders scampi and chips and tartar sauce was missing and the chip were hard. Expensive for poor food!

Fantastic breakfast in the restaurant..great menu selection..speedy service...and then a visit to the shop where there is a great range of plants,gardening equipment and then into the giftshop ..which has something for everyone....

We went for lunch today having been before. Not available to book but that wasn't an issue. The five of us were easily accommodated upstairs. Staff were friendly, warm and tentative. We were originally only going for lunch but realised they did a made to order afternoon tea. With this afternoon tea we were able to decide what we wanted in our sandwiches which was great as some of our party only eat certain fillings. On arrival the sandwiches were bulging with filling, the bread was so fresh and soft. The scones were also beautiful, choice of scone here too. Then the sweet treats on top were beautiful, miniature banoffee, panacotta, short bread and a lemon tray bake. The amount and quality of food we recieved for & £17.99 per person was outstanding! Would recommend for a nice treat. While sitting enjoying our lunch we could see other dishes foe guests passing and the quality of food looked amazing. The server passed with a slice of lemon meringue cake, it could have fed a family of 4 it was that large.

A nice place to visit with friendly staff food a little expensive although very nice.

I was here for Mothering Sunday and the food was amazing so tasty and flavoursome. The staff were all so friendly and helpful too a really wonderful day.

Went to the secret garden today for lunch with my husband, had a beautiful meal, staff were attentive and very pleasant, will be back some time soon. Thank you for a lovely meal

Great atmosphere Great staff and service well priced food and it was delicious

I love the Secret Garden and Dundonald Nurseies where it is located. The food is great quality and I love the scones and pastries, particularly the 'Banoffee'. The staff are wonderful and get you seated as quickly as they can. The restaurant gets very busy most lunchtimes and can be a bit noisy. As I have a 50percent hearing loss it is difficult to hear others. This is my issue and in no way am I faulting the restaurant. Wheelchair access is available as is a lift to the second floor for those who have difficulty with stairs. Overall this is a great place to meet and have a bite to eat. Oh! Don't forget to have a look at the plants as the nursery has a great selection especially their hanging baskets.

Food was outstanding as always, and I highly recommend a visit you won't be disappointed. The main courses need a few more gluten-free options, but I was able to get something off the menu that suited me perfectly.

I'd been here with my partner and there was a younger, coloured haired waitress that had seemed rather abrasive to myself and my partner during our meal. The food was definitely enjoyable, but it felt to be to some extent uncomfortable

Great place to meet friends. The shop has been greatly improved and enlarged. And lots more parking

Nice restaurant only fault is ask about a child meal for my husband who cannot eat a big meal because of medical reasons was refused a child meal even though their was three adults meal being ordered. All he could eat was half a burger and leaving the chips. What waste