Twenty Pence Garden Centre in East Cambridgeshire

Stopped here for a birthday meal I was offered dry Turkey or bits of beef that my wife had … my server cut a nice slice of pork and pushed it to one side before cutting a lump of fat fat with a tiny amount of of lean. Then I got 3 roast potatoes a choice of leeks or cauliflower. Apparently not both , hard undercooked carrots And a pile of stuffing. If you want a carvery do not go here. £14 was way to much for the small meal I had.

Painfully slow service at the coffee & cake counter again. Staff seem to be on a go slow. Several customers walked away ….

This garden centre is great for children, apart from the cafe! There is a childrens play area, go karts, crazy golf and an ice cream parlour. Recently, after using all the above, my five year old grandson wanted lunch but there was nothing suitable to buy for him. I wasn't prepared to pay for an adult meal for him, and the cafe no longer does just sandwiches. Ideally it would be nice, like other garden centres and cafes, to buy a childs lunch, a sandwich, packet of crisps, drink and bar of chocolate. Looking in the cafe, there were not many families eating with young children... We left and went to a different cafe to get a suitable meal for our grandson. Please think about options for youngsters as you are missing out on trade. We will be back, to use your facilities, but unfortunately, not your cafe.

In the queue for twenty minutes… very slow moving. My turn at 11.04. Wanted breakfast for 3 of us. Told no . The kitchen stop breakfast at 11:00. Couldn’t even get a toasted sandwich because lunch doesn’t start until 11:30! Worst of all, the staff were just robotic in response. No true concern that a significant number were queuing for breakfast and there was no flexibility, no empathy and just not really bothered!

Please be very careful if you are gluten free I had a Rasberry Flapjack here and within a few hours was extremely ill. The two other people who are not GF also had the same with no effect. The item was advertised as GF but obviously was not. I did contact Twentypence and advise them to be careful when advertising things as GF if they don’t understand GF requirements. I also asked them to tell me the ingredients of this item as yet I have had no communication from them 😡

The prices are very high for what you got. £5 for a standard size piece of cake. £40 for 2 adults and 3 kids to have drink and cake!!!! The cake was not the best either. We were expecting amazing for the cost. Will definitely not be going again when other garden centres in the area offer better value for money.

Made a special journey but the place was closed, although the entrance gates were open. There were no lights on and no notices whatsoever to explain why it was closed or how long it might be closed. Garden Centres are permitted to remain open in Lockdown 3 (which does not become legal anyway until tomorrow). The website says "Closed until further notice - please keep updated on our Facebook page" but the Facebook page has no updates whatsoever. All very poor.

Lovely garden centre open during teir four enabling people to get out and feel life is normal. Friendly helpful staff. Good christmas sale.

Social distancing excellent staff very helpful and good knowledge of there products. Cafe very clean and all was wiped down after others food and drink excellent along with staff

Visited again,staff and food were excellent food and drinks arrived very quickly,all piping hot and very tasty good selection of food to choose from. Well worth a visit. Restaurant was very busy but plenty of staff to cope.

Most of the cakes and puddings look good, but aren’t cheap. I’ve never had their big cooked lunchtime meal or roast. They don’t really do sandwiches anymore, but wraps with salads. They cost just under £10, but there is very little filling and their salads are expensive too, and you still need something more to eat when you’ve finished them.

Usually go for lunch on a Tuesday or Wednesday but decided to go on a Saturday.The staff are excellent, the hot food is very good but although they offer healthy choices they are very restricted for gluten free hot meals unless you want a jacket potato.The moussaka looked lovely but the sauce wasn’t gluten free. It’s very easy to adapt these dishes to gluten free and other guests would be non the wiser.The desserts are limited for coeliacs. Sponge pudding and custard or chocolate brownie. Plenty of space and a nice place to visit .

The Class of 66 meet every so often and Twenty Pence Garden Centre was chosen for a first visit very good food was good but it was busy not really suitable for our meetings but was enjoyable so definitely be going again. Much larger than I had imagined nice variety of goods in the garden centre. So would recommend.

The 'afternoon tea' consisted of a dry scone (small pot of jam and cream) + half a cup of weak tea which went cold very quickly, no top of tea allowed. Children had a chocolate thingy and a carton of juice. No festive decorations on the table, very sterile area. One lady was dressed as an Elf who looked stunning. What a shame for £7 a head for adults very poor. Hope one of the Managers looks at the value for money when he visits Pera Palace in Chatteris for a turkish meal !!!!

Carvery food was poor. Brussel sprouts were like bullets, cauliflower was rock hard only good bit was the sauce, beef I could have soled my shoes with it, gammon was very good.

Lovely Monday afternoon wander around garden centre , lovely to browse without the hustle & bustle of some of the larger local garden centres ! this garden centre has the feel of a family run business , staff helpful & friendly , 10 / 10 to the young lady in The Orchard Coffee Bar , very polite, friendly & made a delicious and well presented hot chocolate .

Usually fine, called in for quick carvery with wife and daughter, 5 minutes into eating, the fire alarm sounded and we were ushered outside waited over 10 minutes to be told we could join the queue to go in again, food cold, possibly covered with flies. No one suggested another meal even... Did not have time to queue to find out about the £26.85 we lost...Came home and e mailed on the 17th Sept... NO ANSWER.. Very bad customer service and I am out of pocket .....whilst i appreciate that its safety first, no one seemed to care about us now..

As always I very much enjoyed the carvery in the restaurant. Good choice of meats, potatoes and vegetables and all beautifully cooked. Highly recommend!

Visited the Garden Centre for the first time with a friend. A great selection of products and at reasonable prices. The carvery was delicious although the queue was enormous.....but the staff worked very hard to make sure we didn't wait too long. Pleasant day out - will reutrn :)

The seating area is quite large and pleasant enough. The food choice is pretty good and the quality of the food served is okay. It's what you would expect really. Nothing amazing but acceptable. The staff are friendly and helpful.

Cam Sight brought a group of 36 visually impaired clients for an afternoon cream tea in July. The scones were delicious, the staff were very friendly and helpful and the whole centre was perfect for elderly people with limited vision with clear uncluttered walkways through the garden centre and a bright, uncluttered retail area. A lovely afternoon out,

Ok..... this was my first visit for meal..... Good selection of food, nicely presented, well cooked and incredibly low prices compared to other establishments of a similar type.Good selection of cakes, cheesecakes and trifles as well.

I cannot understand the many great reviews the carvery has attracted. It must be that others don't have such a high regard for quality or freshness. Having visited previously, and it was good, but many years ago, we thought we would give the carvery a go. It was Fathers day, the queue was significant. We prepaid for 2 carvery lunches and were excited to know that most of the queue were regular customers. We thought we were going to be happy diners. Not so. Whilst we didn't mind the wait, and once we got to the counter the food on offer was quite unappealing. The beef looked dry and overcooked. The potatoes were small and very greasy. The veg, and all of it, was cooked from frozen. Really!!! The cauliflower cheese was the worst I have ever encountered. No cheese. Sloppy and tasteless. It didn't even taste of cauliflower. The leeks in white sauce, was tough. In order of what was reasonable on my plate. 1st place goes to the yorkie pudding...That was good! 2nd place to the overcooked but tasty beef. A piece of broccoli gets 3rd. The gravy gets 4th place and that was plastic. 5th place goes to the swede. 6th place goes to the leek slop and last place goes to the no cheese cauliflower cheese. There was no mustard. The bowl of horseradish was scraped dry. The whole of it was a disaster. Hubby had the smallest slice of Turkey and one of ham. A child's portion. His carrots were full of water. There are no excuses for such awfully prepared and presented food. My plate, which was left on the table for clearing would have indicated that your customer was not happy. So unhappy that I will never again visit.

Twenty Pence is best known for its cafe and gardening bits. The cafe has a good selection of cakes etc and the staff are super. But on the opposite side of the place and behind some walls there is a huge variety of dry goods, gluten free foods, frozen foods and all sorts, with plenty of specialty ingredients. They also have traybakes and some bakery type items. If you are there for the cafe, do take a look!

I recently visited twenty pence garden centre with my children. All my children loved the new golf course which was fairly priced. And the free go karts and play park. They have a huge range of plants outside and a lovely seating area. We also had lunch after and the food was lovely. The children loved looking around the garden centre to with a huge range of gifts and home ware. Lovely experience at a local garden centre.

Short queue. Well worth the wait. 4 choices of meat, lots of veg, water available, great choice of desserts rts, canteen style eating area overlooking the flowers. Excellent carvery £12 two courses. Stronly recommend

Fantastic carvery and puddings looked absolutely fab & tasted delicious!!..will definitely be back !! X

When I can't be bothered to cook lunch, I come here. Been coming here for several years on and off. The food is freshly cooked and wholesome, nothing fancy but good sized portions of traditional british food. They have a carvery which is good on Tuesdays/Sundays but these day gets quite busy. Wednesday they have a pensioners day but don't know what that is like. Mondays, Thursday and Friday the restaurant is less crowded. Very rarely get served a poor meal but have occasionally found them a bit too salty but that is just a personal opinion.

Love this garden centre,food and drinks are a very reasonable price too. Snacks are prepared to a very high standard and nothing is to much for them or trouble if you have special dietary needs.

I've been visiting this garden centre for quite a while now and frequent the restaurant and coffee shop regularly. The polo shirts worn by the garden centre staff bear the legend "Here to help" and you'd be forgiven if you thought this to be only a fine management ambition. However, from all my visits I've discovered that every member of staff, both of the garden centre and the catering sections embraces this philosophy and practices it every day!

Visited garden centre again,after travelling an extra seven miles due road repairs at Eariith,once inside the restaurant was informed by a member of staff that the card machine wasn’t working,so if you purchased food you would have to pay cash,between us we had £5,needles to say We didn’t dine there,but the card machine was working in the shop,not a very good outcome.

Popped into the garden centre really just to see what was there. We visit many garden centres and they are usually much of the same. Twenty Pence GC had so many unique and different items for sale. They had the usual plants and gardening items all reasonably priced. A lot if people would have been horrified as they had quite a bit of Christmas decorations and goods for sale but as I love Christmas, to me, it was brilliant and gave me so many ideas for when I start buying presents. It’s the only GC I want to revisit for Christmas, there were so much to choose from especially in the food and drinks section. Many beautiful gifts that I haven’t seen in other GC. It’s well worth a visit. They also do a lovely cup of coffee in their cafe.

Had the carvery lunch today in Applejacks Restaurant. Choice of food very good. A 4 meat choice, could have any 2 from 4. Plenty of vegetable choices although some of the the veg could have been cooked a bit longer. The Yorkshire Puddings were definitely not Aunt Bessie’s frozen ones, the we’re home made and quite large. Cauliflower cheese was very nice. Overall, good value for money and will most likely visit again.

this is our local garden centre and we often have coffee and cake here (their cheese scones are great too) but today we decided to try their Saturday breakfast buffet (served between 9 and 11am) and it was, on the whole, lovely and at £7.95 for as much as you can pile on your plate (if that's your style) it's great value.

Today I visited with my 2 children, mum and nan. They have a lovely play area outside and in for the children. A great selection of plants to look around outside. Managed to pick up loads of birthday presents. The restaurant was very accommodating, with great kids menu! Staff are very friendly and extremely helpful

Garden centre is super with lots of plants a nice walk round along with plenty of things to buy for the garden.

I live near to this garden centre and have used it on several occasions, I have found the staff very helpful and kind, the coffee shop and eating area is small but pleasant to have a meal, the food is good quality and the menu changes regularly. The plants are in excellent condition. One problem comes to mind is the car park, could be tarmac instead of gravel but hey that is not a massive problem. Good small garden centre.

My family and I decided that we would have lunch out for a change. Because we live in Stretham, we didn't really have much choice as to where we could get a Sunday roast.

To get to the garden centre at Twentypence Road you now have to wend your way through quite a maze of other products. Despite this the centre now has a better range of foods than it did and there is a broad range of plants, acquatic supplies and gardening items.

Today I visited the Applejacks restaurant to have lunch. Being a Coeliac it is tricky to find somewhere that take the time to cater for us (awkward-if not by choic3 ounters). The head chef came out to speak to me and told his team he would do my meal. It was delicious, hot, fresh and looked like my Mums sandwich who isn’t a coeliac. Can also recommend the Ginger and Lime flapjack-crunchy, chewy and full of flavour.

Have been here slot and can recommend their food especially panini's, their carvery twice a week is also popular too apparently, but not been yet. Plenty of seating and staff always welcoming

If you can pull yourself away from all the plants, seeds, tools and knickknacks, on a Sunday they produce an excellent fixed price buffet lunch varying from one course to three courses. This particular Sunday the choice of meats were Turkey, Beef, Gammon and Pork. Good selection of vegetables, nice crispy roast potatoes, stuffing and Yorkshire puds. Plenty of gravy and sauces to chose from. The desert menu beckoned and we had a Sherry Trifle and another delicious treat whose description eludes me. Overall excellent value for money for under £14 per person including 2 beers. They have a large car park with easy access. You can't book in advance and it does get very crowded.

Have been several times here for lunch and coffee and cake, always really great home cooked food, staff really friendly and efficient, would highly recommend.

My wife and I really enjoyed visiting the garden centre, very helpful staff, excellent choice of reasonably priced merchandise and we decided to have a snack and a coffee, in what looked a nice café situated in the middle of the garden centre. Very good coffee, but we both had really disappointing jacket potatoes that were not at all warm (never mind hot), hard, totally undercooked and pretty much inedible. Just made what was a good visit somewhat disappointing. The restaurant is staffed by young people and you felt that the chef who actually served us our meal hadn't really got a clue.

Website said they close at 5.30, got there at 5pm wanting to quickly pick something up but they were already closed and doors shut.

A busy Sunday destination for many as the carvery is excellent and good value. For me it’s a good stop on the bike to refuel with good coffee and decent tasty cake selection. Drop in and give it a try...

The garden centre has asked plenty of parking. The service was a bit casual but very nice and friendly. The seating is very comfortable indeed. Worth a return visit!

The reindeer brought in for Christmas had bloody antlers and were in a small pen. Disappointing to see welfare issues

The garden centre has has a wide range of items of interest covering almost all garden essentials. The plants look to be of very good quality and are well stocked. There is a diverse range of pots and ornaments and are competitively priced.

The carvery was fantastic value, lots of vegetable choices in delicious sauces. Probably the best carvery I've had and at £8.95 what a bargain. I

People queueing at 11.30. Well worth it excellent choice of meats and vegetables. Reasonably priced. Carvery every Sunday and Tuesday,

Popped in for a snack whilst browsing the store. Hot food, polite staff, and not an over cooked egg in sight. Freshly cooked, to your order, Excellent range of teas and coffees too. Would recommend.

Thought we'd try the Sunday carvery, oh what a shame, stingy with the meat, pork was fatty, beef was really chewy. Stuffing was a stodgy lump and the French beans were tough. Even the yorkies were like cake, not cooked very well at the bottom! The gammon was lovely but everything else was very poor

Tuesday's and Sunday's they do a great carvery very tasty. Lovely setting and it's a really good garden centre too.

Had Sunday lunch with the family. Great carvery with help yourself veg. Excellent value. They also have a little kids play area inside and go karts outside. Very useful to kill an he or so with a coffee on a rainy day! Would recommend. We go often. Sorry I can't review the plant side of things!!

This is the place to go for an excellent meal, well cooked & presented. All food is served by happy friendly helpful staff. Always a good choice of high quality home cooked meals on offer in very generous quantities, as are their cakes and pastries.

What a wonderful place. The food is always fantastic. Lots of variety which looks amazing. Friendly and welcoming staff. Locally sourced products and plenty of fabulous products and plants. A lovely place to visit. Well done all.

I love coming to this garden centre. What can I tell you. The food is fantastic. The staff are so friendly and always happy to help. The kids play area is fab and it's free. There's such a good selection of plants and I always come here for gifts because they have some beautiful things. Such a lovely day out. I never leave empty handed. Definitely recommend.

We were too late for the hot lunch, which finishes at 2pm, so had a cheese scone each with a cup of tea. Wednesday is pensioners' day with an offer on roast plus a hot drink with the option to add in a dessert at extra cost. Whenever I've eaten here, I've not gone hungry. The portions are good, including the massive scones. For a garden centre, Twenty Pence is above average in what is offers in the cafe. The surroundings are clean with a choice of comfy soft chairs or tables in the conservatory. Newspapers are provided; they're in the basket near the entrance to the cafe.

Over the bank holiday we stayed with our family and visited many places including this fabulous garden centre.  My son had told me how fabulous the restaurant was and I wasn't disappointed. There was a good variety of dishes to choose from, I went for the fish and chips which was delicious and I have to comment on what a nice touch it was to have ketchup in a traditional bottle! I was full after my main but others in our group treated themselves to the homemade desserts which I have to say looked fantastic. After our meal we had a leisurely stroll around the centre and I was pleasantly surprised with what was on offer, I found some delightful gifts to take home for friends, whilst my husband stocked up on local produce from the foodhall and the grandchildren played on the outdoor go karts.

I was travelling home from visiting a care home with my PAT dog when I spotted the takeaway coffee sign outside this garden centre. Ideal, I thought, as I don't like to leave my dog in the car for long and I hadn't had any lunch. What a lovely surprise when not only could I take her into the garden centre but she could sit in the coffee shop area while I had something to eat and drink. The lady in the coffee shop couldn't have been more helpful which was really appreciated as I was on a 180 mile round trip. I look forward to returning next time I am in the area and hope to have more time to look round as they had lovely displays of plants and equipment. Every member of staff I met that day made me feel welcome. Excellent customer service.

The garden centre is ok. Lovely plants, good selection and ok prices. The cafe is not up to the standard of the garden centre. Whilst ordering our coffee an elderly lady came up to ask for a second cup as she'd bought tea (pot) for one and it was too much for her to drink. She wanted to share it with her friend. She was told she would have to buy a second pot of tea to get an extra cup as they weren't allowed to give a second cup. She left upset. My mothers coffee had such a huge head on it, a quarter of her cup was froth and undrinkable. She dare not return it incase she got told off like the other sweet elderly lady. It reminded me of the school dining room. Cost wise this cafe is not value for money. I think you've lost 5 customers today over your extra cup policy!

We called in on a Sunday for lunch,joined the queue for lunch (or the over 70's,nobody under 65 eating)ordered with an uninterested girl then sat a waited for our average offering of a roast dinner.

What a shame always had a good name for its good value for good wholesome food people went for a meal not to garden centre. Still a good choice but its hardly warm on the plate have mentioned this to staff and the just say oh dear or sorry

Average food at mid range price, it was a busy lunchtime and tables not cleared very quickly which didn't make for a very clean and tidy impression.

Why question marks? Well the meal looked really nice, roast dinner. First problem was it was busy but at least 8 tables piled with dirty plates etc. Second problem. Plates cold, mash and roast potatoes cold, all other veg Luke warm at best even the gravy. Most of the plates on other tables had most of their dinner left on them. Couldn't go and complain as I'm disabled and was not able to take my plate back and they were very busy. More people were coming through with no where to sit. We then had a look in the shop and came back for coffee and even more tables full of dirty plates. Don't think we'll be back.

This garden Centre is quite local to me, so I have visited many times.

A lovely choice of tasty well prepared hot and cold food items. I have been twice now and had a delicious sandwich of hand cooked ham, followed a lovely cake. Second time I ate steak and mushroom pie with veggies and the most delicious treacle tart with custard I have had in years (too many years). Good sized portions and value for money. There is a meal deal offer of two course for £10........you would pay nearer £5 for the pudding alone in other places and it would be half the size.