Waresley Park Garden Centre in Huntingdonshire

Ordered a sandwich for £8.99. The sandwich was decent but terrible value for money. Adding half a tomato and some dubious looking salad and cutting the bread into triangles doesn’t make it worth £8.99. Petrol station sandwiches are better value. Won’t be going back

Thought i’d take the family out for what I thought would be a lovely meal as we haven’t done much as a family recently. When I arrived I was met with a very unfriendly brunette woman who I belive was a manager. Immediately I could tell the service was going to be poor, and I was not wrong! Staff had no manners and seemed like they’d rather not be there doing their job. My food took a while to come out and it wasn’t even that busy. It was bang average. I was left extremely disappointed. I will not be bringing my family back here!

Called here for breakfast today. This is a favourite spot for us, with plenty of parking and lots of room in the spacious restaurant. The young staff are very welcoming and friendly and very efficient. Quite a short wait for a sumptuous breakfast washed down with excellent tea. Highly recommended.

Its ok but nothing special. We had the breakfast and the temperature was tepid at best. The scrambled eggs were fine but the rest of the meal was mildly warm at best. My colleague had to ask for their meal to be reheated. I would not call in again

Such a wonderful garden centre that has everything - food, gifts, houseware and a wonderful plant selection. All staff are really knowledgeable so are happy to advise !!

We had an enjoyable Sunday lunch in the cafe. Catered for food allergy well. Organised staff and efficient service.

We stopped for breakfast on our visit to the area and the food was lovely, if a bit cold. Really nice coffee and sausages!

Ww have been regular visitors for years and have always been impressed by the food and service. The food is good and the staff - many of whom are very young - are very efficient and friendly. They are obviously well trained. We have visited several times since thet reopened and have been very impressed with the level of organisation under the current circumstances.

My friend and I took my mum for a first trip out since lockdown- excellent organisation- friendly and helpful staff - good food and we felt very safe from the moment we arrived. Thank you!

Been to this garden centre few times. All seasons. Beautiful plants, water features, pots. Helpful and friendly staff but couple could do with some help with that. Cafe is nice here. Some disabled car places. Wheelchair access is OK, some places bit tight for one. Good atmosphere here. The wooden animals outside are so pretty at Christmas as decorated with lights. Christmas display was our fav last year n we saw alot.

Burning hot soup on self service, no warning signs !Burnt my thumb and was given no assistance to reduce the immediate blistering. Staff completed the till transaction first before taking note that I had burnt my thumb badly. The soups temperature was way over the recommended temperature. Good job it wasn’t a child or elderly person ! Incident managed really badly by the kitchen manager and offered no first aid. Thumb left completely blistered and very painful. Filled in the accident book only on my request. The manager couldn’t even apologise in his email. Health and safety below acceptable standard.

Has Sunday roast, a spur of the moment decision, am glad we did. Both had the roast pork, delicious, selection of vegetables was good, both boiled and roast spuds and yorkshire pud, only niggle, roast spuds could have been crisper. Overhaul well worth the cost

It was such a lovely experience for me as Granny to see the little ones visit Father Christmas and his elves at the Garden Centre. Father Christmas was lovely as I am sure he is very busy coming up to Christmas Eve and probably a little tired. Definitely worth a visit with the little ones.The Garden Centre is worth a visit at any time of the year. Lots of goodies to look at and buy, lovely staff and also has a nice restaurant

We would definitely recommend Waresley’s Christmas grotto. The Elf is brilliant, funny and really good with the children. Father Christmas is patient and calm, he really put our 2 year old son at ease, we had a lovely chat, sang a song and had photo opportunities. The gift was a lovely little bear and some chocolate coins. This really is fantastic value for money! The Christmas displays are also beautiful, a real experience, so much to see. Follow all this with tea and cake and we had a perfect family afternoon!

Our third visit to Santa’s grotto at Waresley and every bit as good as the other visits. The ‘elf in charge’ is brilliant with a great sense of humour and is great with kids. The Santa is a lovely guy who really engaged with my grandson. They go out of their way here to make a visit a really enjoyable one, and offered to take endless photos of us afterwards - no rush and all this for a small charge only for the child. Everyone is welcome to accompany them. A party of several children plus adults galore were before us and were treated with patience and a lot of laughs, brilliant!. Can’t praise these guys enough. Thankyou for a really lovely visit. Hopefully we’ll have our 4th time next year. The restaurant was great too.

Nice place for lunch. The staff in the cafe are quite friendly but the staff at the garden centre tills need to cheer up.

We went for a sunday roast yesterday. The food was really nice, and the staff could not have been more helpful. They put lids on the plates so that the food didn't get cold whilst in the queue. It was quite busy and we got there just before the queues built up. There was a good selection of veg and the beef was beautifully cooked. Quite a good price for such a nice meal. The garden centre itself is in full Christmas swing and looks absolutely magical. Nice place to take little ones to see the little train and decorations.

Very friendly garden centre with garden supplies, interiors items, food , a lovely café and plenty of parking. Love the variety of cakes and salads. Highly recommend

An early lunch with a friend saw us in a quiet corner of the restaurant. We were served very promptly and our choices of Jacket potatoe with prawns and Egg mayo sandwich arrived very quickly. Shortly afterwards the restaurant got very busy but the staff work well and keep tables clear etc. It is always good value and the cakes in particular are hard to resist!!

My friend and I bought many plants , a heavy ceramic pot and a 3M parasol (spent over £200) . We were not offered any help getting it all to the car - the staff including a young man just watched as we struggled to the car . We are obviously not young - my friend is 82 and I am in my 60's . Food was OK but no service on the hot counter so had to wait ages just to order a portion of chips to go with a salad

The cakes here was just amazing. My Millefeuille was just beautiful and helped give me a boost during a 50 mile bike ride. I struggled to choose because the range of cakes was so extensive.

I have always loved this garden centre (especially at Christmas) but since the refit it’s fantastic inside and outside. The plants are very reasonably priced and great quality, there’s also a great gift area with something for everyone. The farm shop has lots of luxury products including Cooks frozen meals/desserts. The cafe is a little gem, the food is delicious and all the staff are friendly and helpful. Definitely worth a visit!

Since the re-fit the place is more like a Wyevale! lack of atmosphere, lack of awareness by till staff, one member just stood at the tills covering her arm with price labels while the queues grew. Not one member of staff made eye contact, not one said good afternoon and the 'senior' sales man did not look too interested or bothered. This used to be so very different from the big boys in the business, it is now just a copy of them! It is also becoming very expensive!!

Visited garden centre at the weekend loved looking around d the gifts and toys.nice range of unusual gifts . Had a huge warm fruit scone.service good. Thoughtfully set out plant area and furniture section. Definitely worth a visit

Lovely garden centre, big enough to find what you need but not stupidly huge. Lovely cafe with outside seating and small play area. Dog friendly.

When we walked in looking for a quick lunch I wasn't impressed with the layout but then we chose our food and sat down it was a real treat. My soup was delicious and nice and hot with a lovely choice of rolls, by companions pannini was excellent and the chips were very good. Coffee was lovely and so nice to find somewhere that does filter coffee with hot milk. I treated myself to a scone which was lovely and fresh and huge!

If you're looking for a place to take any children to meet Father Christmas over the hoiladays season. I would highly recommend Waresley garden centre with it's easy online booking form and highly efficient Elfs making my two nieces very at easy before meeting Santa. Who was a plasure to meet and asked just the right questions and gave an truly wonderful experience for all.

My wife, two church friends and I had a Christmas lunch at Waresley today. The food was excellent and piping hot. Moreover,,the table was beautifully and tastefully decorated, and the table service staff wre attentive, friendly and helpful. In fact we were recognised by name as soon as we entered the restaurant even although we were half an hour early.for the appointment It is a real joy to go there whether for a meal, or a coffee and cake. We are seldom disapointed.

Having been to Waresley over some years we were very disappointed with our visit having gone specially to get fruit trees but none available. The place is full of Xmas stuff at very high prices.

Stopped here for a bit of lunch the other day. They have a nice hot and cold food menu plenty of options. There is plenty of seating around the eating area. They do get very busy around lunch time though. Our food was all prepared fresh and tasted nice. The coffee and teas were nice, they are a bit expensive for what you actually get though. This is a nice garden centre with plenty of shopping options, some nice things to browse and buy inside. They have a good plant area as well.

Have been to the restaurant many times and been satisfied previously. However, this Sunday a young girl was serving and put two very small dried up slices of beef on my plate and two small potatoes. When I complained about the small portion size she put another very small slice of beef and one small potato on the plate. The beef was quite overdone and dry and grisly. I was not at all impressed. My brother in law was next in the queue and got the same treatment - but as he didn't complain he was left with a very small portion!! You need to up your game Waresley!!!

The Admiral's pie was a bit lacking in fish, the vegetable Stroganoff a bit bland but the Lincolnshire sausages were good. At two-for-one not bad value but hardly inspiring.

Decent coffee shop, pleasantly light and airy, sandwiches well filled. We thought the surroundings were restful and were what we were looking for. Parking no problem.

I love visiting here, the scones are amazing I just feel like everything is very overpriced. £4.99 for a lunch box of 5 items for kids. That's £1 per item, the items include things like a roll, pack of crisps, Capri Sun, cheese stick, cereal bar. Literally crazy amount of money to be charging I think £3.99 is a lot fairer price. £7.99 for a decent sized breakfast! It's a garden centre cafe not a posh pub. £10.99 for fish and chips! I think this place just needs a bit of a rethink on how much they charge people. We love coming with the kids to play in the sandpit and play area but it's not something we would be able to do regularly. The garden centre itself has lovely items for sale and Christmas section used to be incredible last few years not so much but still worth a visit.

My husband and I have justed visited the garden centre cafe and had lunch. I'm coeliac (gluten-free) and had a bacon, lettuce and tomato GF sandwich and a GF orange and chocolate torte. The food was good and I had an excellent choice of options - including at least 5 choices of gluten-free cake/bake - some of which were freshly made.

Stopped off here whilst out cycling. Nice coffee, large cafe with comfortable seats. Apparently get a lot of cyclists stopping off. Locked our bikes to a wooden crate. Could have been better if regular coffee stop.

Lovely cup of coffee in light airy surroundings. Part of a well stocked garden centre with friendly efficient staff. Food looked good but bit early for us to eat!

Stopped for a coffee and tea, nice staff. Unfortunately they had very little to offer food wise this was only early afternoon. Just a few cakes and some buns, really a shame looking for something a bit more substantial. Plenty of seating and plenty of car parking space. Nice shopping area to wander around. So if going for something to eat get there early because unlike most garden centre cafes, they clearly do not allow for afternoon patrons. What we did have 2 cakes and 2 coffees was quite expensive as well.

the breakfasts at weekends are all freshly cooked with a good selection of 'English' breakfast things on toast etc

I often come here for lunch ...it never fails to hit the spot whether its sandwiches, soup or a hot meal. We came at Christmas for a turkey special which was very tasty and filling! The staff are always polite. As for the garden centre itself there’s a wide range of plants , children’s toys and fancy goods. Also they do fruit and veg and a deli ! Nice big car park and easy to get to ....fab place to while away a few hours !

Having visited several garden centres in the area, waresley remains our favourite. We've always found the staff to be very polite and helpful. The cafe has a good selection and the food is very good. My bacon and Brie panini was delicious and my husband found his sandwiches very good on our recent visit.

This is the second time we’ve booked here for our business Christmas lunch. Such great value for money. Service was excellent. Food delicious especially the lemon brûlée cheesecake. Crackers and a festive table were laid out. You do have to book by phone or email but this is easily done and staff very good on either. The manager seems a very friendly man and is even seen helping the waiters & waitresses and overseeing everything. He’s doing an excellent job! Would recommend.

Visited yesterday to take my grandchildren to see Father Christmas who was the nicest Father Christmas I think I've ever seen. He was kind and gentle and really put the children at ease. He even sang Rudolf the red nosed reindeer after my grandson said he had been singing it on the way to visit.

Visited this place for lunch- food great- if you are a member of garden centre club(takes two minutes to join) they are doing a bogof weekdays- really good value-staff very helpful and nice-nice stuff in the garden centre part- 10% off with card certain days(Tuesdays I think)- food was so nice went a couple more times in the week-plenty of parking-well worth a visit.

We often go to Waresley Park Cafe, either as a couple or with family or frends. It is a joy to go, the staff are very friendly, and helpful and the food is excellent. Even more so, because this month on weekdays, two main meals are offered for the price of one! The cafe area is bright and clean. It is to be highly recommended

Called in for lunch on Sunday after a walk in the area,food and serviceexcellent,restaurant area was spotless staff very quick to clear away and clean the tables

Stopped here with a group of about 15. I have stopped here in the past and have always found it most satisfactory.

Originally we visited for a look around but then my friend decided to treat me to lunch.

Excellent lunch. Fresh veg good helping. Veg Shepherdess pie very tasty. Love you can just helpyourself to iced water. Lots of lovely plants to look at and garden accessories. Also will deliver free anything you buy over a certain amount.

Took my daughter-in-law there for afternoon tea to celebrate her birthday. There were four adults and my infant grand daughter there for the celebration. It was a delightful experience. Everyone I dealt with, from the person who handled our reservations to the servers, did very well. I was surprised to get a pleasant afternoon tea at a garden center. The baby was only four days old and we wanted to do something special without traveling any great distance. Took a few minutes to check out the Christmas shop before we left.

I have regularly visited the garden centre and cafe for breakfast on a Sunday morning and have always enjoyed the breakfast. However on the last couple of occasions the breakfast has not been as enjoyable. It has not been very hot and the eggs have not been cooked well. I will return again as the cafe is lovely and I am hoping that the standards will be 'back to normal'.

Have been several times now to Waresley G.C.& we agree with the previous review. A good selection of gifts & gardening products. Had the roast dinner in the restaurant, excellent as usual as was the coffee. We look forward to our next visit

Sorry I don't agree with few of poor reviews on here, we have been here for many years, one of our favourite centre (independent) we went for a light lunch & had roast carvery instead wife had roast beef I had vegetable lasagne, both were delicious & plentiful.

A nice quiet place that does food fresh on a daily basis with tea and cake served all day. A quiet area to relax and have something to eat. A play area for the kids while you sort out your garden items. Will come back again

Decided to call into the garden centre to browse the Christmas area. During our visit decided to eat in the café - we wish we hadn't.

Had a lovely trip out to get our Christmas tree and enjoyed a coffee and Christmas Panini. Both were delicious! Self service counters with a coffee barista and then they brought the paninis over. Lovely service, very friendly.

The best coffee in East Anglia, the food is good and the staff are welcoming and happy. What more can a man ask for. Starbucks and Costa are second-rate in comparison.

We've visited a few times & found the food to be a bit variable, but have gone back in the hope that the refurbishment etc might improve standards. Last visit was very disappointing. Jacket potatoes were barely cooked & the filling was dry. Salad accompaniment used to be varied, mixed & crispy, but all you get now is a handful of pre packed mixed leaves. On this occasion the leaves & stalks were brown and well past their best. Awful, just awful, given the prices. On the plus side the coffee is great & the seating area is light and pleasant. There's a great opportunity here to provide food that matches the environment...but not there yet, sadly.

My favourite garden centre and I've been to loads. Great selection of plants/gifts/furniture and I love the cafe too. They have a lovely play area outside for the kids and the menu suits both adults and kids alike. Can't wait to bring my girls to the santas grotto at the end of November and fit in a bit of Christmas shopping too.

Having discovered Waresley Garden Centre approx. five years ago, I have really grown to like it above all other garden centres.

I have been visiting Waresely garden centre for many years, mostly with my elderly parents. We always loved the meals , home cooked vegetable bake, sausage and gravy, the best filled jacket potatoes I have ever had. Since the revamp of the restaurant things have been so disappointing. The fillings for the potatoes are run of the mill and the food in general is no longer special. This has put me off going as frequently but today my friend and I decided to chance it. We both had a Jack potato, in spite of the uninteresting choice of fillings, because nothing looked appetising. When it came the potato was small, dry and the filling disappointing. I cannot believe that I used to go there and look forward to my lunch. The staff are lovely but that is the only positive thing I can say. There were very few people in the restaurant and loads of food still sitting on the hot counters at 2.30. I cannot not really saye I am surprised.

Have been coming here for many years.The staff are always very friendly and helpful.

This gem of a family run garden centre and restaurant is to be found on the borders of Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire is a refreshing and wonderful place to visit at any time of the year.

The Luxury Afternoon Tea certainly lived up to its name! I have experienced many afternoon teas at a variety of places and the Waresley experience was certainly one of the best. The table, complete with a potted orchid, looked beautiful, the staff were charming and attentive, and the 'tea' itself was varied and gorgeous. The scones were the best I have tasted! I will certainly be purchasing some Afternoon Tea Vouchers for friends this Christmas.

Thought I would stop off for a small breakfast tomatoes sausage and toast. The tomatoes was 1 hard tomato cut in half no way was it possible to spread this over my toast which was as hard as the tomato very disappointed it looked bad it was bad I certainly didn't expect that won't be going again I think they should have warned me when ordering

My husband and I visited Waresley Garden Centre yesterday ( 15/10/16) we both opted for the Leek and Potato soup which tasted lovely, followed by homemade Braised Beef with a very rich gravy, again very tasty. The staff were pleasant , friendly and helpful. We would certainly recommend friends and family to visit and have a meal , followed by a leisurely look around the garden centre.

Visited lots of Garden Centres but this is one of the best. The restaurant here is particularly good. Food is excellent quality, served promptly and the hot food is actually hot not a tepid warm temperature as some places serve it. Good choice of food including vegetarian options, as well as 'home made' cakes, hot and cold drinks. Their breakfasts and lunches are very popular but the restaurant is large enough to cope with numbers and spacious and airy so it never feels cramped even at busy times. Easy access for wheelchair users too. Staff are very helpful, polite, friendly and professional. Definitely worth a trip just to enjoy the food. The Garden Centre itself offers a large array of plants, shrubs etc and the shop is like a mini-department store selling toys, clothes, cards, gifts, gourmet food and more. Well worth a visit. I don't have any connection with the Garden centre other than it is fairly local to me and I believe it is the best one in Bedfordshire & Cambridgeshire.

Having been several times now to visit the Garden Centre, we have been very impressed with the displays, especially the range of plants, & are looking forward to the Xmas decorations again. for us the highlight is always the Cafe with its tempting menu at competitive prices & helpful staff

Had breakfast here a few times and was good. Seems to have gone downhill - badly. Ordered the American breakfast (pancakes, scrambled egg and bacon). After a long wait the breakfast arrived. There was a few spoonfuls of lukewarm scrambled egg, bacon so dry you could re sole your shoes with it and the two pancakes were like rubber Frisbees and totally inedible. Partner had to return her breakfast as egg was hard and rubbery. Son was not impressed with his and some friends we knew who were there at the same time had left about a third of theirs on their plates. We have had some really nice breakfasts here so don't know why it has become so bad. My partner did complain and we were offered something different but I declined given what I had the first time! Guess we may have to find somewhere new. Shame.

The most important thing about my visit , apart from the food, which is always good, was the kindness and friendship shown by the staff. Nothing was too much for them. Thankyou.

A really good garden centre, which is spacious A perfect place to find gifts and cards. They have a really good Christmas display. The cafe is excellent. Lovely scones and tray bakes. Great outdoor play area. Something for everyone. Spotless. Helpful staff. Probably the best garden centre around.

A spacious, clean, welcoming Garden Centre with a fabulous restaurant. Lots of hot and cold food available, fresh sandwiches with generous fillings, lots of freshly baked cakes which look very appetising. Tea, coffee, & other hot & cold drinks available. It's the thoughtful extra touches which set this apart and make such a difference, like the free lotus biscuit with your coffee, the chilled fresh water which you can help yourself to, whether plain or with lemon, serviettes and cutlery as well as condiments to help yourself to . A very relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. Staff are friendly, helpful and professional. All on one level so is easy to get around the whole centre. Wheelchair users very welcome too and can easily see the two counters of food available as well as get to the tables, whether in the conservatory are or outside. Lovey freshly baked goods in the shop to buy too as well as other local produce also very well stocked for plants, flowers, shrubs etc. Gift ideas and lot of lovely gift/birthday cards to buy. Toilets & ample free car parking.

Been here a few times recently and i am sorry to report that the standard of the food is not as good as usual. The fish and chips on a Friday use to be excellent but on 22 Apr 16 i was served fish and chips and the batter had to be chewed, more like a pancake, normally it is crisp and succulent fish.

We really like this place, so keep coming back. Everyone is helpful and friendly. I was given some good advice on evergreen plants when I browsed before we had lunch here very recently. The "Suki" brand tea is excellent and ethically sourced. The cappuccinos are strong. The shop has a good selection of gifts including gift food, as well as the actual plants and garden 'things' part of the shop being comprehensive. There was an AMAZING grotto for Father Christmas here in December 2015, along with a magical little electric train in a winter landscape, our son was spell bound (the elves and Father Christmas and other helpers were amongst the best we have found, and we actually went to about 4 or 5 different grottos last year!!....). (And also top marks to the very nice manager who kept calm and was helpful even when he had to field a call from this then slightly stressy-at-Christmas-time mummy who was keen not to have a disappointed toddler miss out on seeing Father Christmas!!) There is a sweet sounding "gardening club for children" which we haven't yet taken part in, however it's on our list. There is a great play area next to the outside seating area, which is well maintained - SUCH A LUXURY really, when so many places (including garden centres) do not have anywhere for the children to play, let alone near where the adults can see and eat lunch or have tea, so if you have a fidgety five year old or a toddler who needs to let off some steam, you have found your perfect place. The only downside really of this place is the food.... SUCH a pity, when everything else is great. Some of the cakes are OK and it is wonderful that there is real clotted cream to go with the scones (though on the last visit the latter were nothing to write home about, the one we had was a bit hard and very unlikely to have been baked that day...), and as I said the tea and coffee are certainly good. But recently came for a Sunday roast, and the vegetables were a little overcooked and even a bit waterlogged, and the beef was tough and overdone, so given all of the above, £10 (£9.99) for a roast seemed a bit over priced. Also the choice was pork or beef, when really it would have been helpful if there had been some poultry, turkey or chicken as an alternative. We really hope that what we say about the food will be taken in the spirit of constructive feedback, and some changes made soon, and also, as I said, we will still keep coming back.

The restaurant provides wholesome food well-presented and appears to include many tasty ‘home made’ cakes. Coffee is served professionally by a barrister and tastes as good as it looks.

On first impression it seems like a nice place, but the prices are ridiculous, you need a bank loan to get a coffee and a cake!

Often pop in here for a cake or a scone which are wonderful. Their Christmas department is the best around, well worth a visit on its own!

Been here quite a lot and always have tea/cakes or meal. We have been going there as a family for a number of years for their Christmas lunch.

Nice welcome and good breakfast. I have visited here on many occasions and l only eat the homemade cakes which are gorgeous. Coffee good and nice place to sit, relax and read the daily. Excellent stop for cyclists and walker's. The afternoon teas are special here, took my 100 year old mother for a treat which she enjoyed.

Lovely desserts and good place to take the children for tea and cake. Nice play area just added and good seating area outside we had a lovely drink and cake

When visiting the garden centre, for goodness sake DON'T go to the restaurant, it is awful! My partner and I called there on a Sunday lunchtime and each ordered a brie and bacon panini with salad plus a bowl of chips to share. Each panini was pale, cool and filled with oozing brie and cold but fatty bacon. The salad was limp, very sparse and not very fresh. There was worse to come. The chips were disgusting - barely warm, limp, all sorts of offcut shapes and lacking any enjoyment whatsoever. Even the ketchup was weak with an overdose of vinegar. We then tried to cheer ourselves up with a slice of walnut and coffee cake but this was bland, heavy with very few walnuts. On the positive side, our cups of Americano coffee were reasonable. Readers of this review may be thinking that we should have complained about this £20 disaster. What would have been the point at an establishment staffed totally by mid-teenagers? We are not picky people plus, we have no idea who owns or runs the place. Just be warned and steer clear!