Waterperry Gardens in South Oxfordshire

£20 for a walk around a garden and a cream tea - you might think that would be eye-wateringly expensive. And to some degree you are right. This could be a description of the quintessential English experience. And yet, and yet ... even in the depths of winter this garden is exceptional. I began my walk feeling completely out-of-sorts, not uplifted by the well-meaning messages on little boards on the Truth Trail, and yet by the time I had found glorious fields of snowdrops and small glimpses of the tiny wonders that are the early spring crocus, I was well on my way to upliftment. The gardens are an utter enchantment. Everywhere there are signs of great husbandry and quiet wisdom. Simple imagery becomes clever symbolism; from the dark yew hedge hunched over in the centre of the broad expanse of lawn, to the exquisitely espalliered orchards and the order of the herbaceous borders, you are led to the magic of the little girl dancing upon her own reflection in the wide waters, and the child offering wisdom in the formality of the Silent Space. Even in the Walled Garden, the National Collection of Saxifrage blew me away - utterly stunning in both its setting and design. I came away utterly bowled over by the beauty of the gardens, happy to have spent the money. The lovely little cafe in the portacabin was delightful, and the cream tea delicious. I shudder to think what the queues and the wasps are like in summer, though. I will be brave and come back in summer though, because the gardens must be even more magical then. And because I have to see, with my own eyes, the huge swathe of camassia leichtlinii in bloom. And THAT'S something I never thought I would say in a Tripadvisor review! :D

Gorgeous tea rooms and grounds. Fresh produce and delicious food. Would definitely recommend! If you are visiting Oxford, this is a must.

Lovely food. Cafe was a bit like a school canteen. Staff friendly and efficient. Prices reasonable. Place was plagued by wasps which was sad.

Food had run out, before 1pm. June 2nd ended up with scone or gluten free cake, nothing protein left. Garden pretty good plants.

this little café has the best fresh salads on the planet . a great lunch after walking around the beautiful Gardens

If you're asking £3.50 for a Flat White then ensure that your Baristas are trained to make them. A Flat White is a rich, velvety, creamy coffee and worth £3.50. If it just has a 1mm layer of foam on top then it's simply a poor latte in a small cup. I sent my Flat White back twice, I was offered a third but refused as I don't think they know what they are doing. The ingredients cost around 40p therefore, the value must come from the skill of the person making it and unfortunately it hasn't.

Much bigger area of gardens to see as you start to follow a variety of footpaths around the grounds. The herbaceous borders were excellent even this time of year and everywhere was looking spot on.

I ate here with my late Mother quite a few times in the last 6 months. It had been overhauled since I had eaten there in 2018.The menu is home made, well cooked and delicious. It was Mum's favourite place to go for a treat and she always finished off with a piece of cake, again absolutely delicious. I felt I had to leave a review as they were outdated and it has improved so much since then.My Brother is just about to visit from France and he has asked that we all go there for lunch as we took him with us a few months ago.The service is quick and friendly and I believe everything is home made on the premises.

Beautiful Gardens, tea room not, I think this place really needs to improve and made more cosy more local produce should be offered

This tea room is Tardis like. It looks rather unprepossessing and small in light drizzle from the outside. However, step in and you find a bright, airy and unexpectedly substantial space with a welcoming smile. A table next to huge picture windows looking out over the extensive lawned grounds of the Gardens is a delightful place to lunch whilst taking a break from the M40. A broad yet not deep range of food is an offer from sandwiches through jacket potatoes to fuller plates and, of course, some appealing cakes. It was nice to find a venue that looked busy with a a seemingly constant turnover through the door, but sufficiently efficient to avoid the dreaded counter queue. That might, though, not be the case on a sunny summer weekend!My cheese and chutney (the latter their own brand) was very good. I am usually wary of jackets, having been stung too often by hard and undercooked ones, but this was soft and fluffy and a delight with the cheddar melting into it. A leek and potato soup and a chicken escalope with bubble and squeak, parsnips ad peas also landed onto our table and were declared to be fine fare by the family.A bit of an isolated location at the end of a cul de sac, this is not going to catch passing trade, so to catch a good occupancy rate on a drizzly day, it must have a decent local reputation. And as a drizzly, December day was no time to tarry and stump up the entrance fee to see the none the less interesting looking gardens, well, that is a good reason for me to plan a grind down the M40 for a repeat visit in the summer.

I love Waterperry, the drive is beautiful. The gardens are beautiful summer, spring, autumn or winter. It’s lovely and serene

Being a beautiful sunny day helped make this visit even better, superb garden with fruit picking on going with a chance to pick up the odd wind fall Apple or pear, even a quince! Visiting the old church was enlightening, the small museum was a very interesting interlude before attending the cafe for a very welcoming tea and a slice of cake....

The premises look a little unprepossessing at first sight (a long shed), but inside it is light with plenty of seating and there is seating outside. For the children there is a good small play area nearby. Hot food includes tarts, salads, lasagnes etc. Bakery goods include scones (plain, fruit or cheese - very good) cakes etc. Tea is good quality leaf tea, full range of coffees.

Food is tempting, especially soup etc made fresh. Cream teas involve mix & match of scones/jams some of which are (sadly) in individual single use packets. Selection of tempting cakes (mostly good, some a bit dry). Real tea! Needing a strainer. Bizarrely, trays towards the end of the buffet style arrangement rather than the beginning and queues caused by taking near empty cake stands back into the kitchens rather than bringing full ones straight out. When we arrived (admittedly) lunchtime, big queues through the crowded table area which could have been eased by the above.

i work for waterperry gardens in the accounts office, and although we do use the teashop for our lunch occasionally its usually take out. Today for a collegues special birthday we booked a high tea for 7 of us. The table was beautifully laid out, we have plenty of tea served to us, a good selection of sandwiches, and cakes and of course their renowned home made scones with homemade jam and clotted cream. it was absolutely delicious and i would highly recommend trying this

We enjoy wandering around the gardens, combined with buying plants and presents from the gallery and the barn. It is such a pleasant relaxed location. They now also have a farm shop.We usually have lunch or a snack from the tea rooms. We sat outside today and enjoyed a selection of fresh salads and some chilled Waterperry apple juice.

I visit Waterperry reasonably regularly. The gardens are lovely and it's great to have the tea room available to refuel. The choice is always interesting and i appreciate it being homemade and fresh. The service can be a little slow though so with two young children it can be better to arrive for a snack rather than at peak lunch time.

Pleasant tea break able to eat al fresco. Delicious Bakewell Tart and Fruit Scones. Slow clearing of empty tables though we cleared our own to central area.

Have been here twice now for tea and cake and it is so very pleasant. The coffee cake is absolutely fab. It's also very pleasant to look around the church and the shops. A very nice day out

Visited Waterperry on Friday for a friends birthday celebration. Had a lovely morning wandering through the gardens , exploring the museum & church and some retail therapy before heading to the café.

Decided to take a stroll around the gardens then a light lunch in the cafe. Nice atmosphere, home made food all looked very nice. Celery soup was delicious, with nice real bread. Jacket potato good too. Good choice for a bit of lunch. Not cheap, but good fare.

Visitamos el café en Waterperry a medio camino a través de la excursión jardín jardines a energizarnos. La comida era de buena calidad, en particular la de scones y tarta Bakewell! Los precios son un poco altos, pero no prohibitivos, en £20 por tres tés, un sándwich, un bollo, una ensalada de frutas y un trocito de Bakewell. Agradable cafetería en excelente ubicación!

Hemos estado en Casa De Waterperry muchas veces para distintos eventos y siempre un punto de tener comida en la Tienda de Té. Ofrecen una buena selección de bocadillos, sándwiches, ensaladas y platos calientes. Y en el verano, puede sentarse afuera a cada su almuerzo mientras toma una copa de zumo de manzana producidas localmente.

Wanted a place in Wheatley that would serve tea and cake after 4pm on a Sunday and the Waterperry Gardens cafe does just that :-)

Considering the cafe is set in such beautiful surroundings of Watererry the experience turned out be pretty dreadful. The food was bad but the service ended up being the biggest issue, let me explain.1st the food. I ordered "chicken curry" for £9.95 served with rice. Now I wasn't expecting a curry fit for the curry triangle, this was a "tea room" after all. But what I was served, was a pie dish of "jar" curry topped with copious amounts of parsley (I think they mistook that for coriander), with plainest of microwave white rice and a splat of mango chutney. The parsley completely ruined the already dire dish. I never return things, I can't stand the hassle or embarrassment, I'd usually just shuffle away vowing never to return (that'll teach them eh?) But on this occasion I was encouraged to seek a swap by my wife. They won't mind, she said. They did.2nd part, customer service. This review would most likely not have happened had I been anything other than completely embarrassed by the lady who appeared from the kitchen. Her body language and expression was probably forewarning enough for what was coming. I explained that I was underwhelmed by the curry and didn't at all like the parsley. She answered "well it's not all through it is it?" I'd just been trying to eat it and actually it was. I showed her the pile of chopped parsley I'd retrieved from the curry on the side of my plate, with still more left floating around in the dish. Surely that would be the end of the terse stand off. I asked if it was going to be a huge hassle just to change to something else. She replied "well you've eaten most of it!" That was the pièces de résistance. It simply wasn't true because it was so blooming awful!! "I've had three fork fulls I protested" "No you haven't look at the rice" she continued, proving that she had literally not one ounce of customer care or compassion. The missing rice was residing, uneaten in the curry dish a little submerged in the thin watery slop. At that point I'll admit the embarrassment turned to annoyance and politely told them to keep the curry. Placed it on the serve over counter and walked away. I did hear her offering me another curry as I walked away, but it was far far too late.

Tuvo la suerte de utilizar este café para una promoción de cortesía té de la tarde crema de mi compañía de seguros. Realmente este es un lugar precioso en el campo oxfordshire con mucho más que ocupan. Las habitaciones té un entorno encantador con una mesa distribuido en típico estilo jardín campestre y la merienda de un personal encantador y amable es uno de los mejores mi esposa y yo hemos disfrutado.

If you are already at Waterperry as we were this is fine, serving salads/baked potatoes/cake etc. If you're not already there I wouldn't have thought it is worth the trouble of going specially.

Vine aquí con la familia hace un par de semanas; el café está abierto a los visitantes sin necesidad de pagar por la entrada a los jardines. Es muy estilo country y sirve farmshop una multitud de platos, que van desde ensaladas, patatas chaqueta, curry,...

Pertenezco a un club de ciclismo local y a menudo nos paramos aquí para café y paseo en mitad tarta. Muy agradable entorno, buen café y pasteles a un precio razonable.

Los jardines de Waterperry es el lugar perfecto para un día muy agradable y relajante, donde podrá pasear por los jardines y disfrutar curioseando en las tiendas de jardín. Compramos algunas plantas para nuestro jardín y luego fuimos al restaurante para tomar un café y un sandwich. Una buena selección de aperitivos y el sandwich que tenía era muy generoso y lleno de estrellas era extremadamente. El lugar estaba muy lleno cuando estábamos allí y el único inconveniente fue que estaba concurrido y ruidoso. Realmente no importa, ya que pronto fuimos fuera a deambular buscando en una gran variedad de estatuas en el jardín amurallado. Sin duda este es un buen lugar para visitar si quieres un día relajante y tiene interés en jardinería. Mi única queja sería que no son mucho más las señales en las carreteras principales alrededor de la zona de Waterperry, pero con toda honestidad que es una queja sin importancia.

Gran cuppachinos cuando llegamos a prepararnos para un paseo por el jardín y luego los jardines glorioso.

After a visit to the garden, the museum, and/or the nursery/shop, or even just to visit for a bite, the 'tea shop' is superb, for tgood generous hearty filling lunches as well as teas, much better value than the way pubs have gone, great quality, lovely friendly staff, all done with love, enthusiasm, and traditional touches. This is a haven, away from 'gastro' fads, 'sharing platters', 'food on slates', 'offshore ingredients', and the prices that go with all that malarkey. A bonus, amongst others, is to drink the Waterperry apple juice, and buy their eggs at the same time. A place to be cherished and encouraged.

I came here for lunch with a small group of friends/family. We just arrived before they stopped doing hot lunches. There was still plenty of choices. I opted for the veg lasagne which was also served with veg. It was the best veg lasagne I'd had for years. Often these are a big disappointment. I hope this item makes it onto summer menu's with salad instead of more veg. I am always slightly disappointed Waterperry don't offer Waitress service and are now even expecting patrons to clear their own tables. (many ignore this and to be honest it's not always easy for the elderly patrons to carry trays of food and then return them to trolley's afterwards.) At these prices at table service would be much appreciated.

This was our first visit, there was a £10 offer on Wednesdays for the over 60's. We both had Vegetable lasagne and apple crumble. The lasagne was very good indeed and came with the best parsnips I have tasted in years. The crumble was lovely with a proper crunchy topping rather than a scattering of crumbs like most other places. It was very busy but we managed to find a table without any trouble. Another good sign is that a lot of staff were also dining there.

Have visited the cafe at Waterperry Gardens a number of times and enjoyed the food there. Met with friends yesterday and we all had jacket potatoes which were well cooked and presented with salad- a good variety of fillings. Tea and cakes followed and were very good- florentine, date crunch and coffee and walnut.

Estávamos visitando os jardins de Waterperry quando decidimos almoçar por lá mesmo. Vale para um almoço rápido em razão da comodidade e da beleza do local, mas a comida servida no restaurante local é apenas razoável.

Visited the gardens for the Pumpkin Hunt and had lunch in the Cafe. Good choice of meals, snacks and cakes etc. Staff very pleasant and helpful. Only criticism would be main meals were not very hot.

Beautiful setting, but cafe could do with a complete refurb. It's very dated. We had a decent coffee and a lovely blackberry and lemon cake, but sat outside as inside is very old fashioned. The loos near the cafe were very disappointing, with no signage to indicate that modern facilities were available near the shop area. Nice staff.

Lovely place to go for coffee and cake, the cafe overlooks gardens and its peaceful to sit and read, lovely garden centre and pretty gardens.

My friend and I visited here and had a latte, coffee cake and some crisps that totaled £13, A tad pricy but the cake was nice. There is ample amount of seating inside and outside, we sat in the shade outside but were plagued by wasps which was annoying. The cafe is wheelchair and buggy friendly with a ramp in to the cafe. There didn't appear to be any hot food being served whilst we were there.

Four of us arrived for lunch at 1.45 pm on a Tuesday and were very dissappointed to find very little left! There was a tired looking selection of pre-prepared sandwiches and when I enquires as to whether we could have some made up we were abruptly told no. Our only choice was a sausage roll with a few bits of lettuce and tomato, which at over £8 simply was not worth it. We will not be eating there again!

This restaurant is a fairly basic building in the garden centre space of Waterperry Gardens. The food is all prepared and cooked on site, and is very good. Salads are fresh and plentiful. Prices are a little on the high side at first glance, but the quality of the food makes the prices worthwhile.

A popular place with cyclists, with good reason; the actual building itself is like an old school terrapin, so not really an issue if you don't look at your best!Don't be put off by the building, the coffee and food is excellent, and a great selection of cakes (try the Bakewell).

Waterperry Gardens is local to me and I often visit the gardens and garden centre. (The gardens are beautiful.) On this occasion I took a friend over for lunch. We both opted for the cheese and tomato quiche with a selection of salads. The home made quiches are always delicious. The cake selection was a little disappointing and whilst my friend found something she liked I ended up opting for a small tub of ice cream for dessert. It was an enjoyable lunch but Waterperry tea shop is by no means a cheap eatery and for it's price I'm always slightly disappointed that there is no at table service. Meaning if you want a hot drink you queue in one area and then join another queue to get hot food. If you're having tea you have to ask if you want additional water as it's not given as standard.

A very nice relaxing place. However the tea shop is just expensive for what they offer. It is often frequented by Rowan Atkinson so it is something to look out for.

Great choice of really tasty food that feels like it's been carefully cooked - not mass produced. Reasonably priced. Staff are friendly. Surroundings are a little down at heel and basic but otherwise all good

I just discovered Waterperry Gardens on a brief trip to Oxford~ The whole experience was a total treat~ The gardens, the garden centre, the art gallery & the House... all wonderful~ it was a truly magical morning & sitting outside eating a really great lunch was a great end to the visit~ The food I had was fresh, tasty & nicely served~ I'll definitely be going back :)

It's quirky and cute! A really lovely setting to drink coffee and chat. There is plenty of space outside (weather permitting) for the kids to have a run around.I keep going back!

The salads looked good but we chose the 'ratatouille cobbler' which unfortunately was undercooked, the aubergine was virtually raw. The tomato sauce tasted like it was straight from a tin. The food was served on cold plates and the new potatoes over-cooked and only luke warm.The cafe has previously offered good value food, cakes are usually excellent but this lunch was expensive and virtually inedible, a real disappointment.

This is a very plesant garden centre with a teashop which provides hot and cold drinks and lunches of various quiches and baked potatoes. The food is fresh and very good being cooked on the premises. I can recommend it for a light lunch.For further details such as opening times etc. please look at:http://www.waterperrygardens.co.uk/

Went to tea shop today for some lunch following a roam around the gardens. I had cauliflower cheese and my wife had a jacket potato with Brie. The cauliflower was well heated and tasty but the potato was luke warm at best. The girl on the counter took the potato back to the kitchen for heating. A cook came out to argue whether it was cold or not(even the cheese could not manage to melt on it!) My wife insisted and the cook returned shortly with the reheated meal and virtually flung it across the counter. Her attitude was about as good as the potato. I am surprised she is let anywhere near a customer. Waterperry charges top prices for everything. The least they can do is try to give value for money. Courtesy and service cost nothing. Surliness and arrogance could cost them dear

This is a lovely place to go for tea and cakes if the weather is nice. We were lucky to go while there was an Austin Healy get-together, so beautiful old cars were lined up in front of the gardens. Service was okay: we sat outside all afternoon drinking pots of tea and soda - but when we went inside for a final tea for 2 and asked for 2 extra cups as the waitress had just cleared our cups, we were refused.... And okay, the inside of the tea rooms does look like a canteen and it is "self-service", but the location is great on a sunny day!

I can only review what we had, which was excellent tea and fresh scones. The cafe was clean, tables were cleared quickly and the staff friendly.

In my opinion the tea rooms are probably the least impressive part of the Waterperry Gardens complex. The inside is like a canteen, although there are a number of tables and chairs outside. The outside area could be pleasant but during our visit all tables were disturbed by a plague of wasps. One person had even left some small jars of open jam on a chair placed away to the edge of the lawn but this only seem to have a minimal impact in keeping the wasps away from everyone else.The teashop serves lunches between 12 – 2 pm but we were too late for this. Instead, we ordered tea and coffee and declined to take anything from the few cake/pastry offerings still available. There were not many cold drinks available either, presumably much had been sold out, although the small bottle of lemonade was refreshing. We also bought a bottle of the apple juice made from apples from the Orchard to take home, but we are still to open this !

I dropped in for a quick lunch on a summer Saturday.There were sandwiches, jacket potatoes soup (probably too hot a day for soup!) and 2 main dishes served with a selection of salad.this is not mass-prepared, pre-cooked food - it is freshly prepared and delicious!The only thing that lets it down is the service of some of the staff is a little slow and off hand, otherwise all good!

The food here is great. Tasty and good value. As a local I come here regularly to meet friends. Children can run around outside.

The cafe/bsitro is a great place for lunch - homecooked food at its best. We were 4 and enjoyed: delicious leek and stilton quiche with new potatoes and a crisp carrot, beetroot and lettuce salad; lovely shepherds pie with fresh veg- swede, cabbage, leeks and carrots; tasty tomato soup with a hunk of granary bread. Clean and tidy, friendly helpful and smiley staff. Cant recommend enough - but get there early as tables are full by 1pm!

Was given a map to follow round the gardens but sadly it appeared out of date. Ended up wandering around them at our own direction. Some great displays in the gardens and hope they are more spectacular over the coming months. Food was okay but expensive for what you got. Not much of a selection. Felt like we were sitting in a hut at Bletchley Park. Flowers & plants to purchase were far more expensive than other garden centres.

I come here a lot as I live locally, so I'm not reviewing one meal, more an overall if you see what I mean. I come here with my wife, toddler, and dog, and it's very child/pet friendly (though obviously pet if eating outside-great area to do that).The food is almost always delicious. Freshly made, local food. Lots of gratins, pies, salads, pasta dishes. We are very rarely disappointed, and if we are it is mainly 'cos I'm greedy and I think they could give you more. Yesterday my wife had cottage pie which was excellent, meaty and full-flavoured with red cabbage other veg. I had sea bass on tomato and onions which was superb. Look, it's not a fine dining restaurant, it's a basic cafe that serves great food. Veg can be a bit overcooked, but otherwise the other food is delicious, and the cakes are...well...mmmmm.I love it there, especially sitting outside, the surroundings are beautiful, and service good.

Plant specimens were on offer at prices far higher than other local garden centres. Not a lot of plant care in evidence, with bolting tomatoes and wilting flowers in abundance. The garden shop amazed me with its high prices for everything . However, the small church in the complex is a little treasure and if you have the time is well worth visiting, before a charge is levied for this too. The waterperry gardens were OK, but failed to show why they were any better than NGS gardens nearby and therefore worth over £6 each to visit. If you feel that paying £1.70 for one cheese scone and £1.80 for a cup of tea is good value then this is the place for you. Everything is priced at its highest possible mark up rate , including the plants. Not a place to stay too long at.

I visited the Waterperry Gardens Pear Tree teashop this weekend and had a delicious goats cheese and tomato quiche served with a variety of really fresh and appetising salads. The salad all tasted really fresh and the people serving could not have been more helpful. There are also lots of lovely cakes on offer, the bakewell tart was very good. I would recommend this for an afternoon out if you have friends or family visiting. If you go with children you can sit outside and there is a large and safe lawned area for them to play on, and lots of trees to run around.

Went here with friends for a quick lunch. Firstly everything was well overpriced and didn't deserve to be as the quality of the sandwiches was that of a supermarket. Other than that, the only other option was quiche, jacket spud, soup, salad. I opted for the quiche which was luke warm and had the salad. Salad was ok, but the beetroot was vile, had lots of hard black lumps in it. Overall the food was bland and overpriced. I certainly wouldn't go back here again for food.It would probably be ok if you were there for a cake and cup of tea.

Date: 13th July, 2008Visited the Waterperry Gardens Tea Shop on a glorious summers day. Was so disgusted with the choice of light lunch on offer in this tea shop. Pea-Mint Soup (over sweetened with sugar) ugh!!. Quiche served with rough coleslaw and a mere 2 potatoes. Dessert - an overbaked meringue. On offer was a lemon (?) type of sweet flan. Uninspiring choice of sandwiches that could be toasted upon request. Would not recommend this establishment to anyone.