Woody's in Thurrock

Service wasn’t too bad today although busy but why advertise Sunday roast if you’re going to sell out after 1.5 hours - you should plan better

Three of us arrived early and planned to have a coffee before our friends arrived. Zoë in the restaurant could not have been more helpful in putting tables together and even changed a chair for my mother who is 93 years old. All six of us had lunch which was easily ordered and arrived within 20 minutes. The restaurant and centre was spotless.

Very friendly, welcoming staff. Tables lovely and clean. We ordered 2 x breakfasts for £20. Single price is £11.99. Great value, freshly cooked to order, including a hot drink each. The restaurant is light,bright and airy. Toilets are clean. Visit the garden centre for inspiration. Lovely choice of plants, trees and roses. Ample free parking.

Lovely food, friendly staff, good menu choice. Very popular and airy layout. Sunday roast which is a bonus. Nice toastie as cakes. Clean and tidy. Staff working hard. Please sort out the ridiculous long queue and wait time !!!!

Food is OK. Prices about what one might expect. However, the drawback is that this establishment refuses to accept what is legal tender in the UK. If, like me, you believe that the continuation of cash as a medium of exchange is essential for society, keep that in mind.

Came to a children’s event here with four friends, eight children between us. Ate in Woody’s after the event hoping the kids could play in the soft play. To be told it’s closed (at prime time 11.30-2pm) because they don’t want children getting over excited - then don’t have a soft play? Having to tell kids they can’t play when it’s in front of them is cruel. The manager is so rude and has no customer service skills. Came over to our table attacking us, saying our kids were noisy and that other kids in the restaurant weren’t (bearing in mind ours were aged between 2-5 & we had just finished an event there) the other kids sitting quietly were older & less of them. She clearly doesn’t have kids. Don’t hold a child’s event and have soft play if you don’t want children to be there and being normal children! Food was average but over priced and just feels like they happy to take your money but then don’t want to entertain children. The Manager needs to go on a customer service course, she tried to mum shame us all & had no clue how to speak to people. Patronising and abrasive. Will not be returning.

Have been here a number of times recently for coffee and cake and it’s always super popular, very friendly service and great tasting food. A lot of tables. Not the fastest so not for those in a hurry. Very good value

Food used to be ok but has definitely gone downhill. Had what was supposed to be a tuna melt sandwich, isn’t there supposed be mayonnaise mixed with the tuna? and perhaps shouldn’t the cheese in the sandwich be melted? Or should you just call it a tuna and cheese toasted sandwich and I wouldn’t have picked it…

Very nice place to meet a friend for lunch.. food all cooked fresh, so you should expect to wait whilst they prepare it for you .. they do have a notice to tell you appx how long the wait will be.. in my opinion it is worth waiting as the food I had was home made and exceptionally nice.. if you want ‘fast’ food this is not the place to go .. but I would give it 5 stars as I thoroughly enjoyed what I had to eat.and reasonably priced .. . all the staff were very friendly and efficient what more can you ask for?? Well done woodys!!

Great little coffee shop in the heart of the Thurrock Garden Center. Drinking our coffee outside looking at all of the flowers and shrubs on a beautiful sunny day. Nice and relaxing day.

Happy to come here for lunch, jacket potato always come with salad. Now it's 75p not falling for that again, with drinks over £10 getting greedy me finks

Nice, simple garden centre restaurant food, hard to add much else. Friendly, helpful staff - sensible prices

Used to be a lovely little place for lunch with little ones but after our recent visits I’ve found it disappointing. Limited opening hours of softplay area (I’m unsure of the point of having it there if it’s closed most of the time - trying to explain to an 18 month old that they cannot play was not good!) Food is now also quite overpriced.

Unfortunately this garden centre is far too noisy in the cafe, with endless kids and now they have on a regular basis, what I can only describe as a pre school activity centre with magicians and bubble men! It’s making people turn away from having a nice breakfast or a coffee and I’ve literally been there in the morning when I have seen people leave before ordering, presumably to go else where. I have approached staff who are quite frankly powerless to do anything about this. The management what to decide exactly what it is or who they want to attract in the cafe. Kids or adults! Cos you can’t have both at once. I know these activities start at 10am, they are supposed to be an hour long, but they often over run. It’s obviously a money orientated racket, which they told me was for the mental health and well being of the local community! If you want peace and quiet, use another garden centre.

I went here today with my little boy and quite frankly I use to go here a couple of times a month but todays was the last. The majority of staff don’t seem to really want to be there. I ordered a sausage sandwich which I think had 2 sausages in the whole sandwich, 2 cakes and a kids meal. Little one wanted a ham a cheese sandwich in his kids meal. (Baring in mind he only gets half a sandwich anyway), I was told I’d have to pay an extra £2 for a slice of cheese as it was extra. So after paying a huge £22 for very little you now want an extra £2 for a slice of cheese in a half sandwich. This use to be a friendly welcoming cafe. Now it’s just like everywhere else. Overpriced with small portions. I expect to pay when I go out. But with how people are struggling with finances today, places like this will go under with due to there selfish overpriced ways !!!

We live nearby and the garden centre always provided us with what we want, whether its a quick coffee or a sit down lunch with friends and family. The staff are warm, friendly and caring. Even at their busiest, they are completely calm and smiling. A lovely atmosphere for everyone, including babies and the older customer. Such easy access to facilities for push chairs and wheel chairs. We find any excuse to go back!

Went for a family lunch. Food is basic. My jacket potato with cheese and beans was lukewarm. Other members had ham, egg and chips (eggs underdone) and a ploughman's. Service was extremely slow even though we went at a not too busy time. Part of this was due to lack of staff, but also some customers spend time waiting chatting and then don't know what they want when they get to order. Tables are cleaned well and there is a system to show which tables have been sanitised.

dont visit this restaurant .the staff are so slow.the two old woman were messing about doing other things.the queue was nearly in the car park.only wanted 3 drinks and should have more staff on taking orders.wasnt enough staff there.wont ne going back there

We paid for tickets for the Christmas extravaganza, when we got there at our allocated time there was no one to check that we had tickets, many of the decorations were still being put out and there wasn’t any ‘Christmas Spirit’ Last year was lovely, we were greeted at the door, there was a ‘tasting table’ and we were given mulled wine and a mince pie. Absolutely nothing like that this year, it just felt like an ordinary visit and at the tills we weren’t even given the advertised discount. Very, very disappointed.

We arrived here not knowing what to expect, the venue is very covid safe, the staff are all delightful, we had a sunday lunch, roast Turkey followed by apple pie with rossi ice cream, and tea, it was so very nice hot, and tasty, great find we will return no complaints at all. Ones fellow diners all following mask and social distancing perfectly, well done Thurrock garden centre.

Staff were pleasant enough, however they had run out of stock on multiple food items. The cake we did buy was stale. The tea cups were stained and there were loads of flies around us. Even with the government discount it was not worth the money.

Perfect as usual. Wonderful staff,delicious afternoon tea (scones are to die for!), comfortable surroundings no rushing people.

This cafe does seem the place to visit for lunch. There is plenty of space, nice and airy, good general lunch menu; when finished, a visit to the garden centre and then the indoor shopping. There even an Edinburgh Mill with loads of Ladies and Men's clothing to check out.A pleasant few hours.

wanted sausage and mash could only have it with a voucher two for one, i only wanted one. I coud have a childrens meal, so i did, It was cold and unappetizing.On the next table a couple had the sausage and mash and it was piping hot. was not impressed at all.

This is the cafe in Thurrock Garden Centre and is now a large eating place. The garden centre is well visited due to the range of items inside and outside. It is particularly popular on Tuesday with over 60s which is discount day! Whenever I meet friends for lunch Woody's is always busy usually with older people and young mums with toddlers using the soft play area. Since you need to queue to order food and drinks there can be a wait to be served. Your hot food order will be delivered to your table once cooked. I have always found the food to be well cooked and delicious. Due to it being busy and the large hard surfaces it can be quite noisy. The food is light bites/simple hot food.

Staff lovely. Foods great. Nice atmosphere. The only complaint I have is Santa’s grotto with the animals. However I will be returning to the restaurant!

At woody’s for breakfast, have visited before but only for lunch. Food is always good and reasonable price.

Situated within Thurrock Garden Centre, a large dining area. Fairly comprehensive menu, but rather on the expensive side4 of us placed orders for food and were served at the counter with drinks.The food for 3 off us arrived acceptable but the forth one - egg on toast was rejected as egg yoke was broken and thus looked a mess on the plate. A replacement was subsequently brought out to us.

Went with a friend for a birthday treat for my mum. The lunch was lovely, brie and apple chutney sandwiches with a little side salad but bear in mind you need a knife and fork because unusually they put a dressing on the salad.Later we went back for tea and cake. The array of cakes look delicious but the sponge we had was very dry and the buttercream filling sickly but at the same time tasteless. Didn't feel it was worth the money at all.

We came here for afternoon tea for my Mums birthday & both the staff & food were amazing! Warm & welcoming & fresh & scrummy! Highly recommend & at a great price too!

Went to Woody’s when I was at the garden centre.Fancied a quick snack. Ordered two tea cakes and two lattes.The tea cakes were barely toasted and the lattes were lukewarm. For this the bill came to £8-88. Very disappointed.Will not go there again.

We pop in here from lunch from time to time, and have never been disappointed. The food is always excellent and well cooked. The service is first class, speedy and friendly. Lovely clean and comfortable surroundings.

Busy cafe, selling home cooked meals and snacks. Good selection on the menu all served with a smile. Lovely airy, clean seating area. Although busy food was served quickly.

I took my parents and three children to Woody's for lunch on Sunday. The food choice suited everyone, we had three roast dinners, a burger, a panini and a quiche. The food was hot, or cold as appropriate and the service was great. The staff were friendly and helpful. We returned after searching the garden centre for various items so we could fill up on a cake from the vast selection on offer.

Every year we going here for a little family Christmas tradition as it is halfway to everyone in my family. Sadly the problem is the same every year.

Away from the hubbub of Lakeside this is a great place to browse the plants or the Christmas gifts. The layout is spacious and the shop was busy but did not feel frantic or rushed. The menu had a wide selection of food and the cake selection was extremely difficult because it offered such a vast choice! The staff were friendly and I noticed them offering to help carry trays to tables when the customer appeared frail. The shop also had a book, card, kitchenware and toiletry department with unusual items for sale. If you have younger children there was a soft play session as well as a Santa complete with animals if you chose to visit him. During school times the centre was a relaxing place to spend the day. If you took school aged children they may need to have a budget set and a talk about not touching as there were quite a few delicate items around the store.

We really really enjoyed our afternoon tea. I booked it up by phone. When we arrived we was shown by the lovely waitresses to our reserved table. We had a nice bottle of Prosecco and then we had a choice of tea or coffee. The sandwiches, scones with Jam and clotted cream and all the cakes are delicious! They even have soya milk for those who prefer it. The staff are so polite and welcoming. Definitely recommended!

We had a coffee, and these were good - a flat white and an Americano.

This cafe is within the Thurrock Garden centre. We often go here with the hole family, including young nephew, because there is a small soft play area which he loves. Food is average. Nice space to be with the hole family, something for everyone

A large area in this garden centre is devoted to Woody's the cafe, which is a cafe cum restaurant. There is an extensive menu from light bites to proper hot meals. We chose the jacket potatoes with various fillings and they were all good. You order at the counter, get a numbered spoon and the waitresses deliver to your table - service with a smile!

I visit here a couple of times a year, and used to enjoy until my last visit. I wass sat by the kitchen doors and witnessed food sat on the shelf for 15mins if not longer, i thought maybe it was not for a customer but a mistake until i watched the waitress deliver it to the table alongside me. After seeing that i relised why my salad was warm boarder lining hot! The staff were totaly disinterested and more focused on eachother. My latte was more of a cuppuchin, all throth! The fly net thats suposed to protect the cakes was left up and had ccake/ cream on. At face value it seems nice but when you start lookinng for problems, they are not hard to find.

We had a breakfast here which was pretty good, but the cakes were by far the best part. There is also a small kids play area and then of course the garden centre.

We came here for the Garden Centre but the best place was Woody's restaurant. A very good selection of hot & cold, savory or sweet, and good that there were gluten-free options. Also a good area for kids to play. A nice place to stop.

Might be part of a garden centre but this has become my default venue for a business coffee or weekend breakfast treat. Very clean, staff are great and superb brekky. We love it.

We have visited here twice in January, the food is lovely, a little pricey but you get good quality, well presented meals. Some of the staff could not so enough to help us, a very helpful lady with grey hair carried my mums tray and a very friendly lady with pink hair got me a highchair (sorry ladies i do not know your names) It was not a very long wait for our meals, all of ehich we enjoyed. I do not get some of the poor reviews on here as this is a lovely large restaurant to eat at, good food at good prices and we will definitely be back soon!

Have been visiting the garden centre for many years and i dont rate the new 'woodys cafe' very expensive for what ypu get and staff on busy days struggle to keep up with demand, resulting in long waits and cold food. Not value for money at all which is a shame as its a lovely garden centre all year round

We brought our toddler to see Santa and the animals. A great experience for £8 for the 3 of us. Piglets, lambs, turkeys, reindeer etc. and a visit to Santa’s grotto. He was a good Santa and we got a present as well. The visit was somewhat spoiled by the ridiculous prices in Woody’s canteen. £2 for a bottle of water, £2.35 for a bottle of Sprite, £1 for a small packet of crisps. The section with the Xmas tree was closed so we couldn’t take a crying toddler to see the lights. It’s not expensive it’s ridiculously expensive. A look at the food menu is even worse ! A 5 for Santa’s grotto and a 1 for the prices in the cafe gives an average of 3.

Had a wonderful chicken lunch and have also had lovely breakfasts.

Went here Tuesday lunchtime, it was quite busy. Found the prices were on the expensive side for what was a basic cafe meal. It has a children's play area to occupy them. I had sausage and mash, sausage skins were tough and sausage inside was on the pink side. Others had scampi and chips. Waiting time about 30 minutes for hot food. Good big car park.

I came here with my family for lunch as my family live in nearby Brentwood and this is my mum's favourite restaurant. It is a lovely bright restaurant with lots of seating. I had ham, egg and chips along with my husband as we used one of Woody's own discount vouchers from their newsletter. It was a good meal. My mother came along and there was lots of room for her wheelchair to be put next to a table. She was very disappointed that they no longer put out small chunks of fresh French Stick on a table for customers to collect their own bread. That was always the highlight of my mum's regular visits to Woody's. Now you have to ask for bread and you are offered a tiny bread roll. My mum wanted brown, but there were no brown rolls to be had. So that was one negative thing, and another was that the toilets were very messy. I suppose the staff are too busy with serving meals to have time for someone to check how clean the toilets are. All-in-all, it was a nice visit, to a lovely restaurant with delicious food. We will return the next time my husband and I are visiting England.

We are regular customers here and although myself and friends have had Afternoon Tea before we were absolutely thrilled with it today,which was in celebration of a friend's ''significant' birthday. We had a really splendid selection of sandwiches,including a separate plate of vegetarian options and the scones and pastries were oh so naughty but nice! A box was provided to take home those which we just couldn't finish, even with top ups of tea. Thank you all and especially to Zoe for making it a memorable occasion.

Was quite surprised how inflexible this restaurant is. I chose to have a slice of quiche with chips but was told that on the menu it was served with salad and new potatoes and that no changes were allowed. In fact the week before I did have the quiche as described on the menu and was served with quiche lorraine, a salad garnish and three marble sized new potatoes.

Aquí ayer, llamado como estaba cerca de donde había viajado para asistir a un funeral. Llegamos temprano así que paramos para tomar una copa. Yo estaba indignado a cargar de 3 libras por este diminuto cartón de leche 200 ml de banana. Cómo hacer que escapar con él. Nunca volveré de nuevo, lo que es una pena, ya que el jardín está situado en, es precioso.

Fui a Woody con algunos de mi familia para el almuerzo. Aunque el restaurante estaba lleno, el servicio fue bastante rápido. Tuve una gran patata chaqueta con queso y me gustó mucho. Mi latte era grande y caliente y sabía bien. Volveré la próxima vez que visite esa parte de Essex.

Great choice of food, different specials and offers each day. My grandchildren love their special lunch packs which are different animal boxes and a selection of items that they can choose. Helpful staff and lovely location.

Had breakfast at Woodys - food was good to my taste - service was good - needs more variety to breakfast menu though

Amazing quality food with excellent service but could do with bigger bacon portions. Would love to visit again.

Had lunch here. Good basic food. Portion side goodVery light and airy in the restaurant and it was very clean and tidy. Good value for money. The cakes were amazing.

I've been to Woody's several times when I have visited South Garden Centre. It's good for a cuppa and a snack! It's certainly not a destination restaurant! The food is pretty average and it can be chaotic at busy times as the staff are not exactly organised.On the upside there's a good play area for kids and the garden centre is great!

Above average garden centre restaurant serving a range of sandwiches, cakes & main meals. Sandwiches are nicely presented and good quality. We finished with a scone plus clotted cream & jam which was extremely good. Tea pot is refilled at zero cost which is a nice touch. Seating area is bright and a functional looking but modern and clean. The fact that it is also a garden centre which was pleasant to walk around with my 89 year old mum. I would certainly use again.

We visited last year and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast here. This year we were a little later and arrived after the breakfast service had finished. Hungry, we opted for toasted paninis and a prawn salad. The toasted paninis, brie and tomato, were a bit on the under toasted, doughy side and served with a few leaves and crisps. Not good value at over £6 each. The prawn salad was better value - a decent scoop of prawns in cocktail sauce, a scoop of coleslaw and salad. With a pot of tea for one (it really does hold one cup) and 2 soft drinks we paid £30. Though very clean and very family friendly, this was, overall, a disappointing dining experience.

I cannot fault the staff when visiting today but the food was disappointing. My daughter had cheese ploughman but was not tild at the till that she had to get her own bread before the salad came out. When salad arrived she found there was actually no french bread availabe. The portion of cheese on the plate was ridiculously large and to be honest very wasteful as nobody could eat that amount!My egg, Ham and chips were ok but not worth the money. I have had better in my local cafe for half the price.My daughter had green tea which was tasteless.We both had a slice of Victoria sponge which was nice but again the portions were way to large and there was waste. It would make more sense for the portions and prices to both be reduced to avoid wastage.

We visited Woody's Restaurant whilst on holiday in Essex. My husband and I went there with some other family members. The service was reasonably quick, even though the restaurant was busy. The staff were friendly. The food was nicely presented, and served piping hot as we like it, and the portion sizes were generous. We liked the fact that we could take our own piece of baguette from a central table, and collect our own cutlery. The prices were very reasonable, too! We will visit again!

Unorganised, rude staff. This isn't a serious place to eat, just grab something quick if you have to.This place recently needlessly expanded and forced a lot other sections to close. Not really worth it for an overpriced low quality microwaved meal from Lidl.

We go there for cheap and very cheerful Sunday roasts. Bring a good appetite, the portions are big.There is a playcorner for the kids. The restaurant is always clean and tidy.Only downside is that we always find something to buy after dinner

This garden center has a softplay area that is great if you have children, the food is fresh and nice with very friendly staff, Zoe is very friendly and helpful and the children love to say hello to her. We are often her with the children and it is in a great garden centre so you can shop to, sometimes you are lucky and will spot the robin flying around.

Visited Woody's today at 14:00 to be told there was no fish, scampi, chicken or burghers! I think it closes at 15:00 so that's way too early to be running out of things isn't it. Pathetic

Lunched with a friend. Only her meal arrived. I had to ask at the service counter what had happened to mine. No apologies and food eventually arrived cold. Very expensive for a jacket potato that was burnt.

The quality of the food served at breakfast here is excellent. We ordered the full breakfast and I enjoyed every mouthful and I am picky, especially when it comes to mushrooms, tomatoes etc. Cafeteria style dining.Highly recommended for breakfast.

Really enjoyed our visit to Woody's - stopped in for Steak Sandwich and Large Cappucino for 2 - all for less than £20

A part of the largest, and probably the best, local garden centre, Woody's is a great place for coffee, freshly cooked lunches and glorious afternoon teas.They also hold lots of special events, from quizzes to celebrity concerts and murder mystery evenings. Woody's is a very large catering space, kids, groups and old people are all very welcome

Good food even for our 1year old grandson. We had delicious sandwiches and cake. The kiddies meal deal was very good, great place for young mums and their children. The play area was safe and our little grandson had a great time.

This is a great cafe / restaurant, good food with comfy seating, The breakfast is superb & the occasional show but got to book early as sells out fast

We are regulars here, as we use the Garden Centre, a lot but the restaurant is becoming more of a draw. The food is excellent, whether you want a full blown lunch or just a bit of cake. They do an excellent roast on a Sunday and they now have a soft play area for the little ones, too.

nice big cafe in garden centre all the food looked nice the only negative ihad ham egg and chips there was lots of ham would have preferred less but better quality was the sort you would put in a cheap sandwich i am sure ibeen before and was better iwill try something different next time

I'm really surprised there aren't more reviews on here for Woody's. Not living locally, we wanted somewhere easy to drive to to take my disabled Nan for lunch. Car parking was easy, and there are even wheel chairs available to use. All in all, access was very easy.Woody's was brilliant. It's huge, so lots of room to meet friends or to find a quieter corner. For mums meeting with the kids, there is a children's play area.I couldn't believe the portion size for the price we paid. We had sandwiches and jacket potatoes, they were very generous sizes. In fact, my Nan said she should have shared her jacket potato it was so large. She had prawn mayo, and it was overflowing with prawns. Really friendly staff, great food and even WIFI, what's not to like about this place! Will definitely visit again.

Located conveniently in Thurrock Garden Centre I pop into this restaurant on many a weekend for breakfast. It's been recently renovated and looks large, very clean and modern. The whopper breakfast is particularly good value and serves ample portions for the price paid. Their cream teas are also good for an afternoon snack. The staff are always friendly and you are served in an efficient time & manner.

This restaurant located at Thurrock Garden Centre has been totally refurbished and expanded from their previous offering and it has a fantastic new clean, bright and modern look. I frequent the place on many occasion for their whopper breakfast which has an adequate sized portion of the traditional elements and tastes great! You can opt to go slightly cheaper and choose a fixed amount of items. The staff inside are always friendly and welcoming and keep the tables impeccably clean at all times.There is also a great variety of home cooked cakes and pastries.