The best restaurants serving British food in East of England

Don’t waste your money here. The food (we had cake) and drinks are fine… how hard can it be to make a cup of tea? It’s the surface here which is appalling as well as the manners and attitude of the staff. We ordered two slices of cake, a pot of tea, a children’s drink and a cup of coffee. It must’ve taken almost 10 minutes for these things to be delivered to our table… We sat in the dog-friendly area because I had taken my small black dog with me. The dog friendly area had an empty water bow;l today was a very hot day and my little dog was thirsty so i asked for some water only to be told they couldn’t touch the bowl, but they could get us a jug of water. Couldn’t see a problem with filling the water bowl, but my do, my responsibility; the water didn’t came so my friend went to ask again. The colleague who offered to get some water hadn’t so I ended up going to get the water that was intended for people to drink. Why advertise yourself as dog friendly when something as simple as a bowl of water on a hot summer day is too much trouble? Just rude, indifferent people. Service throughout the whole garden centre is impossibly slow. there's an absolutely brilliant little local nursery just down the road, and just across the road from dobbies there is a fantastic café , go there instead and spend your money there. Dobbies is a big chain and they really don’t seem to care about customer service.

When slogging clockwise round the M25. Far superior to the elderly facilities at South Mimms. Ordering only via touch screens which could be challenging for some clients. Excellent Sausage sandwiches served in a Ciabatta Roll. So much better than a tired, white, bap. And a fine Espresso. Water available from a Water Station. Try it. Hayling Seagoon

Awful ! Displays poor , hardly any food as short staffed ! The directors of this once great company need to take a look and invest in people and product ! The staff are run ragged and deserve more support ! Selling cheap crap At the front of the store isn’t the answer !

Not many decent drinking establishments in Bedford but The Standard is a nice place to meet up with friends. Live music was very loud when it started and drinks options especially craft beers are a bit limited but on the whole a decent place to spend an evening.

Lovely bright cafe but extremely poor selection of food; quality of food very poor, cheap ingredients but not cheap prices. Very uninspiring, one of the worst cafes in a garden centre that I have experienced. Such a shame as it could have great potential. Cutlery cheap and thin ; no glasses for drinks, plastic beakers . Staff disinterested and lack of motivation. This visit no chips as no gas, last time no dishwasher, clearly need new management.

First and last visit i must say. Husband ordered us two sandwiches which are put in the toaster bit into my one cheese and mushroom barely warm outside and inside cold so gave to husband and he found his one the same which was cheese so took them back to be re warmed up, I had a bowl of carrot and coriader soup that was hot as i asked would they make sure it was, Finally had a coffee barely warm was the milk in it which made the whole drink cold. Daughter who was with us said it has gone done a lot here you get better food and drink over at the David Lloyd Gym opposite, On way out used the disabled toilet by the lift that was dirty with paper all on the floor yes said report it but could not be bothered really as feel although they state toilet checked regularly it is like a lot to do with Waitrose it states one thing but the reality is another, They should have staff going in these toilets every half an hour to inspect them not rely on customers to have to find a staff member toreport it ,

25 mins to wait for 2 coffees using the self ordering. 20 after ordering I mentioned to a member of staff that we ordered coffee 20 mins ago. Curt reply, said busy, no apology or ticket check Won’t use again

· This establishment is nothing more than a low key dowdy motel. It should not be listed on such sites as booking.com. The rooms were shabby , my first offering with no room lighting or curtains. My second a extremely sub standard offering. Shower head hanging from the wall. A dirty bath with no plug and a rotten side panel. The table lamp nothing more than a glass unit balanced on the table. The curtains were disgusting covered in white stains. The carpet stained and dirty. Emergency exit signs ripped from the door. No kettle or cups on allocation. The clientele appeared on face value to be the local homeless. Stale bread from local bakers offered in reception from a sack for the needy! The worst establishment I have ever stayed in

Went to go get a coffee plenty of seats available just not cleaned. Stopped people going to get any refreshments. No wonder you are loosing money John Lewis. Staff members not doing very much chatting with each other

Half-hour wait for a fish butty consisting of a dry bread roll and a wafer-thin piece of cod as tough as old boots. Genuinely can't remember the last time I had fish & chips this bad. Quite surprising given how swish the place looks. Wish I'd read some of the terrible reviews here before spending my money. They are accurate.

Sadly this cafe did not reopen after Covid. A lot of people used to meet up there and there is no similar venue within a mile.

Looking at the place from the outside looked appealing unfortunately that was a big misjudgement. For 2 cod and chips (medium) mushy peas and curry sauce and the Ketchup small sachets were 50p! Nothing came included, which really should have eg sauces The meal itself was a big letdown, even batter. The cod had no taste, and when the I paid for the meal there is a charge for seating which is not explained Staff couldn't even smile and customer service was a zero. This was my first visit and my last

My wife and I visit here quite often and for a garden centre eatery it is no more than average. The staff are pleasant but still lack any sense of urgency or capacity react when bottlenecks start building up although there is an older lady behind the salad bar/pizza area who is excellent. The food is quite good, filled rolls are expensive but the bread is good and the fillings generous. The salad bar is good value and if you arrive before 1.30 has a good choice of items. The cooked food offers pizza cooked to order or several hot choises like pork loin, fish and chips, ribs, casserole etc. These are reasonable value especially the pensioners deal. The food that we have had has been well presented and reasonably tasty.

Love a Gregg sausage Roll and Coffee, but the place is filthy. Every table covered in crumbs as is the floor. The toilets were disgusting.

Only usually pop in for a hot chocolate and piece of cake/scone when visiting the garden centre or meeting up with friends. This place has always been overpriced in my opinion. The snacks foods and drinks are mostly ok, but seriously expensive for everything. Sorry.