Arboretum Home Garden Heaven - Carlow

We decided to have lunch here as not many places open on 27 December. Got what was called chicken Caesar salad wrap, consisting of half a wrap with some chicken in it, quite dry and instead of 2 salads got chips which were dried out. €10.95. This was not good and was not up to the standard I’d expect from such a busy restaurant.

We were on a visit to the Garden Centre and having spent more time than planned looking around, we decided to see what the restaurant had to offer for lunch. It was just 14.00 but the restaurant was doing a steady trade, so some of the menu options were finished. However, we found two options that we were happy with;Croque Monsieur with Salad and Grilled Hake plus trimings. Total cost €22. The food was very good and more than met our expectations for a 'self-service ' restaurant. No hesitation in recommending it for lunch.

We were visiting family who live in Gorey and thought we'd have a ride over to the Arboretum to look around the garden centre and have a drink and cake whilst there. I was extremely disappointed that no cakes were on offer for me. It appears that this place is only interested in non allergy or gluten free customers. My sister used the ladies toilets and was highly impressed with the flower shaped wash bowls. I was expecting a similar sink in the spacious disabled toilets, but yet more disappointment was waiting for me. All in all if you are disabled and have a dairy allergy avoid this place as they don't consider you as a valued customer. I fail to see why the toilet could not have a fancy sink as there is more than adequate space, which leaves me to think they have no respect for us.

Was here to visit the re opened garden exhibition centre.Good spot for lunch especially on a bright sunny day.indoor seating is plentiful and the room is bright.Also had outdoor seating.Loads of gluten free options.Good choice for lunch. Lots of parking available too. Great salads.

Having often visited Arboretum in Leighlinbridge, I was interested to read that they had taken over the lease on the National Garden Centre. We visited for an early lunch and arrived just before the lunchtime rush. There was plenty of parking outside and the garden and plant section was quiet. The restaurant is in a lovely glass building with high ceilings and plenty of seating both indoor and outdoor. It is on a much smaller scale than the restaurant in Leighlinbridge both in terms of size and food selection. We were greeted straight away by a staff member when we approached the food counter. One thing we did notice was the lack of signage around the food area. It is quite difficult to determine exactly what is on offer as a lot of the food is labelled in the glass cabinet itself. There is a tiny sign on top of the cabinet that I only noticed after I had ordered, this outlines some options and pricing. Also there is a dark menu board with about three hot food selections in a space before the hot food counter. I imagine in a busy queue this lack of a menu or signage can lead to a delay and some confusion. We ordered quiche and a savoury sausage roll and were allowed choose three salad selections. These varied from garden slaw, broccoli, feta, almond and olive salad, bean and sweetcorn salad, couscous and green salad. Once we had ordered we noticed a self serving soup counter in the corner away from the food counters. They don't appear to serve sandwiches, as I certainly didn't see any or an area for preparing them, nor were they listed anywhere. Beside the soup counter was a tea and coffee section, which again was self service. Having filled a pot of tea here, we then went around the corner to pay and noticed a coffee machine and selection of herbal teas with a menu for cappucino etc. Again some better signage should signpost customers to this area for other drink options.Our bill came to €24.50 for two lunches and two teas. We were happy with the lunch options we chose, in particular the fresh salad selections and the savoury sausage roll. The pastry on the quiche and cheese,egg and cream filling was beautiful, however the fillings were scarce and were at the bottom of the quiche. We will return to the garden centre and gardens on a dry day, as the rain during our visit prevented us from walking around when we had finished lunch.