The Gardener's Retreat

This restaurant is always bustling with customers, but their ordering and payment system is lacking. It operates at a slow pace, leading to long lines no matter when you go. During our visit on a Sunday afternoon, they had already run out of sandwiches, leaving limited options unless you wanted something hot. Even though it was only 1:30pm, my partner had to wait in line for over 20 minutes just to order two sausage rolls and two cold drinks. The restaurant should reevaluate their system and make necessary improvements to streamline the customer experience and enhance overall satisfaction.

Unfortunately I 've low rated our meal because we didn 't enjoy it at all. We live locally and popped in for my birthday lunch. We ordered the vegetarian nut roast with our carvery. I 'm sorry to say I could only eat, and enjoyed, the mash potatoes. The Yorkshire pudding was very dry and bland, the roast potatoes were tasteless, and the nut roast was full of some sort of fruity things, not nutty at all and tasted horrible (sorry). So I 've given one star for the mash, and a star for the lady who served us as she was very nice and helpful. But I 'm afraid we won 't be having the carvery again. We were really looking forward to the meal, but very disappointed. (Photo of the 'fruit ' roast).

My partner and I went for breakfast at this restaurant for the first time. The dining area was spacious, with menus on the tables and limited signage displaying the breakfast options. We found a table, made our selections, and then went to the small counter to pay for our order. There was a small queue, but the staff served us efficiently and politely. The breakfast was brought out and it was delicious. We ordered the Big Breakfast, which came with a hot drink. It was nicely presented and cooked perfectly, with great tasting, quality ingredients. It was worth the price of £10.49, which included the drink. Although some items on the menu seemed pricey, such as a plain jacket potato with butter for £6.99, we couldn't fault our breakfast experience. The tables were promptly cleared and cleaned when customers left. Overall, it was a positive dining experience.

Visited for lunch on Wednesday and had the Regular Carvery. The food quality was very good throughout and it was reasonably priced too. The service was friendly and polite, but they probably need to switch things around when it becomes extremely busy to prevent long queues. Having the people on the tills also making the drinks would be fine when quieter, but in the peak period it may benefit having others make the drinks. Would definitely recommend for the quality of the food.

I visited this restaurant a year ago and was not very impressed. I decided to give it another chance but unfortunately, not much had changed. The service from the staff was excellent, but once again, the food was disappointing. My mother, who is gluten-free, used to enjoy the sandwiches here, especially the prawn sandwiches, but they are no longer presented neatly and the prawns are small. The ham sandwich had very little ham and too much lettuce. I ordered the scampi, which was cooked well, but the chips and peas were barely warm and some were hard. The tartare sauce came in a sachet instead of a nice tub. Although they have fancy new menus, I believe the money would have been better spent on improving the quality of the food. I will not be returning for a third time.