JUST GARDEN CENTRES

CAFE REVIEW FOR CADBURY GARDEN CENTRE

CHOICE OF FOOD
The menu is extensive at this cafe without a doubt. We counted a choice of nine main meal specials which is an astonishing amount. As well as main meals they serve a variety of snack meals, cakes, teas / coffees and other drinks. Some of the food is served from the counter and some is served to your table. Much of the food was on display rather than hidden behind closed doors!

FOOD QUALITY

 

We chose a Shepherds Pie with peas, green beans, roast potatoes and gravy for our main meal. Presentation was was OK and the quality of the Shepherds Pie excellent. Lots of good quality meat, well seasoned and served hot.
The peas and green beans were excellent as well, tasting fresh and correctly cooked. The roast potato was definitely on the mushy side with almost no crispness but that's very difficult to avoid in a catering establishment of this size.

Some of the not so popular meals on the counter certainly had a congealed surface to the and did not look particularly attractive but we guess under the surface they are fine. For example the pasta bake and similar dishes could do with being stirred every 15 minutes or so to stop an unattractive skin appearing on the top.

PRICES
Main meals are in the range £6 to £9, jacket potatoes £5 to £6, salads £5.50 to £9, baguettes £6, omelettes £6 to £7 and paninis around the £6 price, most cakes are about £3. Overall the prices were above the average for a garden centre cafe.

CAFE DECOR
The decor is rather unremarkable. In general it's modern and clean with plain plastic table and chairs. Not up to the standard of many other Garden and Leisure cafes which normally have something of a theme to them. Functional and plain was how we would describe the decor.

Just outside the cafe entrance there is a covered kiddies play area, great if you want to keep an eye on the kids while you are having a coffee. As well as indoor seating there is also outdoor seating which overlooked rather boring views of the garden centre.

SERVICE
In general the service was good, prompt and courteous. We were unlucky enough to get behind a "customer from hell" in the queue to pay. By accident our voice recorder was on and we know that it took seven minutes for the customer to pay for their food - there was a problem with their voucher. Aside from driving me insane waiting to pay, all credit must go to the staff member on the till. She definitely had the patience of a saint and dealt with the problem customer in the best way possible.

CONCLUSION
The higher than average prices for the food are just barely justified by the food quality and general surroundings.