Thetford Garden Centre Reviews 

Have used the restaurant many times in the past but on my visit last week the standard of the food had dropped considerably Coffee cold , chips, which were actually potato peelings, cold all sent back took quite a time to replace it. Yes it is a busy period but not an exscuse for poor quality

Visited today for the first time, probably the last over the Christmas period. Shopping experience was ok, found a few things to buy but the wait to get into the restaurant was crazy, 40 minutes. Our order was taken fairly promptly but then we waited and waited for our lunch. No wonder there is such a queue, the waiting staff and presumably the kitchen staff must be on a permanent go slow. Food when it arrived was lovely but we didn’t bother with desserts as we really didn’t want another long wait. This place is fine if you’ve nothing better to do.

The staff are always knowledgeable and helpful

Always expensive but we were prepared for that. My 3 friends and I visit twice every month for lunch but now they are elderly and not able to wait around for a table (usually 30 mins) I asked if we could reserve a table, NO was the terse reply, I explained why but still NO, I mentioned that I had seen reserved signs on tables before, he said only for parties over 12. I asked was there a better time to go ie, early or later on ? He said NO. Depends on weather. Phone went down….
We’re going elsewhere ! SAD and upset at the non-service.

Used to enjoy going to the cafe at Thetford Garden Centre. Went yesterday and was amazed how much prices have shot up! The lady serving us was lovely but will think twice about coming again for lunch. Very disappointed!

Far too long getting served, then got tea approx 30 minutes before toast so gone by the time the food came, toast barely shown toaster and had the consistency of polystyrene. Other than that, fantastic.

Really disappointed with last visit on Friday 12th April. Waitress not at all friendly or helpful. Our drinks came after the meal when we reminded them that we were still waiting for them. My friend ordered the smashed avocado on sourdough- the sourdough was so hard you couldn’t cut it and the poached eggs were rock hard. I ordered the chicken jacket potato which was not bad, except that I had to fish out grisly bits of chicken. Disappointed to see that the ham, egg and chips have been discontinued. Until now we have eaten here on a regular basis but feel standards are slipping fast. Surprisingly high number of job vacancies being advertised on the tables.

Interestingly enough, no reply to my review as at 28 April

Despite living 20 Miles from Thetford Garden Centre we have visited the cafe there on a number of occasions as, although prices have always been on high side, we have felt that the quality and experience has been worth the 40 mile round trip. Sadly no longer.
On arrival this afternoon there were no free tables so were given a pager and told that there would be a 15/20 minute wait. After 30 minutes we were still waiting and noticed that other parties were arriving and being shown straight through to a table. When we queried this we were told that there was no ‘order’, that the didn’t like to turn people away and that a table had now become available for us. If there is no ‘order’ to this system why bother with the pagers??
Our order of two coffees, 1 soup and one scone was taken and after a short time the soup arrived but nothing else. I had almost finished the soup when my husband queried when the rest of the order would arrive. When the waitress came back to say that it was on its way my husband who is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids didn’t catch what she had said and asked her again. Very abruptly and rudely she replied “I’ve just said. It’ll be here when it’s here!” We acknowledge that the cafe was busy and we weren’t expecting ‘fast food’ but if that is the way you treat your customers we will not be returning. Judging by other reviews on this site we are not alone.

We were totally shocked at their prices for every plant, even more expensive than Dobbies or Notcutts! The cafe food was ok, was hoping to buy quite a few plants, but came away empty handed. Very rare for us!. Luckily we found another centre on the way home, bought lots of plants. Will not visit again.

Very pricy gifts , Most of the gifts /cakes ect in there can be purchased elsewhere at a lower price . The mark up on the gifts must be huge . Lovely selection but in these times I would have thought out of the range of most people. Clean and tidy, nice selection of plants but again at a price .

Yesterday (23.01.24) as a group of five we met up at the café/restaurant for lunch. The table that was available was situated at the very end of the conservatory. This area of the conservatory was very cold. It, certainly, was not a comfortable place to sit and have lunch. We managed to move to another table in the same area, which was the children’s area. Finally, we asked to be moved to a table, which was in the main area of the restaurant.

The waitress took our order for coffee. After nearly 20 minutes the coffee arrived. Given that it took so long for the coffee, we ordered our food as soon as our coffee arrived. Again the waiting time did seem to be quite a long. When our food arrived, my warm roasted vegetables with quinoa, spinach and feta cheese was cold (possible just taken out of the fridge)!!!
It was more of a spinach salad with a tiny sprinkle (more like a few grains) of quinoa, 2 or 3 pieces of aubergine, 2 pieces of sundried tomatoes and 3 cubes of feta cheese. Three of us ordered warm roasted veg. It seemed like an insult and does make one feel ‘we do not know our food’.
We were all so disappointed (disappointed is too mild a word)!! As it was a cold day, had we known it was going to be cold and not as specified on the menu, we would have chosen something else.
I was baffled that the waitress just said sorry and went to do her other tasks. There was no attempt, whatsoever, to remedy this or compensate us (3 of us)
in some way. The attitude was very much `laisser-faire’.

The service deteriorated further when we ordered another coffee/tea. We again waited for a long time, and to also find out that mine was missed off the list. Whilst mistakes do happen, there was no attempt from the waitress to get the coffee quickly. As we were getting ready to leave, my coffee arrived. I told the waitress it was too late.

To make matters worse, when paying our bills there was a bit of confusion as I was the only one who had feta cheese and was not charge accordingly, so the waitress asked me for the extra £2.00 for the feta cheese (to be precise 3 small cubes of feta cheese). It did seem to be an irony given the very poor service we experience. It is baffling that the café/restaurant boasts of high standards!!!

All in all it was very disappointing. It certainly is not quality food, value for money and the service is appalling. This is the one garden centre I shall not be visiting again. Given the number of bad reviews it does seem that the Thetford Garden Centre (restaurant) are “resting on their laurels”.

Have visited this garden centre and the restaurant many times over the years but will think twice before going again. Thought we would try afternoon tea as our son and daughter-in-law were treating us. They were disappointed to say the least when they saw how poor it was to just six months earlier when they visited. The price is way over the top and the service was diabolical. Waited half hour for a table then 45 minutes before we were served. Waitress walked off without bringing any plates or cutlery. When we asked for them she only brought the plates! How are we supposed to cut a scone and use the cream and jam without cutlery! Ended up getting them myself. Would not recommend at all whatsoever. The service isn't like it used to be and the food was just ok. They need to put a time limit on tables as people sitting there for over an hour with just a coffee then chatting is what makes the wait so long. Will not recommend

What a dismal experience in there eatery
After waiting 10 minutes and being totally ignored by there staff went and asked a member of staff for a table who then dissappeared never to been seen after another wait eventually seated
Waitress useless but eventually got food which clearly says butter on menu but arrived with a plastic pack of marge clearly a breach of trading standards
When asked the waitress for butter she went that's it we don't do proper butter
If your going to charge 5 star prices at least give 5 star service old have recieved better service and food at a greasy spoon than here overall horrible experience

Although I cannot complain about the service or food I do question putting tables for dog owners in the middle of the cafe... I am not sure how the health and hygiene rules are adhered to with this in place. Dogs are not even allowed in food shops so how are they allowed in a cafe.???? I won't be going again

My wife, 2.5year old granddaughter & myself came in yesterday for a lite lunch. We arrived at 1.10pm, my wife went straight to the restaurant & was given a table alarm & came out to meet me at the car to sort our granddaughter out before returning to the store!
We had seen a couple we knew enter the store while organising our granddaughter, we spoke to this couple in store & they also had a table alarm that went off as we spoke which surprised us as they entered the store after us. We wandered around the store for a few minutes, the alarm didn’t go off, so I decided to head back to the restaurant to query the alarm. A member of staff came to me and I asked about the table alarm, she asked my name, looked at the list & told me she couldn’t find our name, I queried this, she looked again, found our name at the bottom of the page & we had been missed.
She then asked us if we were going to put our pushchair in the trolley park! To which we replied “no”.
She then asked us if we wanted to sit on the sofa’s? How the hell she thought it was a good idea for our 2.5 year old granddaughter to eat & drink properly on a sofa bemused us, we replied “no”.
She then offered us the dog seating area even though we’d walked past several empty tables in the main restaurant area!
We sat down around 1.45pm and was ready to order within a few minutes. We didn’t see any table staff until around 2pm when a table opposite near a window paid their bill, this employee then acknowledges a couple who came in after us on a centre table, then sorts payment from the table behind us. The employee then goes to walk straight past our table, no acknowledgement or eye contact. I had to gain their attention using a slightly raise voice to ask if we could place a food order. The employee went off to seek help with orders from ourselves, the couple on the centre table & another couple who had just sat down on the other side near a window. Around 2.10pm we ordered 2 ham & mustard sandwiches on white, two flat whites & a child’s ham sandwich lunch, Pom bears, apple & baby cappuccino. Though our order went in before the other 2 couples, their cooked food came out while we, with our hungry 2.5 year old child we’re still waiting. After a while a member of staff came up & asked us what we were waiting for, we said two sandwiches, two flat white & a ham sandwich kids meal with baby cappuccino. Our order finally turned up.
The service we received was ruddy awful with:-
1) Our name & alarm being missed!
2) Being asked to put our pushchair in a trolley park!
3) Being seated in the dog area when there was loads of empty seats in the normal restaurant!
4) Having to raise my voice after being ignored, to get our order taken!
5) Our whole, being seated, getting attention, placing & receiving our 2 sandwiches 3 drinks & a kid’s meal order through to paying taking well over an hour to complete is disgusting for a family with a small hungry child.
As a footnote the service staff standing chatting for several minutes when customers are walk in also didn’t help our situation!
Whether we will return to eat at this restaurant is now questionable due to the service we received yesterday!

Went here to do some shopping and get a mower, staff were in their own little worlds not taking much notice of the customers around them, went in the mower area and the staff would rather sit on a computer than interact with a potential sale, they don't meet the so called hype about them.

Went to the restaurant and there was literally no service! Had to wait 30min to actually get a table (fair enough). However, after being sat down. No one approached us to say when we would be served. The waiting staff just walked back and forth no eye contact nothing. Did not feel welcoming at all, so decided to leave.

On leaving I decided to mention it to the manager who was also just staring into a computer and not very responsive to our feed back he was quite aggressive in his approach so we just left, never returning as it was overpriced and bad customer services.

Bought a Honda petrol mower over a year ago that came with a 2 year warranty. Been working fine then it packed and refused to start.. Spoke to them and they sent a chap to collect it for the service team to take a look. Over two weeks later they call and say there’s an issue with the carburettor which conveniently isn’t covered under the warranty, they’re now trying to blame us by saying the mower hasn’t been used for a long time when it has, more or less calling us liars! And to add insult to injury they want us to pay £50 to fix it. The customer service from this place is shocking, they even hung up on us.. very disappointed. Buyers beware, don’t buy a petrol mower from this place.

Second visit to cafe in a month.
Food is good but OH MY GOODNESS what a long time to wait for a table!!! 30 minutes ‘rough estimate’ turned into well over an hour. The cafe should introduce a restriction on how long people can stay at their table during busy periods i.e 90 minutes maximum, which would also avoid customers hogging a much-needed table for a natter over just one cuppa!!
Staff were friendly enough and menu limited, but food was good… when it arrived. Reluctant to go again purely because of the long wait.

Today i took a guest of mine from France for lunch at the garden centre. For some reason as we entered the alarm went off. So we laughed it off thinking that our phones or other metallic things triggered it. We had lunch, got some goodies and as we left the alarm was triggered again. This time the product i purchased were ok. But it seemed that my French friend (who happens to be black) may have had something in her bag that triggered that alarm. The security checked her tiny bag to see that nothing was there…still laughing it off and making jokes about it. Only, the staff then started asking her questions if she had anything in the pockets…my friend opened her pockets to show they were empty…then she was asked to go around the desk where they asked her to take her shoes off. At this point i believed that they went to far and i started feeling very uncomfortable by the way she was being treated. To be honest, if i didn't stop this they would have gone as far as searching her…i was absolutely disgusted by the way she was treated. Only after i warned them that they were taking it to far and mentioned that my friend is a prominent human rights lawyer they said well “ we will have to let you off” as they were doing us a favour! This is exactly a clear case of racial profiling and discrimination based on race - which made me feel disgusted and concerned. Shame on you Thetford Garden Centre and kudos to my friend who kept her cool. But im not willing to let this go slightly- you are no longer my favourite place to eat and shop.

The menu is limited and seems a little expensive for the quality, I was however allowed to take my dog in which was nice.