The National Herb Centre Reviews Summary

Food and Cafe

Pros:

• "Cafe served Lovely food, staff really friendly."
• "The food wasn't overpriced, was tasty, service was good."
• "Also good selection of well priced, tasty food from the brasserie."
• "Lovely cooked Breakfast, will be returning to try out the daytime menu!"
• "The cafe which serves lovely tasty home cooked food."
• "Fantastic place for tea and lite meal. Good cakes."
• "Good cafe with good wholesome food."

Cons:

• "Drove over today looking forward to experiencing the bistro. However, we stood at the counter for what seemed an eternity waiting to be acknowledged maybe even served by one of the four members of staff."
• "The fish was either overcooked or reheated - it was loose inside the batter and had a hard rubbery texture."
• "It didn't have obvious herbs and plants we thought they would have, the plants we bought seemed okay, but were badly kept, bad roots, potted or root bound, and most of them were infested with mites and aphids."
• "There wasn't much room in the cafe and we thought the prices were quite high. A toasted teacake was £3.50."
• "Went there today and ate in the Bistro, had Lasagne which I had to send back because it was cold... not a good experience would not complain if it was one third of price and served in a lay-by."
• "Somewhat overpriced to eat and considering that it's a little drab and slightly unclean not the best first impression."
• "Great for herbs! Basic food and drink menu. Reduced rating because of very poor toilet facilities and casual approach to cleanliness in the cafe. Sticky tables!!"

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Staff are lovely food very good Charlotte was especially kind and patient with them."
• "Love this place, wonderful walks, small but great playground for the kids. wonderful array of plants, excellent food and most importantly excellent service - highly recommend coming here."
• "Every member of staff was polite and efficient."
• "Staff are wonderful so cheerful and helpful nothing was too much trouble."
• "Food was excellent and very friendly staff."
• "Friendly, homely staff and wonderful service."
• "Friendly staff."

Cons:

• "Attended for a light lunch with my mother and grandmother who cannot go upstairs... Stood at the service counter whilst two employees ignored me."
• "Drove over today looking forward to experiencing the bistro. However, we stood at the counter for what seemed an eternity waiting to be acknowledged maybe even served by one of the four members of staff."
• "Visited on sunday enjoyed walk around and picked up some plants when we payed at the hut the young man serving was really grumpy and had no customer service skills."
• "However there's not a lot of help for disabled people. There are not many disabled spaces and when you are in there are slopes with no rails. Not very disabled friendly."
• "Coffee brought to table with a good few tablespoons in the saucer, and over handle of cup no apology."
• "This used to be a lovely garden centre but when we visited there was broken furniture strewn around and dead plants."
• "The name 'National Herb Centre' implies something quite impressive, of national significance. In reality, it's just a garden centre, and a pretty shabby one at that."

Plants and Herbs

Pros:

• "Most of the plants were in good condition. Just a few not so good."
• "Lovely gardens laid out to show of a wide selection of herbs. A wide variety of herbs and plants are available to buy with excellent signage detailing their various uses."
• "The centre itself was bursting with herbs I had heard of and many I had not. Who knew that there are so many types of thyme?"
• "My favourite places to buy herbs. so nice to visit after a long year! Where else could you chose between so many varieties of mint, rosemary and lavender."
• "Great garden centre, gift shop with lots of unique items, hand crafted wooden furniture and decorative items."
• "The nursery is well laid out with some unusual plants/herbs."
• "Absolutely fabulous place, amazing selection of herbs and interesting perennials. The walks are beautiful, lovely woodland area."