Plowmans Garden Centre - East Dorset

The tables outside had not been cleared when we arrived, the young staff all looked like they didn 't want to be there and were very busy. Had to wait for ages to be served, they weren 't sure if they could omit the tuna and give me plain cheese in my panini to start with!!. When our order arrived the young lad waiting gave my son his and said he didn 't know if he had the order correct but have it anyway. I bit in to mine only to find there was no filling what so ever, so they omitted the tuna AND the cheese just a plain piece of cardboard bread thinner than a flatbread. (My husbands had a miniscule amount of cheese in his. I informed the waitress of this who confirmed she thought it looked awful and offered a replacement and said the cheese had probably slipped out as there was nothing to hold it in! There would have been traces of cheese on it if they had put some in. I took the order back and told the man I assumed was in charge and he said that 's not what we are about but in fact it was because it had happened. He did apologise and gave me a refund but to me that was the least they could do. I shall remember my Mothers day lunch for all the wrong reasons and won 't be going back for any other meal in the future.

Had what was supposed to be cod and chips today at lunchtime. Only batter a tiny morsel of fish maybe a fish finger in the batter? Don’t eat here!

Now run by In Excess...we really enjoyed our light lunch here a couple of weeks ago. My ham, eggs and chips was delicious, on a hot plate and good value. Very good and friendly service, on the level, good value, lots of parking with a few disabled spaces near the entrance. My mother has walking issues, and the staff helped her so much, which getting the Covid measures just right. As a garden centre, it's very good here too; plenty of plants, pots and pretty-much all you need for gardening in the indoor shop and outdoor areas to the rear. A modest selection of gifts and greeting cards too. (If they'd put jacket potatoes back on the menu, I'd have given them 5/5!

We hadn't been here for a while but were glad we went in for lunch today. All the staff were friendly and welcoming and there was plenty of variety on the menu. The food took a little longer to arrive than we expected but when it did it was very tasty and portion size was good. The decor is attractive and vastly improved from when we last visited, and Covid guidelines are being strictly adhered to. Well worth a visit!

So, Baskets Blooms have revamped the Wheelbarrow café, now called "Blooms Café. Still huge areas of covered seating inside and out, good friendly service, popular snacks on the menu, (panninis/jacket potatos/sandwiches/cakes , and quality teas and coffees. Our jacket potatos with melted cheese/tuna sweetcorn were as delicious as ever, and good value too. Their covid measures are thorough. Plenty of parking here at this popular indie garden centre. Love it!