Pensthorpe Courtyard Cafe

Arrived early for a Pensthorpe visit. Went for lunch, and sat outside. Wasps a bit of a problem. Plenty of choice of food. Cream tea delicious. Good preparation for our visit!

We visited with our children age 13 and 9. We did the tractor tour which was really informative about the conservation work of Pensthorpe, the history and the different species of birds and planes. This cost extra (about an extra £14 for 2A2C) but was well worth it the kids were given a spotter sheet of things to spot on the tour so kept them entertained. The park itself has an amazing outdoor play area suitable for all ages. The little stream to walk through was extremely welcomed as a little cool down from the heatwave! We had booked the indoor play area, not sure if it was really suited for our children’s ages (was free to book an hour time slot) but actually they had a great time. It was all wooden and natural and there was a little cafe area and seating upstairs for adults. The walk around the park was really good, lots to see plants, flowers, sculptures, lakes, bird hides, ducks and flamingoes. There was a lot of walking but also lots of benches along the way to stop and rest at. I was really impressed with the amount of wasp traps in the trees too, wasps usually spoil a day out like this but we didn’t have a problem with them at all. We all really enjoyed our day and thought it was well worth the entrance fee. We will definitely be back.

Lovely day out with lots to see and do, restaurant food very good. We loved feeding the birds and going on the Land Rover trailer trip. Really good day for adults and kids. Kids indoor and outdoor play areas are well designed and great fun

The Nature Reserve Kids Play Park is beautiful and have no problem paying £50 for two adults and two kids under 6 as it clearly goes to the upkeep of the place, However the cafe massively lets the place down. First day of half term and seemed to be understaffed. You have to find your own table (No menus so no clue what your going to order) and then join the queue that is tailing out of the door, not ideal if you were on your own with kids. £32 for the following, two fish finger sandwiches (that although we were told it comes with chips it doesn’t) to be fair to the lad working he did bring out 7 chips in a butter ramekin when we asked a kids nugget meal, unsure if the nuggets were chicken or a recently deceased flamingo. 3 cans and 2 cartons This is silly money when considering both the quality of food and the wait time (25 minutes in the queue and a further 25 minutes once ordered) We’ve got no issue paying that if the food is up to standard but on this occasion we walked away feeling ridiculously ripped off. I don’t blame the wait staff i think they were working with what they had, it would be much more efficient to have table service. The place was probably at 65% capacity so would be interesting to see the problems when full. Just from looking about and listening I think a lot of other customers were also not over the moon. Food, wait times and service system needs to be massively improved to warrant the prices charged. I think that if we had paid half the price it would have been value for money.

Only gave them 4/5 as found it odd that you had to get a table before you went and ordered, which meant that you had to leave something on the table to reserve it as there were no menus on the tables. After ordering inside, the food is brought to the table, food was very good, egg mayo sandwich came with crisps and a small salad, hot meals were also available. Staff were friendly and seemed very organised