St Peters Garden Centre Avis 

Great customer service.

The Garden Centre is fine for what it is but the Dinosaur show over the summer holidays was awful. 3 puppets for an hour, just wandering around and taking photos with the children. No story, no facts, literally two guys wandering around the group with puppets. And £15 for the event and a couple £ for accompanying adults. I understand they all have to make a little money but this was a cash grab and not even a good one. I would not rush to spend my money here for kids events in the future. What a joke.

Visited the dinosaur experience on Thursday 14th August. The adults enjoyed it as much as the children. Very good puppeteers (sorry, spoiler) who interacted with the kids and adults, really well. Our only minor negative comment would be that perhaps more parasols for shade should have been available on this very hot day.

We visited this week to attend the 'meet the dinosaurs' event.
We decided to arrive before the event so that we could have lunch in the cafe. When we arrived we waited approx 5/10 mins by the 'please wait to be seated' sign. Numerous staff members who passed us ignored us. I appreciate they were busy but a quick 'we'll be with you in a minute' wouldn't have gone amiss. Eventually we gave up waiting and seated ourselves. When I approached a member of staff to ask for a menu, she was rude, explaining that 'they were busy so we just needed to wait'.
The waitress we had was absolutely wonderful. She helped us out with voucher codes so that my daughter could have a free meal. Unfortunately, I never got her name, but she was wonderful at her job and was the best part of our visit!
The food was mediocre given how expensive it was. £12 for a sandwich and a few chips! The bread of the sandwich was also stale, possibly due to the heat. The food cost almost £40 for 2 meals and 2 drinks.
We then visited the dinosaur event. This had cost me £21 for 1 child and 2 adults. There were 2 baby dinosaurs and 1 big dinosaur. The puppets/costumes were great but the event was so boring. The kids had to wait while the men took the dinosaurs round to see everyone, which meant most of them walked off to find something else to play with. The kids were told they could touch, roar at or 'walk' the dinosaur but there was nothing else to do. I believe quite a few people left before the end of the event. When the hour was up they just walked the dinosaur away, no 'goodbye, thanks for coming' nothing. The worst bit was that as we waited for ice cream afterwards, they just wheeled the dinosaur costume past on a trolley to pack it up. It wasn't covered up or anything, completely ruining the illusion for the kids.
We've visited the garden centre before and I know how expensive it is and I don't mind paying it when you feel like you're getting a good service, but I'm not sure I'll be coming back after this.

There was also a paint your own rock station but you had to pay 50p to borrow the pens. This just blew my mind given how much money they're already charging for everything!

We had a fantastic morning meeting the animals and the animal man, at St peters garden centre. It was informative and entertaining, each child and adult had a chance to hold the large variety of creatures, my son is now over his fear of spiders, and want a tarantula. There was live singing after at the picnic area, and free outdoors garden games and rock painting for all to enjoy. The garden centre staff were friendly and lively as always.

I took my 2 and a half year old to the animal man experience at St. Peter’s Garden Centre. It was fantastic and he had the best time holding and interacting with lots of different animals such as a tarantula, a honey bear and an owl. A lovely activity suitable for lots of different ages…even adults!

St Peter’s Garden Centre is mine and my 4 year old daughter’s absolute favourite place to visit. The staff are always so friendly and welcoming (very knowledgeable too). We love to catch Feeding time at a Poppy’s Farm.
It’s even more exciting at the moment as they have so much for children and families. There is a great array or free garden games to play and there is something for everyone during their Summer Fest.
We recently attended the Animal Man show and it was brilliant. Informational, child friendly, zero pressure to be hands on with the animal, all taken at their pace.
Brilliant.

We visited on Tuesday for the Pampered Ponies event and we had such a lovely time. I was not expecting the full day that it turned out to be. My little girl loved the pony experience, then we painted rocks, played the lawn games, had her face painted and enjoyed some lunch whilst listening to live music. Such a lovely day and great memories made. We will be returning in a few weeks for the dino event. Also, I loved walking around the garden centre before we left. A hidden little gem and so glad we found it!

St Peter’s is a lovely garden centre. Friendly staff. Lovely restaurants and coffee area.

We ordered three cream teas, and unfortunately, the service and quality fell far below expectations.

Firstly, when we inquired about a herbal tea alternative, we were informed that it was not possible, which we found surprising. Upon asking why there wasn’t a standard alternative like a herbal tea bag, we were met with an argumentative response that focused more on the restaurant’s profit margins than on customer service. The staff repeatedly used terms like "profit margins" rather than considering our feedback or offering a solution. It was disappointing that we were not even allowed to voice our opinions, as we were continuously cut off during the conversation.

Additionally, the pricing of the cream tea was excessive for what was provided. The scones were priced at £2.99 each, increasing to £6.99 for tea, jam, and cream. We were also charged an additional £1.50 for mint leaves, bringing the total to £8.50. Considering the quality of the items, this price point felt unreasonable. I chose to forgo the tea to keep the price down, which further highlights the disparity between value and cost.

The most concerning issue was the quality of the cream. The cream served was yellow, hard, and crumbly, resembling cake crumbs rather than proper cream. When I returned it, I was initially told that the cream was "normal" and it was simply "cold," which I knew was not the case, especially since the cream on the other teas we ordered was acceptable. After considerable argument and frustration on my part, the cream was eventually replaced after three attempts. It was noted that the cream had a date code suggesting it was made back in early July, which is well past the recommended seven-day usage period mentioned on the supplier’s website. This raised concerns about the freshness of the ingredients used at your restaurant.

What further exacerbated the situation was the lack of professional handling of the complaint. Every time I tried to address the issue, I was surrounded by multiple staff members, which felt intimidating and unhelpful. The manager, when she arrived, did not introduce herself and was more argumentative than supportive. This lack of leadership and customer service only furthered my dissatisfaction.

Finally, when the replacement cream tea was eventually brought to me, the wait time was unreasonably long. I had to approach the counter myself to follow up on the order. Even then, the staff member appeared distracted and continued talking with colleagues, despite me standing there. By this time I chose not to eat it, as I no longer had any confidence in the quality of the food or the service.

I am truly disappointed by the overall lack of professionalism, poor service, and substandard quality of the items served. Given the cost and the reputation your establishment holds, I expected far better. Although I do note multiple poor reviews across the last year with similar themes.

it’s a shame when staff aren't trained to handle complaints well or see it as an opportunity to improve the experience for the next customer and are trained only in making profit, It would’ve been so much better if they’d acknowledged the issue, apologised, and made an effort to get things right. Instead we’ll never return and negative reviews are being left which will have ultimately have a bigger impact on profit in the long run.

Absolutely lovely place. Have all kinds of animals. It was lovely to see how well staff looking after chickens. Cafe staff lovely. Allow dogs. Have a farm centre. We had cake and a hot drink. I am very fussy about my chocolate cake however this chocolate cake was excellent and I could not stop thinking how good it was. I will definitely come here again if we lived in area. We were on holiday at time. Also really good grocery and drinks section.

This is a lovely garden centre and we visit regularly. Staff are great and always friendly. However, what is a shame is the increase in price of the food and drinks in the cafe and Poppy's farm. Whilst I completely understand that prices increase from time to time, it is now an expensive trip out. We ordered my little boy a warm milk, this cost 2.89 there was nothing extra like creme or marshmallows just milk. We found this very expensive for a cup of plain milk compared to other places, we really want to support independent businesses but prices need to be fair particularly for simple things such as the plain milk.

We had afternoon tea, food was really good the staff where really pleasant & helpful . Great experience.

From the welcome to the afternoon tea was very good . Shown to our table tea and coffee first shortly followed by the food which was plenty and tasty . We had a nut allergy on our order which came separate to all the others , time had been taken with presentation. All staff were very polite and friendly .

Really helpful friendly staff

Afternoon tea poor quality ,cakes dry and mousse warm . The best were scones and 2 types of sandwiches. Alot of money and disappointed as it was lovely a birthday treat .
Staff were friendly especially a man George .

We have been visiting St Peter’s garden centre cafe on a Sunday for the last couple of years.
They have just increased the prices in the cafe again and the scones that we usually buy are very dry and over cooked.
We asked one of the servers if they had changed the recipe and they told us that the reason why they were dry and over cooked was that they are reheated in the oven from the previous day.
For the price you would expect them to be the best quality and if they are not careful will start to turn customers away.

The Succession Sowing session was amazing. Sam is such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable course leader with a great sense of humour who made the classes enjoyable and educational: she has really inspired me to try new things in the garden and not be worried about any growing that does not go according to plan!
More sessions please- there is so much more to learn about a year in a successful garden than just planting. Can we have a class on no dig gardening and winding your garden down for the Winter, at the very least?
Sam, you have been wonderful. Thank you so much.

Great variety of plants, with the added shopping centre, cafe and food hall with excellent meat. Great fruit and veg shop too.
Would be good to have knowledgeable plant staff on the shop floor to offer advice. I hate to see people buying plants that are unsuitable for their garden conditions.

When table service was first introduced, prices were reasonable, portions generous and quality pretty good. Sunday lunch 2 days ago cost £15.99, quality was very average, and the various meats consisted of three 2-inch diameter medallions which would have struggled to fill a small sandwich. Please stop trying to be a Michelin starred restaurant and accept you’re a garden centre. I am a regular customer who will not be visiting the restaurant again until things improve.