Reviews in Colchester

My wife and I had breakfast at The Barn yesterday, something we have enjoyed frequently for several years. We have never received anything less than excellent, friendly service, good quality food and value for money. The restaurant is invariably busy so booking is advisable, but we have no hesitation in giving it a high recommendation.

I wanted to share some thoughts on my recent visit to your lovely cafe, which always adds a delightful touch to the garden centre experience. During my last visit, I had a table booked for lunch, but my friend and I decided to enjoy a coffee while waiting for our meal, which was scheduled for an hour later. We approached the lady handling reservations and inquired if we could have just a coffee. Her response was quite abrupt, "it will only be a coffee", which was what we had initially asked for. This made us feel a bit uncomfortable and led us to wonder if the staff could benefit from some customer service training to communicate in a more customer-centric manner. I must add that not all the staff were like this. When we had our lunch, our waitress wasn’t rude but simply did and said what was required. However, when we ordered some cake, the younger lady was very nice, and we had a pleasant chat about the cake. Overall, I really do enjoy the café, and I believe that with some improvement in customer service, it can provide an even better experience for visitors

Always good food and pleasant helpful staff. Relaxed atmosphere . Always so busy .

Wonderful roast pork Sunday lunch

Fantastic dinner with lovely service and really enjoyed my sea bass. Recommend ⭐️

Fabulous meal and not the first time I've experienced that here. Was for my partners birthday as a surprise by our friend group. The restaurant played their part in the surprise and staff ensured all needs were met.

Always a great place for lunch and we tried breakfast which was superb. Great service and super efficient. We did book and it was busy from the moment it opened!

Food and service very good

Great food and great service. We will return later in the year

Food excellent, generous portions, good value for money. Staff provided a really good service, orders taken and delivered in good time which we were very impressed with considering how busy it was. We booked our table in advance as there were seven of us including children. The food is outstanding, highly recommend.

Four of us had a lovely time chatting and catching up. Lovely food, great service and all in a smashing setting. Highly recommended.

Great lunchtime meal for 4 adults. Great food and service. Will definitely return.

Where shall I start, we were sat in the outside terrace area to begin with, which we found to be very cold, so before ordering anything we asked if we were able to move inside to be warmer, which we were allowed to, however the table we were shown to was a very small table for two with very uncomfortable chairs, looking around there were lots of tables with two people sitting on bigger tables, so asked if we could have a bigger one with nicer chairs for my Mum who would be more comfortable, the host said she would have to check, then came back and said we’re not allowed to move but we can swap the chairs, this caused a bit of commotion and was slightly embarrassing whilst chairs were getting swapped but ok. We sat for around ten minutes with no order taken and eventually asked a member of the team if we could order two coffees, we were met with the response of someone would be over soon? She then continued to clean the table directly next to us? I found this very odd, as it was midday, so they had only just opened for lunch service and why she refused to take our order for coffee? Eventually someone came over and said she was waiting for the chef to give her the green light so that she could take food orders, it was 12:15, so we ordered coffees and waited for her to come back after the chef had “given the green light” upon ordering food I had asked what the Veggie Panini came with as it is £10.95, the server said nothing just the panini, no crisps or chips etc, I asked this as in my opinion £10.95 for a bread roll with vegetarian filling is slightly steep, the server explained that it was restaurant quality not cafe quality which is why it is more expensive. When the panini was delivered I was shocked, it was the same kind of panini you can find in any Costa, Starbucks or any other coffee shop, on the side was a handful of salad leaves from a bag, no dressing or anything apart from a few leaves. Me and my mum were out celebrating a birthday and honestly this was the worst food quality and service we could have chosen, we were so disappointed. I was still eating my panini when another server came over and cleared the plate that I was eating from and just said “I’ll take this”? Very very weird. Nobody came to ask us if we would like any desserts, we had to get up and go to the counter and ask to pay, the whole time I would like to add, the table that we asked to move to with the comfier chairs, nobody had sat on the whole time we were there. Very disappointing, underwhelming, unfriendly and overpriced.

Super delicious Sunday Roast dinner. Had roast beef and the nut loaf. Excellent value & beautifully cooked.

Superb venue and staff are really friendly. The food is excellent. Would highly recommend. We have been a few times now and have always had a lovely meal.

Visited several times food is delicious looks good tastes good ..good value for money

Lovely breakfast as always. Really enjoy the great atmosphere and friendly staff.