One Garden Brighton — Attraction in England

Possibly the worst experience we have ever had when it comes to places offering Christmas markets.

We attended both weekends of their "Christmas market" and had issues right from the get-go.

Before the market (weeks leading up to event) We had questions as we haven't done this specific market before, tried emailing the main contact and got no response, no matter how many emails we sent. We arrived at the allocated time and went to the "drop-off" location, this was NOT suitable for more than 1 car and the road in and out was so narrow we ended up scaratching the paintwork on the car. You would be lucky getting a Fiat 500 down there and not damage it let alone an SUV.

Weekend 1 07-12-23 It's a Christmas market and only our stall was selling Christmas things. Its a Christmas market so you would expect decorations and Christmas-related items but instead it was people selling ceramics, jewellery, prints and wrapping paper. This stuff screams standard market NOT Christmas market. There was no signs pointing to where half the market was set up. The site's main vendors were set up in the main building by the cafe while any outside vendors such as ourselves we shoved in a classroom with no signs to say we were there. Footfall to these classrooms was so low my partner had to stand in the rain handing out leaflets for our stall and telling people we were there. The level of customers coming to this event was not what we expect either. if you're going to a market it is expected you aren't just there to look and tell people well done, or tell them your child could make this stuff. Firstly that is rude to the person who has spent months making the item. Second why even attend if you aren't there to spend money and support local businesses? These comments affected my partner so much we decided to not repeat this in the upcoming years as it was so demoralising.

Weekend 2 10-12-23 - As we had already paid for the table, we thought we should go even with the bad experience of the first weekend. Arrived at the allocated time and nothing was open for set up. Asked about signs this time as once again there was none and we got rude comments from staff once again. The classroom was, once again, untidy - I understand that these are used for classes at regular times, but as this is a paid event you'd expect things to be cleared out/tidied away properly. Footfall was higher this week but the same rude comments. We even dropped our prices 50% and pointed out all profits go to charity and not a single person even smiled in our direction. Other stall holders agreed the level of custom this year was terrible. Overall, customers were more interested in eating the sausage rolls they bought from the food area in the classrooms, or use the toilet, and who can blame them - nothing said Christmas about this event (no signage, no banners, no tinsel, Christmas lights, trees, anything).

Overall this market was the biggest waste of our time we have ever done. We do markets, Comicons, and events regularly and we decided to do this market to support our charity work. All we had to do was break even and then all profits went to our allocated charity. Yet people who spent months of time building products, researching designs and supporting charities get ignored? People honestly need to realign their priorities when it comes to events like this.

If it's not all Christmas related then it shouldn't be labelled a Christmas market. If you attend and say to the stall holders' face "you weren't planning on buying anything" then why the hell did you even come to the event? And if it's not a Christmas market, don't take the money of stall holders that actually do Christmas items, and be professional about how you market and organise your event.

Sincerely, A lost customer from every...

Really poor experience when I attended last year. Sent an email complaining (as below) and was offered a refund and complementary meal from the manager Tim Cook - never heard back from them following this.

I just wanted to provide feedback on a recent visit to the one garden cafe at lunch time yesterday. I’ve been once previously and found the service and food to be of good quality, however, yesterday I was really quite shocked.

We sat inside as there was no shade outside and I have a young baby. Once I was inside there was a sign saying please wait to be seated. We waited at the sign for a number of minutes before someone said they’d be with us. A few more minutes passed before other customers came in and asked another member of staff if they could sit down. The staff member just said ‘yeah’ and didn’t provide menus or any real acknowledgement of any of the five of us.

We sat at the table for a few more minutes and then I got up and got a high chair for my son and took two menus. Two members of staff were by the high chairs at this point and offered no help. I then went back to the front desk area to get a drinks menu and was looking through the different shelves for it, someone asked what I was looking for but still did not ask if we were being served or why I was getting my own menus and did not come over to us. I waited again, however, there was still no acknowledgement.

Eventually someone came over and took our order, 3 coffees and 3 chicken wraps. There was little customer service, although the server explained the three wraps when we asked about what someone was eating outside. When the food finally came, the quality was incredibly disappointing. £16.50 per wrap is a very high price point and I expected something impressive, whatever I’d seen outside was full of various ingredients. The wraps advertised sweet chilli inside them however it was simply mayo, lettuce and some dry chicken. It was similar to that of a supermarket meal deal. Our meal costed £66 and we declined to pay service, as no service was provided. £60 for three poor quality wraps and three coffees with utterly appalling service feels ludicrous.

My partner did however meet a cleaner/groundsman called Matt who was incredibly friendly and welcoming and also said goodbye to us upon leaving, which was more than any of the cafe staff did. He was a delightful and...

I have to report that my experience of the food was poor. The food did not seem fresh and the rice not properly cooked. The serving staff were friendly but service very slow. We did point this out and one item was replaced. Shame as we had had high hopes of home grown food.

Here is my full review:

We were three people and arrived at about 1:30 . The restaurant was not too busy perhaps less than half full. We ordered the sharing mezze to start. Mains were rice noodle avocado salad, risotto, and pork.

Service was a bit chaotic and slow - eventually the starter and mains arrived all together. And then the cutlery afterwards.

The food was underwhelming-

The bread with the mezze tasted quite stale. We were told it is made in the kitchen, but no apology really. So I mentioned that we make focaccia at home and it is not like that when it is fresh. Artichokes from a jar perhaps and no dressing. Hummus tasted a bit old and just starting to go off.

Risotto rice was not cooked - rice was quite hard still. We sent that back as I could not eat it. It was replaced by a Cesar salad. That was ok, but the chicken was a bit odd. Salad dressing from a bottle perhaps? I would prefer just to be given olive oil and some balsamic on the table.

The rice Noodle salad was not very tasty. My sister left most of the noodles as they were bland.

The Pork gravy was thick and not very nice. It did taste as if from a bottle.

Given the mention of using home cooked ingredients, we had expected more as I could not detect much in the way of fresh ingredients. Such a shame as we came with high...