The Barn Garden Centre & Cafe Stanway — Restaurant in Colchester

tldr: If you want an upmarket Costa style cafe that has been recently refurbished to a high standard then the cafe is perfect for you. If you want a cosy welcoming cafe that welcomes families then sorry that cafe died during the refurb.

We have visited Barnplants several times a month for many years, significant investment has gone in recently to bring the whole site up to scratch. As a garden centre it is a perfectly lovely place, but since the cafe was refurbished we have stopped going.

The cafe used to have a real cosy family feel, when you entered everyone would smile and always say hello. Since the refurbishment most of the staff don't even make eye contact. Ordering food involves waiting for the person staring at a computer screen to acknowledge you. The seating and tables are much better but the service is far worse. As a family of 4, we had to wait over 30mins for our food. Our kids were starting to misbehave as they were clearly bored and there is no children's activities eg. colouring. When the food did arrive the adult food came first followed 5 mins later by the kids meals, any parent will tell you this is not good. The kids meals all came on giant adults bowls, plates and cutlery which are really hard for the kids to use. When we ordered desserts we had the exact same problem the kids ice cream came last by the time that arrived the kids had eaten the adult deserts. Very sad to say we won't be coming...

Would have given no stars if able to... As a customer of Barn Plants and the cafe for many years, I have been increasingly disappointed with the quality of food and service in the cafe. Today, I visited with my family, as we were hoping to browse the Christmas section after enjoying a (usually lukewarm) 'hot' chocolate, cake and (most often burnt and cold) toasted tea cake. After being asked to come back in 10 minutes to be seated at an already vacant table by a very grumpy waitress, we were left alone to peruse the menu. Some twenty minutes later we had still not had our order taken, despite my having caught the eye of the aforementioned waitress. Luckily, this gave me time to ponder my previous recent experiences in this cafe: some very grumpy staff members, barely warm 'hot' drinks, mundane yet pricey menu items (including an extremely lacklustre afternoon tea a year or so ago... I realised that this place thinks it can rest on its laurels and doesn't actually deserve my custom after all. We decided to walk out without ordering and I was so cross that I did not stop to browse the shop floor either. On our way home we agreed that this establishment is now taking its customers for granted. Barn Plants is no longer the only 'stylish' garden centre/cafe in our area, so from now on, be it a light lunch or a Christmas tree, we will be...

Came here for breakfast a couple of weeks ago after a friend recommended it, but was really disappointed with the service. When I asked if I could substitute the bacon in my meal, the waitress immediately said substitutions weren’t allowed—before I’d even had the chance to ask for something specific. She told me I could remove the bacon (with no change in price) and pay extra to order something else on the side.

What really frustrated me was that just a few minutes later, the same waitress allowed the woman at the table next to us to substitute her bacon for exactly the item I had wanted—but was told I couldn’t have, without any issue. It felt really unfair and inconsistent, especially as I'd specifically asked and was told no substitutions were possible at all.

My iced vanilla latte was also brought out wrong three times before I finally received what I ordered.

It’s a shame, because the café is local and came highly recommended, but the inconsistent service and lack of fairness left a...