Ivy House Kitchen at Groves Nurseries — Restaurant in England

We went to Groves Nurseries a year ago and I wrote a review, I thought the nursery was very good and rated it very highly because not only did it stock things you find in other nurseries but also stocked items I hadn't seen before. The only thing that let it down was the cafe. If you read the review last year you will see why. We thought we would never eat here again, we were heading home from Devon and was looking for somewhere to eat. We spotted the Ivy House Kitchen from the road and were intrigued. So glad we risked it, WHAT a Difference a Year makes. Groves have not only upgraded the cafe they had built a whole new one also sending the standards through the roof compared to last year. The quality of the food was to a very high standard a good variety and not a bad price. I asked for a side that was not on the menu and they did not hesitate to accommodate my request. The staff were friendly and helpful totally different to the low standard last year. The coffee was also of high standard. The toilets were clean and fresh also a high standard. One thing I would suggest is the sign asking customers to find a table first then order should be place so it can't be missed as at the moment I did notice a few that missed the sign which did hold things up for a while as they looked for a table number to give the staff after they had ordered their food. I so look forward to revisiting here in the future to find out if the standards have remained or have slipped. Well done to the management and staff such a pleasing surprise Visited here again a few weeks ago and glad to see standards are still very high, the only thing I was disappointed about was the chips. I had told friends how good they were and the curved shape helped them not only be different than everywhere else but crispy. They were really nice. I was really looking forward to having these chips again but unfortunately they have changed them. Don't get me wrong they are still very nice just disappointed they are following everyone else in the shape, it just made it feel more fun and special having the other style chip. Oh and there was no salad on the side like before when I had the burger which was a...

am local to the area and took my mother and dog in for a coffee on a rainy Monday, I had a white hot chocolate and mum had a latte which were both beautiful, I had visited the garden centre many times but never took time to visit the restaurant. Just as we were coming to the end of our drinks, a lady approached us and told us that dogs arent allowed on the carpeted area and could we move - she then preceded to stand there looking at us, like she was going to be chaperoning us to a new table. I replied that it's ok, we were just leaving and started gathering my stuff. She then said 'dogs are only welcome in the conservatory and another customer has pointed out you have a dog in here' - she had already told us we were in the wrong place, I had already apologised and was moving and it was like she was trying to embarrass us. Bearing in mind, my small chihuahua was lying on the floor making no fuss at all so I am unsure why that would have provoked complaints. I said that I wasnt aware they were only allowed in the conservatory and she said there were signs.. we later looked for the signs and my mum went to tell the lady that there wasnt any, where she caught the lady talking to the colleague behind the till rudely about the situation! Of course I dont mind being told to move areas with my dog but this lady was patronising and rude, she clearly continued to argue with me when I told her that I was unaware.. her response was 'customers just know not to go on the carpet with dogs'.. well I'm sorry but I didnt 'just know' and wouldn't have 'just known' without signs telling me otherwise. Very disappointed as I was recommended this place due to my mother and father visiting every week but didnt expect such a...

The decor and ambience is lovely but this is my last visit.

There are no vegan options for a quick coffee and cake. I was offered a snack bar (I've no problem with that), but good job I checked the ingredients before tucking in. It contained milk!

OK, so there is nothing I can eat, I can just about live with that (although vegan cakes are simple to make so there really is no excuse nowadays) but giving me a snack bar with milk is unacceptable!

My choice to be vegan is lifestyle, but imagine if I'd asked for vegan because I had an allergy and was given it...

Please train your staff on dietary requirements and consider vegan (and other) dietary options.

I'm not the only vegan in Bridport that would like to come here more often.

Thank you.

update ====== As I paid i mentioned to the assistant that there were no vegan options. She said "We don't get asked often"...

OK, so how about just baking inclusively? You had scones, if they were made with rice or oat milk and vegan spread NO-ONE would be able to tell, but I could have had one. They don't need to be special vegan ones.

How about biscuits, people eat Oreos, hobnobs, ginger nuts, bourbon biscuits without thinking. They're all vegan.

I'm not asking you to bake extra cakes for me, I'm asking you to bake inclusively so the maximum number of people can enjoy the food. Good business...