Merkins Farm Cafe — Restaurant in England

The layout when you get there on the ground, wasn't what I expected at all: A large and quite well-hidden gravel carpark, leading up to a modern barn with a building plugged into part of it. Walk through a passageway, and you're amongst picnic tables and covered seating in sheds & carriages, set before a nice open space/view. It all makes sense from a planning permissions perspective though: They're not allowed to add permanent structures that aren't within the barn's footprint, and they're not allowed to tarmac the carpark. Meanwhile, they have huge amounts of spare land, which they want to use as effectively as possible.

We visited as a party of nine, after our walk & talk session. It was more surprising that it was already crowded: It's off a very narrow road.

Even I pushed the boat out and caved into a bit of food too: It was the first time socialising after a long break, so there's no point making half-hearted engagements. The others did much the same, although at least two of us had a full breakfast-type meal.

The little cakes and teas/coffees took a little while to arrive, which was puzzling as most of their components were pre-made. Oddly, the meals took exactly the same amount of time. Normally that's a sign of everything being cooked from scratch, to order, which mostly wasn't the case here. You have to cut them some slack though, as they were already rushed off their feet before we arrived.

There was also quite a bit of fully-indoor seating, and it looked like they had toilets in a separate of the same building, reachable only by going outside, which seemed like a sensible separation.

Despite their busy-ness, there were no shortage of staff to ask if they preferred us to sit first or order at the counter, and infact they found us first. (It's order & pay at the counter, then explain where you want to be sitting, and they bring it out to you.)

It looks like they also have plans to do something with the remaining empty part of their barn, so it'll be interesting...

Update ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ still fantastic. Had a very nice sandwich for lunch. Absolutely chock full of cheese and a delicious apple chutney. If you try the Truly Scrumptious Hot Chocolate, make sure you book time after to grab a nap as you bask in it's wonderful comfort!

Still wasn't allowed to sample a cake!!

Highly recommend!

Original ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Have heard about the magical powers of this place, but never before ventured this far.

To be fair, if you didn't know what it was you would probably drive past it without realising - which is possibly part of its hidden gem charm.

As you drive in, you have a beautiful view over the Wiltshire countryside - and even on a fairly chilly March day it was just glorious to behold.

The cafe itself is very easy to access, nice disabled parking - thank you. There are tables and sheds outside for al fresco but we decided to dine indoors. Looks very inviting as you walk in and all the staff looked genuinely happy - which is nice - and we were seated within a couple of minutes.

Good choices for all tastes, including vegan, veggie and gluten free options. Decided to go for the Veggie Breakfast. The Husband had the hash browns.

Both meals came out quickly, and both were delicious. If I had one niggle, my beans were cold - but I eat in a funny order so it was more my fault than the cafe's.

Also had a glorious hot chocolate - with vegetarian marshmallows (thank you), while him indoors had a pot of tea.

Overall, great location, fantastic staff, very good food. If you're in the area, it's worth a look... but don't tell anyone else...

They also do lovely cakes, but I wasn't allowed to sample one... Maybe...

We have visited this cafe many times in the past and always really enjoyed the experience, however it it has been several months since our last visit, only to find that things appear to have gone down hill. So what's changed ? Well for some unknown reason, several firm family favourites have been removed and the breakfast range streamlined. Gone are favourites like Eggs Benedict and avocado and eggs...why? Whilst the service remains friendly and welcoming, I am not sure whether the chef has changed, as even the food quality appears to have taken a dive (unless we just visited on an off day). In the absence of several favourites, I went for the bagel which was not toasted and soggy. We waited around half an hour for the food to come and only then was I advised that they had run out of avocado so they had added extra tomato relish to instead, resulting the only flavour being the relish. Our son went for the big breakfast and whilst it was huge, again the quality was not what it used to be, with nearly half the plate being undercooked chips. It was reasonably busy when we visited, but not once did anyone ask whether we were happy with the food. Overall not the quality and choice that it used to be. A real shame as we had always loved this place for our impromptu...