Harvester Unicorn Plympton — Restaurant in Plymouth

“When Chaos Meets Chainsaw Burgers: A Harvester Tale to Forget”

Ah, Harvester, where memories of fresh salads and smiling staff go to die. My latest visit was the culinary equivalent of stepping on a LEGO barefoot—unnecessarily painful and oddly hilarious in hindsight.

Let’s start with Jackie. Jackie was the embodiment of “customer service is optional.” Abrupt? Sure. Smiling? Absolutely not. Watching her sigh as if grabbing a vinegar bottle required the strength of a thousand warriors was truly a spectacle. Then, in a masterclass of efficiency, she placed our empty vinegar bottle on a table being prepared. Why bother with such herculean tasks like replacing an empty bottle with one that had actual vinegar?

We attempted to order calamari. “None in, been the same for weeks,” she quipped, as though calamari were some mythical creature no longer caught in these parts. Onto the refit: whoever designed this place clearly had a sense of humor. Salad sauces and bread rolls were placed in the busiest staff thoroughfare, a corridor of chaos where staff and plates collided like bumper cars. One of these collisions involved my plate being knocked out of my hands by a poor server. Not their fault—the layout is more dangerous than a reality show obstacle course.

Now, the food. Oh, the food. I ordered the Beef Classic Burger, which I can only assume was named ironically. Cutting it required either a chainsaw or a gym membership. It had all the flavor of damp cardboard, saved only by the bacon and cheese desperately trying to salvage its reputation. The chips tasted like they’d been fried in the tears of previous customers—hinting strongly at oil that probably pre-dates the refit.

And the famous salad bar? Once a Harvester highlight, now reduced to a sad collection of not olives and empty condiment bottles. One sauce took 25 minutes to replenish after multiple requests. Were they making it from scratch? Milking cows for the dressing? Who knows.

When I raised my concerns about the inedible burger, the kind lady who seated us was apologetic, understanding, and shocked that Jackie hadn’t checked in with us. She issued a refund, proving that someone here still had a pulse and a sense of decency.

But the grand finale? Waiting ages to pay at the bar because no one seemed to notice we still existed.

Dear Harvester, your refit is a masterpiece of poor planning, your staff (excluding one gem) seem to be in the running for the “Least Interested Employee” awards, and your food? Let’s just say I won’t be needing a burger-flavored chainsaw any time soon.

If you’re looking for a dining experience that’s part sitcom, part disaster movie, and entirely forgettable, Harvester’s got...

Such a shame to write this as we used to come here a lot and always enjoyed it, but this was a dreadful meal. We arrived at 1 o’clock and were seated in the bar. We’d requested the restaurant when booking, but didn’t see this as a problem as it was a large table in the corner. We waited and waited and were eventually asked for drink orders 20/25 minutes after sitting down. We said we’d order the food at the same time as it had been so long and weren’t sure when we’d next be served. The waitress came over with the drinks and said she’d be back with the salad bowls. Another 10 minutes went by and she never returned so I went up to the bar and got the bowls myself. The salad bar had no sweetcorn, no white rolls and no butter. It was in a bit of a mess with bits of stray pasta present in other compartments. The lettuce was turning brown after sitting in dirty water in the bottom of the tray. The cucumber was slimy And congealed together. We ate what we could and eventually 1 hour and 20mins after arriving we were brought our food. It was just really bad. My wife and I both had barbecue chicken stack. I’ve enjoyed this dish before, but it was completely different. The chicken was rubbery and tasteless and the bacon was fatty and undercooked. The new addition of weird cornbread cubes should not have been added as they tasted soggy and horrible. The chips were utterly flavourless and pale and none of us ate them. The garlic bread was greasy and soggy. We felt sorry for the waitress as she had way too many tables to cover and they were completely understaffed. She apologised and we were given a tenner off, but it didn’t make up for wasting two hours of our Sunday. It might be teething problems with the new menu, but we won’t find out as I doubt we’ll...

Having been to the Harvester in Plympton before, I decided to take 2 friends there. It seemed a good choice as I love a good salad bar and in the past, this was true. However now, it is miniscule and most of the containers were either empty or almost so, meaning my order of unlimited salad was null and void. The choice of salad dressings was greatly lacking, one being mayonnaise in a jug. Looking at the others, I have no idea what they were as there were no labels. There was hardly any bread in the bread baskets and no sign of anyone replenishing either salad or bread. Value for money doesn't exist here. Everything is drastically over-priced and based on the appearance of my friend's meals, did not look at all appealing. There was no full-fat cola choice, only diet or no sugar. The service was initially good, until the dishes were taken and we were left over 30 minutes waiting for the bill to be brought to us ... it never was. We tired of waiting amid the noise so got up to leave. I then waited 15 minutes at the reception desk for someone to pay. It took me telling one member of staff that I was about to leave before someone decided I was not stood there for my health. While our waitress for polite and easy-going, every other member of staff I spoke to was rude and really could not have cared. £53 for 3 people to eat lunch and one of those lunches was 6.99. If you want civility and value for money, go elsewhere. If you want to throw your money to the wind, the Harvester Plympton will...