Harlow Garden Centre in Epping Forest

Cafe gone down hill! Garden centre is still lovely.

Lovely garden centre & cafe. Shame the cafe was cold, but food was good. (American Pancakes and bacon) Enjoyed looking around the Xmas decorations.

What a lovely place, the tea shop had great choice and the staff were so friendly and helpful.

The Garden Centre itself is fantastic and I can't fault it! However, we've visited the cafe a couple of times now - the first visit with some of the younger staff was lovely, they were very polite and the service was fast! Today, I was greeted by an older woman whose tone and abruptness towards me was just downright rude to be honest. The whole issue was over needing a table number to order, after saying that there was no number on our table, she very bluntly said that all tables have numbers and that hot food orders need table numbers (which in itself is fair and makes sense) but I again emphasises that there definitely was no number on the table we sat at and pointed to the table we were at. She repeated her previous comment with more abruptness to which I then said "right, okay then". I then proceeded to gather my family and leave the cafe. I've been in customer service roles myself and there's days when I have been stressed and we've been busy but never have I ever spoken to a customer like that. Absolutely disgusting.

Had lots of gift ideas. Plenty of Christmas trees as well

This garden centre is well positioned for a meet up for people travelling from different areas. We regularly like looking around the garden centre after a lunch to spend time together. Garden Centre. We like exploring and often purchase good plants. Some reduced as well as normal prices. Good range. Cafe - We only go because of its good location. £7.45 for a small bowl of soup with the cheapest sliced bread available is not really acceptable. Honestly there is absolutely nothing pleasant about this. Soup is acceptable but the bread is like going back years. Surely some ‘nice’ bread not too much to expect given the cost? Going out should feel like a treat but we wouldn’t even have this bread at home let alone when paying for a meal! Some of our party choose to have tea in preference to the coffee which really is dreadful. Most of our party are keen coffee drinkers but choose not to when this is our location. Says a lot! Shame the cafe lets the place down. We would spend longer if the cafe offered acceptable food / drink. Staff in cafe were helpful yesterday. Not always the case! We appreciated this.

Plenty of choice at a good price

Nice garden centre with alot of options. A nice little cafe for food too.

umm my favorite place on earth like I love this place this is my whole life wjjwjwjdushwksjdj

I've visited this garden centre for a few years now when I meet up with my parents, as it's a good mid point. It really has gone downhill in that time. The selection of gifts is good, but the range and quality of plants are not so. The cafe is a big part of our get together, and that is becoming very disappointing. Tables and cutlery are dirty, and the food is a poor standard. As for the staff, most are pleasant and helpful, but there is an older woman who serves behind the counter in the cafe who is really unpleasant. I see others have referred to her, some one described her as 'chewing a wasp', which is quite accurate!

Just had lunch here, staff don't know how to put 3 orders through , my poor mum ended up with nothing and the two meals that did come were cold. Dreadful.

Lovely restaurant lots of gift ideas. It's christmas

Harlow, store , bought 2 bird boxes, had 2 different prices, on offer, obviously bought the cheaper option, went to pay price came up different that was displayed, staff member went to check the price sign mysteriously disappeared within minutes, staff member denied moving it,have complained, very unnecessary to have denied this, only a few pounds disappoin ted Peter Cooper

There is one elderly waitress that should not be doing this job, not customer friendly at all, the others are so friendly, I should not be sighed at because YOU put the wrong order on the system!

Lovely garden centre with ag wide choice of flowers and garden products. The cafe food is nice but tables and floors could do with a clean, as could the cutlery. Waiting staff were very pleasant.

Dirty tables ,filthy cutlery ,no serviettes ,floor around the table area looked like it had food tipped from previous customers .menus dirty and grimy Disgusting and totally unacceptable , I live 100 mile away , and was visiting with family ,but only time I will come here again ,is to demand to see the manager ,I will be visiting family again in 17 days time ,so I may just do that . I didn't want to spoil my family outing this time . How can it be acceptable to expect customers to dine in such poor conditions and surroundings . With dirty cutlery ,tables and floor .the food itself to be fair was really nice ,except for the advertised gourmet salad which was a joke it was pre bought mixed leaf with 1 wedge of tomato and 2 slices of cucumber ,but the damage had already been done previously ,witnessing the surrounding filth. If the public areas are left like this for customers to see ,what are the conditions like behind the scenes ? It's off putting to say the least ,Management sort yourselves out and improve standards and ask yourself would you pay to be eat in such surroundings. I am an ex chef of 49 years ,you should be ashamed , Lady who cleared the table was nice and pleasant and very chatty which was nice!

I was able to purchase what I needed and stopped to have refreshments in their cage which was good.

I love this garden centre but I felt overwhelmed entering as on the left it was Christmas decorations and on the right autumnal decorations and Halloween decorations, why all at once? Plants look really nice and healthy. I recommend this garden centre and the cafe because it has a good feel about it even with all the seasons.

Nice place and cafe very good but a little pricey

Well stocked with pretty much everything you need for the garden. Great selection of plants and garden essentials. Nice mix of home goods too

Loads of parking, a good cafe inside, and things that relate to time...ie, Halloween, Christmas as well as the normal. I had a nice time there and the staff were friendly and helpful

Always a great place to pick up garden bits. A great selection and quality of plants and seasonal accessories for the home and garden. Its our go to nursery. Also has a great cafe with good food and drink.

Well stocked & helpful staff with plenty of parking & easy access & good cafe

Slightly expensive perhaps but They are well stocked with lots of good quality plants and interesting new goods for the garden. I always get new ideas there.

Food was average, slightly stale bread on sandwich, little filling in panini. Pot of tea for three people had TWO teabags in it. First three knives I picked up were dirty. Asked for mayonnaise but had to wait while waitress finished her conversation with a friend she was cuddling to say hello. Won’t be coming again.

£7 for a sausage roll. Prawn sandwich filling really watery making bread soggy. Salad on plate obviously soaked in salt water and was too salty to eat. 2 drinks ordered with food and bill around £25. Not worth the money. No teaspoon put with drinks. No serviettes to be seen No condiments available Disappointed. All in all the whole place ( restaurant and shop) overpriced and overrated

Great place full of toot and bits you need

I meet a friend here for coffee, a cake and a chat. It’s a nice garden centre but the cafe has its problems. Mainly one of the waitresses. I ordered a tea cake, gave my number which was sitting on the table. The waitress brought the tea cake and seemed to not know which table to go to. I said I think that’s ours and she got quite cross - this isn’t meant to be table 4 she picked up our number and gave us number 6. It was as if we had deliberately swopped the number. To be honest the tea cake was thin and quite stale. It’s a shame the centre doesn’t read the reviews and put some training into place. I know you could say it’s a one off but it seems it wasn’t just us!!

Not good at all. Pricey egg mayo sandwich£9 that was mostly egg white & thin mayo. Was not busy.. Had to serve ourselves drinks from fridge - the one I wanted was out of stock staff not bothered. Last summer the food was great and the atmosphere lively.

I like coming to Harlow Garden centre. They normally have what you need or want. The staff are friendly and polite and very helpful too. Prices are good but if you become a member you get great deals too.

Just a big thank you to the kind lady on check out today. I was strugling with 3 large bags of compost . She advised me that I could leave my trolley just inside the building as I wanted to browse around the store. On returning she said to park my car just outside in the drive close to the checkout , then she helped me lift the bags into the boot of my car. It made life so much easier for me as I am elderly now. Thanks again . Regards Paul

Excellent garden centre with a fine cafe and very helpful staff.

5 stars thanks to the kind help and knowledge given by Daniel today. 🙌. 👏👏👏

Unfortunately they had run out of the rose variety I was after.

Disappointing cafe. They didn't have a number of things they advertised. Children liked their food. My wife left hers and she thought it was very average.

Lovely place to choose from a huge variety of plants and to enjoy a cup of tea in a coffee shop.

We read the signage outside which said dogs welcome throughout centre miss small part at bottom dogs not welcome in restaurant so sat and ordered. Then approached by catering assistant who had been sent out by manager to tell us dogs not allowed in restaurant very kindly said we could finish our drinks we complained signage very confusing and she agreed so not the first to be in the wrong. Not sure why manager could not come out himself but sent someone else. Not as dog friendly as signage would want you to believe

A grand place to spend an afternoon. It has a cafe too. Very handy with friendly staff and loos! 🤓

I love a trip to Harlow Garden Centre. Great quality plants and gardening/outdoor products. Plus an excellent coffee shop. The colleagues are always happy to help with plant queries (I’m not an experienced gardener), which plants to buy and aftercare etc. I recently bought an expensive BBQ, the aftercare provided by Lisa was exceptional. Prompt replies by phone/email and positive throughout. Thank you!

Amazing garden centre. Sadly the cafe lets them down. Dirty grubby tired cramped institutionalised. Disorganised. Could a goldmine

Nice place to visit, never packed and staff always helpful.

This was my first time here, the garden centre had quite alot of beautiful plants, and everything you need for a garden. We did eat in the cafe, it was very slow to get served, and it's quite expensive.

such a great place, wide choice of good quality healthy plants, home decor garden tools gadgets pets and children's toys. Nice area for a quick bite or a decent meal. Good price water feature too. I did get asked if I'd paid for an item but I had the receipt which was not asked for. All good

Spacious garden centre with masses of outdoor & indoor plants, all the usual gardening supplies, big gift section for all pockets and a large reasonably-priced café with indoor & outdoor seating. Plenty of parking, easy to find just off M11 J7 roundabout (Hastingwood turnoff).Staff are lovely. Plants aren't the cheapest but good quality and there's always something on special offer

I have been dragged around plenty of garden centres, this one I went to under my own free will! Firstly we found the car park to be a bit all over the place, there was some work going on, on the day of our visit that probably didn't help but still could do with a bit of organising! The garden centre itself has plenty of areas to wonder through, a couple areas perhaps not set out to my own personal liking, but nice enough! Has everything you would expect from a garden centre plus a bit more. As a bonus if you have kids (and assuming it's open) there is a miniature railway on the same site (opposite end of car park). Ie. You can bribe the kids with a ride on the train if they behave going round the garden centre! 😉

Fantastic staff, particularly in the Cafe...

Very big and so much to see and buy! Staff are lovely and cafe food was lovely but very pricey.

Great choice of plants - a particularly good sale area - lots of tempting items for home and garde, well set out with an excellent café and easy parking. An excellent place to visit.

Great selection and breadth of plants and sundries. Centre kept immaculate by people that care. If gardening is your thing you will not be disappointed by a visit here. Not afraid to put the garden in garden centre first.

It has everything you need for your garden and more, fantastic restaurant.

Looks small from the outside but is huge. Great food with the option to eat outside amongst the flowers.

Well stocked and although beautifully laid out in sections, its vast, so allow plenty of time. Good selection of gifts as well as plants. Helpful staff. Wld recommend and will visit again. Gave 4 stars as found prices a little high

Lovely quality plants and a great choice. Resturant v slow long waiting time to be served

We shall not visit this garden centre again for lunch. The food was awful and expensive. I had a salmon and broccoli quiche which had been reheated so that the salmon was hard and broccoli burnt. The portion of salad was a few lettuce leaves and 2 little tomatoes (£3.45). Also the café was very noisy. However the staff were pleasant.

Has very nice selection of plants , and all the bits you'd expect in a garden centre, with cafe also

Great choice of plants, garden accessories and tools. Nice restaurant on site.

Great range of plants and the cafe serves very good food and drinks.

Great all rounder and here my purchase

Nice Healthy Plants Helpful Staff Very Nice Cashier Who Was Very Helpful And Explained The Blue Diamond Card And Open Account For Me And Took The Time To Explain To Me Thank You

Great selection of plants, tree, gifts etc. Also a lovely little cafe

Good location, plenty of parking places and a very wide selection of products. Some great, unique ideas for the home and gifts. Cafe is also quite good but can take a while to get served. Everyone is very friendly though so a nice place to spend a few hours.

You can spend a lot of money here. Plants and ornaments galore. Lovely little cafe too!

Garden centre is lovely. However could you please ask customers to push any wing mirror they nudge? I came out of there this afternoon. Got on M11 and couldn't see out of wing mirror. Fortunately I was lucky and just got my wing mirror smashed by a van. Cost £333

Stopped for a break on way back from Cambridge, lovely Garden centre with great cafe, recommend the breakfast

Great fish and chips! Generous portion!

Emergency pit stop for the loo. We're normally quote considerate and buy something on the way out after using the facilties, but these were so disgusting we left as soon as we were able to!

We've used this garden centre for many years, always a good range of stock at decent prices, the plants we've had have always been healthy and grown on strongly, recommended

What a wonderful garden centre lots of indoor plants and a great gift section along with all the usual supplies and plants. Nice cafe with a good selection.

First stop coffee shop. Great. Then off to find all that I wanted. I wasn't disappointed. They had a brilliant selection, including a great bramley apple tree I wanted for my garden. The staff were very friendly and helpful and offered to help get my tree into my car. Went home very pleased with myself.

This is a good garden centre although can be alittle on the expensive side but their cafe/restaurant does sell good food although the line is nearly always long to order your food/drinks but we do like it there. Staff are polite and friendly and also helpful.

Tasty cake, pleasant staff. Big selection of bbq gear and lighting, good range of plants.

Visited Wednesday morning, only few people so seemed had the centre to ourselves. Had breakfast, sat in corner over looking all the outside plants. All the food was lovely and the staff was very friendly and helpful. We signed for Blue Diamond, as one of the items went from £45 to £30, it was win, win. Large range of all gardening merchandise, but garden furniture and plants stood out. Well worth a visit Very good range of Christmas decorations, nice to have coloured coded sections, silver x gold etc. Shame, the cafe food looked nice but all tables occupied on a Wednesday so much be good. Would recommend a visit

Very disappointed me and my mum went in to the cafe we stood quite a while there was employee doing the washing up didn't acknowledge us stood there and when she did she gave me a look that i shouldnt be there then we finally got served got the impression that she didn't really want to serve us or didnt want to be there we went and sat out side we sat down and it was really hot and was making my mum feel sick their was another couple sat in the shade they finished and got up and left so me and my mum got up and moved into the shade then within 5mins of us there the same lady come out and shut the shade down without saying anything and giving me a dirty look and it was a very hot day it was only 16.40 and i know you shut at 5pm i dont think i will be returning or recommending to anyone at all

Visited on Sunday 19th may for lunch with my wife how shocked i was ! As I entered the cafe it still has the same greasy spoon cafe smell to it that's been the same for years. The best was to come ... as I walked outside for a table the ones that were free had plates piled high and I mean high full of food with wasps etc buzzing around .... so i started to clean up to make a space to be told by people already seated visitors they had complained but nothing had been done ?? So here's the real issue when I go to van Haigh also blue diamond 🔹️ have I ever seen this ? NOT AT ALL .. what a disgusting disaster that is only made worse by the poor attitude of the staff that need re training or move on and go work elsewhere. The only day I didn't have my phone was this .. lucky for them as the pics would have shamed you even more so sort it out people are paying you and for what ?

Great selection of quality plants, but came for the roast, Dissapointed, not on today as was told not enough staff. Lady next to me was told off for using too large a plate for the scone she had. No small plates were near them. Didnt come here for a row, she whispered to me. Ended up paying £15.95 for fish and chips, the fish was huge though.

Not only plants but a whole lot more. A great place to look for gifts. Had a lovely cup of tea in the cafe.

Fantastic selection of plants, lovely cafe and loads of parking. Really helpful staff - in particular Daniel who went out of his way to help us

Over priced with just a typical selection..

This was only my second visit in a few months. The garden centre itself is lovely but the cafe staff need a kick up the proverbial. Slow beyond belief on both occasions. Too much talking by staff operating till and those making hot drinks. More customer attention please and more tills needed. It’s a busy cafe so you can queue for at least 20 minutes to place your order. My friend and I after we’d eaten our lunch which was nice enough decided on going elsewhere for another coffee & cake as couldn’t face the wait of an even longer queue than the one we first stood in. Please sort it out.

I came from Oslo, Norway, even alone, to buy vegetable seeds! And I was NOT disappointed! Got exactly what I came for - and more! I can recommend Harlow Garden Center to anyone!

A good selection of a variety of goods. Staff in plant section seem well trained. Tills are always well manned

Very helpful and knowledgeable staff

I love this place. Gorgeous little garden centre with a lovely cafe. Good verity of plants and friendly staff.

Over priced compared with all other garden centres and nurseries. However the nice people at Harlow Garden Centre have confirmed that these prices reflect a 5 Year hardy plant GUARANTEE. 🙈🫣🤔😉 As they are part of Blue Diamond. So. On that account. Not so expensive but a fantastic guarantee. Better than a plant insurance 😂🤣 thanks for your immediate reply.

Although these prices are at least 20 to 50% dearer than other places. Ive been reminded. They are cheaper than most due to 5 year hardy plant GUARANTEE. On all. plants, shrubs and trees. That then makes Harlow Garden Centre cheaper than everyone else. Brilliant you've have s GUARANTEE. They have an exceptionally well sung eesident Robin too😉

Healthy plants, it's like being in a sweet shop, you would like them all..

Great morning out got what needed plants good, and had a bit of lunch in cafe. Very nice.

2a very nice garden centre staff very friendly and helpful plants well looked after. Cafe very nice

Everything needed for farming, in addition to a restaurant and a cafe

Avoid. Staff can’t cope and food took 40 minutes to materialise. Jacket potato overcooked when it eventually arrived.

Good quality plants but a little pricey !

Good place to visit and get some cute items. A tad pricey, plants are cheaper in other places but here seems to last longer. Nice and big to wonder around with dogs and prams are easily accessible.

Lots of choice of plants, gardening tools, homeware items, gifts and more. The cafe is good but can be busy which means service can be slow. Reasonable prices.

Great cafe and store for browsing odd bits like candles etc garden section great and huge but you pay the price compared to a smaller garden center.

Comprehensive stock little on the expensive side, Blue Diamond has good reputation always worth a visit

Would be nice if they kept the opening times accurate on google. Wasted time travelling to garden centre and back.

Expensive and disappointing. They sold a box of summer fruit seeds at £20 when it was advertised at 4.99 and the seeds in it had to be planted by Nov 2023. Won't be going back

This is a review of the cafe. I'd recommend cakes and tea etc but not the hot food, which we found to be of a low standard.

Good selection of garden and other items to browse through. Reasonable prices and plenty of parking space. I did not get to try the cakes in the restaurant alas

Great quantity and variety of stock. But I always feel a bit annoyed about being funneled through the cushions/bbqs/homeward stuff before you get to the actual plants 🙂