Lowden Garden Centre - Melksham

Rae M. A.

A really beautiful garden centre with lots of lovely things for sale. The cafe is great, especially the outdoor seating area and the food is excellent. Highly recommend.

Hazel

Disappointing Experience – Rude Staff & Poor Communication

I visited Lowden Café with my 1-year-old daughter and my autistic grandad, expecting a nice meal based on what I saw on their website. Nowhere did it mention that they don’t offer walk-in service for food.

From the moment we arrived, the experience was terrible. We unknowingly walked through an area they apparently didn’t want customers to enter—despite it being a normal path with zero signage. Instead of politely guiding us, we were met with rudeness from the staff.

Things only got worse when we tried to order food for my daughter. I pleaded with them, but they dismissively informed me that they "don’t cater for children anyway." The lack of empathy and hospitality was shocking.

If you're looking for a welcoming, family-friendly place—this is not it. Poor communication, unhelpful staff, and an unwelcoming atmosphere made this a deeply frustrating visit. Wouldn’t recommend.

Paul H.

Lovely eating place although so popular may need to book on busy days. Small cafe attached, more spontaneous. Not the largest selection of plants the winter day we visited but a nice indoor area so suitable also in wet and colder conditions.

Ruth G.

I've only had coffee and cake but the selection of cakes is excellent, and too delicious to resist, so be warned!!! You do need to book a table as it's very popular. It has a friendly atmosphere.

Christoper P.

im not a person for giving 5 stars, but in this case, it's a must. The garden centre has a great variety of products, all that you expect . The restaurant is very good. lots of seating in doors and out. The food is just first class. With a wide selection/ choice. The chef's cook the best roast in the area. we could not fult it. All the staff are very friendly and polite , nothing is too much trouble. I would recommend that you book in advance.

Andy A.

Love Lowden - especially the restaurant. Always a first class meal with first class ingredients. Not the cheapest place to eat out, but you get what you pay for!
Can get a bit hot in the warmer months, but there's an option to eat outside if the weather is decent.

The shop is very good - the displays are very appealing and inclde some home-wares as well as plants and gardening supplies.

Some great options for larger specimen trees.

They do have a loyalty card, but be sure to present it before paying for anything as its too late afterwards. (Also, they don't ask you if you have a card!)

Michael B.

Have heard many positive reviews of this place so we tried it this morning for breakfast. Lovely setting in the restaurant/cafe. We arrived at about 10am, placed our order and waited for about 30 mins before our food arrived. We all had the £13 Lowden Breakfast. Overall it was just about okay, spoiled by the egg on one of the breakfasts being burnt on the bottom - it shouldn’t have been served! It was replaced on request. But the main observation was that the food was not served on even warm plates so the food went cold very quickly. Well, to be fair, the food was not hot when it arrived at the table.
It has the makings of a really good breakfast but the catering/kitchen staff need more attention to details.

Ricky P.

Brilliant lunch, great coffee and an even better millionaire shortbread (cookie one I think) which we haven't stopped talking about.
For a cafe in this setting, I expected it to be more expensive, but for the money you get a great amount of food, a large selection with a lot of specials (my wife had the bacon brie and cranberry quiche) and you are not rushed out.

As we were leaving, our 10 day old baby needed feeding and we sat back down with help being offered by members of staff too.

I only got a picture of my food, New York style deli toasted sourdough sandwich.