Dobbies Garden Centres - Dunfermline Reviews 511

Cheery staff who were kept busy but kept their cool

We had booked the Festive afternoon tea for four of us for Friday 8th December at 15:00hrs. Arrived at 2 minutes to three and surprised that there was no member of staff greeting customers as is the usual situation we have seen on previous visits. Stood waiting for about 5 minutes before a member of staff came over to us. Advised her we were here for the Festive afternoon tea. Shown to a table which was laid out for four people with a reserved sign on it. Unfortunately there was nothing festive about it. Plain white table cloth and green paper napkins. No Christmas music playing ( no music of any sort playing) and so, so cold. The food arrived on a three tiered server. Looked OK but again nothing festive about it. We had ordered the additional pigs in blankets and vol au vents but no gravy as advertised for the pigs in blankets. The sandwiches were acceptable except instead of salmon it was tuna. The scones, jam and cream were also of an acceptable standard as was the selection of small cakes. Two of us had tea and as there were no members of staff to be seen I had to take the teapots to the cafe bar for a refill myself. So in conclusion very, very cold restaurant, absolutely no festive spirit at all, no staff to be seen and not the advertised menu for some parts. We booked this a while ago and we were looking forward to an enjoyable afternoon. So disappointed. I think, Dobbies, you can and should have done so much better.

The service in the restaurant was excellent, very friendy and efficient. The food was lovely. However, the restaurant was much colder than I have experienced before. We both kept our coats on!

Service in restaurant was very slow and had to queue for about 15 minutes before being served.

I usually enjoy visiting Dobbies, but the whole shop was exceptionally, unpleasantly cold. As I was meeting a friend for a coffee, this made the visit very unpleasant. Cut the visit short due to the chill.

Visited cafe Dunfermline yesterday to meet a friend. Cafe was freezing, tea was barely warm and scones all broke up when we tried to cut with disposable knife.
Supervisor explained problems with new flour supplier resulting in problems with scones.
If scones are not edible they should not be sold/ made available to customers - they are charging a premium price for the scones.
We were offered an alternative/ refund. Will need to look for another venue for future meets.

I had booked afternoon tea a couple of months ago as a treat for myself and 2 friends. On arrival, the staff were not expecting us and we were led to a table which had not been cleared by the previous customer.
We suggested we wait back at the Q to allow them to set up.
We were taken to a long table with 3 places set at the end. It was positioned at the door to outside so was absolutely freezing.
We were then told they had run out of salmon and substitute tuna - ridiculous. Our pigs in blankets were barely luke warm.
I had to go and find a member of staff to get more tea - advertised as unlimited tea and coffee. Had to go and look for staff as they hadn't brought it over after 20 minutes.
All in all this was a REALLY disappointing afternoon.
The young lad who greeted us at the start was very polite but he was clearly quite stressed - poor management?
I would not recommend anyone to Dobbies for afternoon tea.

Very friendly girl served us in the cafe. A good range of goods for Christmas.

Everything is so clean and so many things to look for.

I have to complain about recent visit. The scones crumbled like other customer at weekend - not normal but had bought a pack from shop bakery not great that week also I think you should have fast tack till for cold drinks and cakes. Some of the upholstery single chairs can do with a refresh.

Yummy cake and coffee, big, bright and clean store, good products but can be unaffordable for some

Good quality plants in garden section with knowledgeable staff.
Great variety of Christmas items in store. Staff very good in cafe with quick service as it wasn't too busy.
Well work a visit to Dunfermline Dobbies

Used our club card for our free hot drink before purchasing items in the food hall.

Decided to try again for the afternoon 'bogof' on cream scones as the last few times there had been none left. There was a bit of a queue but a staff member offered to get us a table and table service. We were served very quickly with tea and the cream scones which were lovely! Great service, thanks!

Visited the restaurant for coffee and cake.
Nice relaxing atmosphere.
Brilliant cakes strawberry tart was yummy.
Vanilla slice out of this world so fresh!
Visited garden centre and food hall too.
Garden Centre wee bit sparse but getting it ready for Christmas displays so explains why.
Food hall is great love the Waitrose offerings too...Nice choice available.

It is always busy in Dunfermline branch, but there is always a large queue at the counter. Maybe a little more staff or staff that re more attentive at the hot drinks & cake counter. There never seems to be any urgency and it seems tomput the paying customer off.

Drinks and cake were lovely. Was clean and staff friendly.

Dobbies Seedlings Club
On Sunday we attended another fab session, with the children focusing on their senses (smell, taste, touch etc) and taking time to appreciate nature.

A great learning session.
Thank you, Ellen.

Member of staff near the plant section gave great detailed advice

Arrived at 3pm no scone and cream deal it on started at 2pm. There was lots of scones but nobody could make us one. Tables were all needing cleared.