Saddleback Farm Shop - West Berkshire

We’ve been to the farm shop for food several times and sadly it’s gone downhill drastically since our last visit. The food was disappointing and there was very few options for lunch. The lady behind the counter was dismissive and rude, she didn’t even wipe down our table. The toilets were disgusting and need a good clean. My partner ordered a honey and almond roasted Camembert which didn’t come with honey or almonds. The chicken in my sandwich was chewy, looked like left overs and was pink- not what I expect for a £9 sandwich with no side! The place is generally looking run down and looks like it’s going under. We won’t be returning after our experience today.

We have been meaning to try this place for a while and finally got there. The carpark was gravel but we managed to squeeze our motorbikes into a tarmac spot. The staff were all very young it was a Sunday) but lovely and friendly and efficient. The coffee came quickly and was good) and the breakfasts not far behind, and they were pretty busy. The food was lovely, quality ingredients and well cooked my husband was in raptures over the bacon. Loos were good and there's a large seating area outside and a sandpit for children. The view is gorgeous.

This is the second time we have visited in the last 3 months and now it will be the last. The food is dreadful; it didn’t used to be like this, it used to be lovely, fresh, hot and presented beautifully. Whoever is in the kitchen now is inexperienced and the food is either stale or rock hard because it’s been ‘microwaved’ for too long. The service is so slow as well even with only 3 tables to serve. I fear this cafe and shop won’t be here by next year unless the owners do something dramatic now and rescue it. I’m so disappointed as this used to be a go to place for us to visit and I didn’t mind paying the high costs for quality and service, but they have both gone now, so I will take my money elsewhere.

We didn’t stay to eat lunch. We arrived at 11:45 and was told we were too late for breakfast and too early for lunch so all we could order was a coffe and a pastry. Not very helpful! I was told that I could not order Eggs Benedict even if we stayed as it was a ‘breakfast item’. So we left and went to another place who straightaway did me an Eggs Benedict and my friend a BLT.

This is such a tragedy! Saddleback used to be a brilliant little cafe and farm shop, but since being taken over it's become apparent the new owners have no idea how to run a cafe. Food service was slow despite there being one other customer in the store. To be served cakes and a warmed up sausage roll took a whopping 30 mins (keep in mind we were the only customers being served). The staff kept forgetting our order which meant we had to keep reminding them that we were missing food from our order. The whole thing was disastrous. What good is spending a fortune doing up the farm shop if the business is unwillingly to train its staff!