This was expensive?

[constantnc]

Local garden center..

2 toasted sandwiches with tiny side salad. The sandwich consisted of 2 pieces of bread with meat/cheese.
2 teas
1 fruit tea
£32 😬 for a quick bite to eat...

I never order a JP out - they are so easy to do well at home and cheap to make so always feels like a con. Also Tea; I do a great cup of Yorkshire Tea (loose leaf) at home so Coffee always seems like better value.

You probably guessed wrong because that doesn’t equal 32 🙈

I checked a local garden centre cafe menu and a baked potato starts at £10.99.
I don't think the OP paid too much but it sounds very expensive compared to how much it would have cost if you made it at home.

so garden centers are just oversized cafes with window dressing? Maybe people are willing to pay more for the extra oxygen? Or for somewhere to take their aged in-laws for the afternoon

Whoops 😂I thought there was 4 teas (2 normal and 2 fruit)

I was lookin at menus at one of our garden centres and they wanted £14.99 for an open ciabatya sandwich

Even the local posh one wasn't that bad

🙈😂😂

@tamade , a garden centre is somewhere people go to browse then have a bite to eat. It's an afternoon out for many.
The bite to eat is part of the experience.

i go to garden centres to buy plants so I go to good ones. I usually go alone and don't bother with the cafe. If I went with my mother or a friend, we'd probably have a cup of tea and a sandwich or cake each.

The garden centres probably don't make much from the plants.

We went out for lunch yesterday at a pub. One pie with mash and veg, one beef lasagne with garlic bread and salad, two halfs of cider, came to about the same, total was £34

Our garden centre cafe is packed everyday- mainly with retirees. I just had a look at their menu:

-Fish finger sandwich £15
-Philly cheese stack sandwich £16.50
-Toasted sandwiches from £9
-Jackets from £8, but that is a plain with a side salad Most toppings are £4 extra
-Tea £3

😂

It’s a lot. £6.40 is VAT. How many staff at £12.71/hour plus NI plus pension/annual leave/sick pay etc.? Business rates hiked, rent etc gone up with interest rate rises. Food inflation has been huge the last few years. Even things like commercial bins have gone up a lot. I don’t think people are making much profit. You can just about get a “proper meal” for £32 though.

That's very expensive. My local garden centre does afternoon tea for 2 for £29.90, always a huge selection and we've never been able to fully eat everything served, as so filling.

Do people normally take sandwiches and a flask to a garden centre cafe 😂

They don't have a separate person to buy the produce.

Yo8 think the person who cooks it does the food ordering too. ? 😂

As I work in catering, yes I do.

Teabag are the least of their worries, it'll be staff costs that are bumping it up.

I take it you weren't being serious?

In 2026... probably

That is expensive, at our local garden centre cafe you can get ham / egg & chips and omelette / salad and chips a Diet Coke and coffee for about £25 and it’s actually quite nice .

There is a popular garden centre near us with a cafe. I have never eaten there but have just checked their menu on line.

Toasties are £7.45 and are served with a side salad and cole slaw

Jacket potatoes start at £6.45 for the potato then you add £1.50 for most fillings, so £7.95 to have it with cheese, baked beans or tuna mayo. Again it comes with salad and coleslaw.

Tea costs £3.10 for Yorkshire tea and £3.30 for a speciality tea.

So here I would expect OP's meal to be £24.40.
£32 does seem steep.

Nah, they'll just stop selling food if people don't go.

yes the prices are ridiculous. I was at a garden centre which has a kids soft play inside. They have a coffee hut so no table service. A bottled water or can of fizzy was £2.59 each!!!!!! Utterly insane prices when they will buy them wholesale for pennies.

It sounds a lot when it's added up, but I'd expect a toasted sandwich to cost something like £10.95, and a tea to be something like £3.60. So it would add up to £32.

Same. What a rip off!