The Courtyard Restaurant & Coffee Shop

After a lovely experience with the apple juicing event my family of 6 called in for lunch, but the welcome was ice cold from the start. Two of the group wearing wellies were instructed to leave them at the door even though they were no dirtier than shoes the rest of us were wearing - and a child with special diet needs was not allowed to eat from his lunch box even though we were choosing lunches for the rest of the group. The lady who I assume is the manager has zero customer service skills so we left and made our way to Macknades where we were welcomed with the customary excellent customer service and food. Hospitality skills are essential at all eateries and a scowl on arrival is not a good indication that a pleasant experience awaits.

Held an MGF and MGTF breakfast meet here.....superb

Went for breakfast here this morning. The staff were a little late arriving to open up so we were amongst the first customers in as soon as they'd arrived. Had two sausage sandwiches a tea and a coffee. I was expecting a wait for the order assuming they'd have to fire up the equipment but our food and drinks arrived in under 5 mins. The sausages were below luke warm and the hot drinks were tepid at best. Pretty certain the sausages had been cooked the previous day and just microwaved, and not even microwaved well! I don't believe it's possible to cook sausages and let them cool to such a low temp in the few minutes it took to serve us our order. The extra point is for the waitress who was polite, courteous and friendly

I booked an afternoon tea for myself & friends for my birthday but unfortunately had to postpone it for 2 weeks as myself & a friend had a nasty virus for 2 weeks. By the time we were able to attend 2 people were on holiday, 1 who has terminal cancer wasn't up to it so it left 4 & we took 2 grandchildren too. The afternoon tea arrived on 1 cake stand plonked in the middle of the table so most of us couldn't reach it, it had 6 scones, 6 pieces of cake & a few finger sandwiches which wasn't even 1 whole sandwich each. The scones were dry, the cake tasted strange, the best bit were the sandwiches just a shame not more of them. Not once were we asked if everything was ok, not once were we asked if we wanted more drinks, 2 people had tea & were given a small teapot that didnt even fill their cups, when we asked for more tea, milk & sugar we had to ask for the milk & sugar twice!!! When I paid I was charged for 7 & told by a very abrupt woman who I think was supposedly the manager that was how many I had booked for. When I pointed out we were given less she said she could put a scone & cake in a box to take away which she did then literally threw the box at me, very professional....NOT!!! Have had other afternoon teas in other establishments & the service was excellent, unfortunately this was terrible & not surprising with the ' managers ' attitude, I suggest she attends a customer service course & take her staff with her!! Most defiinately will not be returning or recommending to anyone, bad customer service all round

Such a lovely lunch, lovely waitresses and amazing food.

Great event for kids meeting bluey for breakfast

We came up here this afternoon and I must admit I was very disappointed. We come here a lot but today was not up to standards. I had bread pudding and it was burnt I couldn’t eat it all. I told the girl and she just said oh. That was the first thing.
Three young girls were on no manager. One said can I take your glass as we are closing. This was about 3-15 ish. I said your website says 4 and she said yes but I have to close. Really not impressed. It gets worse as they locked up and locked a poor man in and he was banging on the window to us. Good job we were there as we got the girls to come back. If not the poor man would have gone out the window and left the cafe vulnerable all nite and with a window open.
If your website says 4 you should not close earlier .

A group of 11 prebooked for afternoon tea.once seated it took 1/2 an hour for the food to come out. The teapots were only 1/2 filled and only 9 scones and 9 pieces of cake were on the plates, we had to ask for the other pieces. They were reluctant to refill the teapots and said we would have to pay. Lovely venue, but it was agreed by the group not to go again.

Having visited the Brogdale Cider festival pretty much every year for the past 5 years I had yet to visit the coffee shop. But having cycled there yesterday I was very impressed by my bacon and Brie baguette. And being able to sit outside in the sun was very much welcome

Had breakfast on a Sunday morning, lovely chilled atmosphere, fantastic staff who are friendly and chatty, great food and drinks. Would highly recommend!

A pleasant experience for my family and I, great service with a smile and delicious food and tea. Will be returning

Visited here today for the 1st time with my daughter and granddaughter, my daughter and I had the afternoon tea ,which was amazing and at only £10 a head,very good value and my granddaughter had a kiddies sausage and chips, which she loved, we asked for ketchup and they gave her a little pot of it, it was extremely busy ,as its half term, so I was glad I pre booked , staff were extremely attentive and overall we had a lovely time, we will certainly be coming back.

Popped in at 310 for a cuppa whilst waiting for our chocolate to cool. The board outside said it closed at 4.We were reluctantly met with a grimace and was told 'we close very soon at 330'. The conversation followed 'we just wanted a couple of drinks of possible please' Met with an eyeroll and "drinks only".It was clear our custom was unwanted as soon as we stepped though the door, and we were made to feel extremely uncomfortable.With the kids badgering me for a drink, I purchased a couple of cans and went for a walk outside in the rain instead. (Yeap made to feel that uncomfortable)It's a real shame, as the cafe looks emaculate and I've heard lovely things about the place. I'm sure if you catch them on a good day, they are friendly and welcoming. Perhaps the half term rush, the muddy floors, grey skies, and rain was enough to take for one day, and I get that.Maybe next time, though, change the sign and a simple "'really sorry guys, we are closing a little early today, but I can grab you some drinks to enjoy outside" would have been a nicer, more appropriate response. ?

It maybe just a one off but our first visit this morning wasn’t as good as we expected it to be. On arrival the Waitress couldn’t find my Reservation and when our breakfast was served it was lukewarm not hot. Disappointed to say the least. Not sure if we’ll be back.

afternoon Tea Excellent, value for money , well presented and was all a very lovely afternoon. Delicious cakes and homemade scones.