Petersham Nurseries, Petersham

We had been before and really enjoyed the lunch. But on this occasion, we went to the Petersham Nurseries Caf Summer which they have at certain times of the year with 4 other friends and we were hugely disappointed. We were seated and asked if we'd like a Prosecco to begin with (as that was included in the £85 pp 4 course set menu, food only .!) and that was the first and last time we had any interaction with the staff. It seemed from that point forward, the only time we could get anyone's attention was when they were travelling to and from the kitchen. Getting their attention to order wine and not least some water for the table was becoming frustrating by this time.

The entr e came out which I can only describe as the most boring and bland entr e I think I've seen, especially for this money. Strips of a root vegetable with a blob of hollandaise sauce - that was it.

The main, a Bouillabaisse which presented and seasoned well but again a small serving really and the fish wasn't great and absolutely full of bones.

Cheese; a slice of blue and we had to ask for some bread.

Dessert was a tart that came out in various portion sizes on the 6 plates for our table. One plate had 2 thin slices which they must have thought were just too thin to try and serve individually so they pushed them together on the plate which then made it rather obviously larger than the other servings at our table! Where's Gordon Ramsey when you need him?? Again having to grab one of the service staff walking past our table to order a dessert wine was incredibly frustrating.

And finally, almost 3 hours later, we had to ask for the bill as our taxi was now waiting outside (parking is very difficult and not at all encouraged). We told the waiter that we were not paying the "optional service" charge. He never asked why, offered any apology or had the slightest interest as to why. So we told him anyway - that we had almost no service whatsoever and were largely disappointed overall.

To top it all off when we asked for my wife's coat the lady kindly held it for my wife to put on but said absolutely nothing in the process nor as we walked out the door! We left completely frustrated, still hungry, disappointed and a feeling of being "ripped off" for this £85 per person 4 course set menu, particularly as we had said to our friends how much we enjoyed it the last time we went for lunch.

This is a really unusual restaurant, located at Peterham Nurseries (a plant nursery/garden centre).

Its very 'rustic' with the tables sitting at the end of the garden centre building directly on the mud floor.

Its got a great local reputation and when you go you realise why. The food is fantastic and the service is very friendly, efficient and informative.

The only negatives Id say is that it is quite expensive for a lunch, due to the setting its not great for transportation (not much parking nearby) and the menu is very limited (3-4 dishes per course only)

That said, we loved it there and we'll defintely go back.