Simpsons

A popular local place to visit with a large car park. Mind you might have to go to the back to find a space during peak times. Wide variety of inventory. Self-serving restaurant where most tables have panoramic views over Inverness. Highly recommended.

Great selection of food, amazing service, the team here work like a well oiled machine, services are impeccable. The gardens centre its self is huge and beautiful with plenty of parking, indoor and outdoor products.

This was my first visit… it won’t be my last! Plenty of parking, disabled access and loads of items for sale, however, I was there for the food! We had coffee and cake, expertly made by very friendly staff. We stayed for lunch which was excellent. We had another coffee which was once again very nice. The toilets were very clean and didn’t smell of you know what! The only downside was the exit. I assumed we would exit the same way we entered. NOPE! Sadly the staff member hiding behind a computer screen simple said “Exit is by the till.” With no indication on where these are! My companion walks with two walking sticks and found this extended period of walking quite stressful and painful. There is always “one bad apple in the barrel?”

Staff were obsequious, but did their best to be efficient. Nothing special with the food, sadly. Cheap bread used on sandwiches, spread with a butter-substitute and basic-quality meat. We were told the cream for the scones was clotted cream - it wasn't; I'm not convinced it was even dairy cream. Uninspiring Earl Grey tea - much more like Lidl's own brand than Twinings. We arrived in good time. Tea took 5 minutes to arrive, food a further 15. There was only one other booking arriving at the same time and most of the tables weren't filled. We were told it was because we needed to avoid nuts - this was flagged up when we booked on Monday. The sausage rolls were tasty and much better quality than most of the other food. I would have hoped for at least a garnish of some fruit/veg. The best thing was the presentation, which was ingenious, served on a mini- forester bench. This was probably the 15th afternoon tea I've had in my life (and the first at Simpsons). To sum up: formulaic, rather unmemorable, and poor quality ingredients. BTW, I regularly give 4*/5* Google reviews.