Otter Garden Centres, Ottery St Mary

This is a fantastic destination for all your home and garden needs, with the exception of kitchen sinks—though who knows, perhaps they could even stock those! It has significantly expanded from simply being a garden center and has transformed into a well-stocked retail space. Bright, well-designed, and spacious, it offers a wide range of products for the home, kitchen, decor, textiles, and clothing. There’s also an excellent selection of indoor and outdoor equipment. Plus, the delightful restaurant makes dining here incredibly convenient.

I had a fantastic and well-deserved afternoon with my mother. We enjoyed the atmosphere and could clearly see the high quality of the food and the dedication of the staff. The coffee nutcake was my favorite so far; it was rich and cool, and the flat white coffee was excellent. The only reason I didn’t give a full five stars—and trust me, I really wanted to—was because the staff seemed so overworked. My heart goes out to each of them. I understand that businesses are doing their best to survive and that staff cuts are sometimes necessary, but it’s disheartening to watch them struggle with only a 7% profit margin for personal expenses. They definitely need at least 25% more employees at the current level. Nonetheless, everything else was wonderful. This is just my own estimation based on my observations. There’s such great potential here, and I’ll definitely return when the staffing improves. Have you considered hiring more staff?