We had family from out of town visiting and decided to visit Terra Viva for a leisurely brunch before midday flights out. I booked for 9:30am & reconfirmed the day prior. Half our group was running a little late (15-20 mins) and, out of courtesy, I phoned to advise them of this. Once we were seated, the waitress advised my mother in law that there was another booking at our table and we'd need to vacate by 11am. This was not mentioned when I booked, or reconfirmed, or when I phoned to say we were running late. The food was great but not especially speedy, then we had wait staff hovering around like flies from 10:30am. One waitress even asked what dishes she could clear before ANYONE had finished eating. This made my in-laws very uncomfortable. I would have discussed it with the manager but my in-laws just wanted to leave so we did (at 10:59am!) and went to Raeward Cafe for coffees, where the service was absolutely superb. We've been to Terra Viva many times over the years but I doubt we'll be back.

Cousins over from Australia for the weekend, the local family members chose this garden centre with restaurant attached for a get-together lunch. Booked for 12:00 and had a table for the 10 guests. We hadn't visited this place for lunch for about a year, and were not too impressed with the lunch then, but having heard good things about it since then, thought it deserved a second chance. The menu was on the table at each setting and provided a reasonable choice from cabinet food, sandwiches, breakfast and brunch options. Water on the table was a good touch. All members of the party found something to their tastes, but the writer had difficulty finding just the right thing, light enough for a lunch but slightly different from the usual, at a reasonable price. He settled for the potted salmon, which came with a few too many slices of bread to match size of the pot. The small salad was reasonable but a tad oily. One other GOM in the party ordered the salmon main which appeared on a piece a slate. Now, I have no idea why a pice of slate or a slab of wood is used to serve food on, as opposed to a plate, but I guess it is what the current fashion is. However, the person ordering the salmon just happened to have been in the slate-roofing business for quite a few years, and quite rightly asked how the restaurant cleaned the slate between servings. His view was that slate was difficult to clean and unsuitable for a food platter. He also felt the quantity of food was more entrée size rather than a main. The staff offered to add more fries and salad, and to put it on a real plate. Unfortunately, when the plate came back, the extras were not included. He gave up and refused to accept it. Others in the party received their selections, but as in many popular but understaffed cafe restaurants, the food was slow in coming and only warm at the start, going cold very quickly. The staff seemed to be stretched with the full house of patrons, and it was inevitable that, no matter how har