The Balloon Tree Farmshop & Cafe - York

El N.

Must go! Love the Sunday lunch menu, fresh seasonal ingredients, farm shop collection and the seasonal PYO selection. Family friendly and relaxing place. My favorite is their milk vending machine (£1.50 per litre) sourced from a local farm - bring your own bottle!

Dave B.

So... I've worked in hospitality and what I witnessed had the appearance of not being a one time blip and was more habitual behaviour.
On arrival, we were stood waiting to be seated, and despite making eye contact with several staff members, we were waiting quite a while to be approached. Even when busy you should acknowledge the customer almost immediately.
The table we were seated at had not been cleaned with the surface and floor covered in crumbs.
I had the liver, onions and mash, but despite its faults I was so hungry I ate it anyway. The liver was overdone, the mash left a powdery texture on the palet and was somehow elastic. It was supposed to be garnished with parsley but someone had dumped some strong coriander on it. A simple sniff test would have informed the cook of this.
My wife had a turkey, stuffing, brie and cranberry with chips. There was no cranberry, but they're we're raisins(?!) And the turkey had been shredded and mixed into the stuffing. The chips had clearly been refried several times and there were also some that were fried black.
Clearly no one was quality checking at "the pass" before serif l serif l serving.
At no point did anyone check if the meal was OK, and the poor cashier, I assume following orders, still pointed out that a tip could be applied via the merchant card device. Neither did the cashier ask if the meal was OK.
At restaurant prices I would expect restaurant quality and service, I've been to market pop-up kitchens that are many times better than this experience.
I don't often rant about this, and usually add very positive reviews, but it's also important to know where to avoid!

Debbie N.

A great place to stop for lunch or breakfast - we loved the hot roast pork sandwich at lunchtime. There’s a great menu and it always seems to be busy. Good outdoor eating and a place for dogs to run around. The staff are brilliant, the place is buzzing, both the cafe and shop. Worth driving out for on a good stopping place on the way to the east coast.

Tina H.

I cannot believe I have never done PYO strawberries before today!
They have a variety of PYO fruute, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, rhubarb. We went later in the day and u fortunately all the ripe raspberries had been picked but there was ample of strawberries. I took my 13 year old son, who was so enthusiastic and really enjoyed the experience and I have to say the strawberries are divine! It's such a lovely place to visit with play area for the younger ones and place to eat. I think this may have to be a new summer tradition for our family

Joe L.

We took a sporadic trip to The Balloon Tree for a bite to eat and to take advantage of a pick your own. A place the other half has been to a couple of times whereas this was my first time.

Upon entry the car park was relatively full, with not many spaces left but that wasn’t a problem, just means busy!

First stop, the cafe. With the choice to sit indoor or outdoor, we elected out. A nice day for it. Plenty of area for the 3 year old to run about in, with slides, climbing frames and more. Upon seating however, a family of ants were crawling all over the table. Not ideal. Photo attached shows one after I swept the others away.

The staff, servicing on tablets, were on hand to take orders, and were respectful about allergens/ intolerances, with their own “safe” menu too. A bit dissatisfied though that they cook all chips/ potatoes in soy oil, meaning our child had to go for sweet potato fries, cooked in an air fryer?

Me and the missus ordered pork & beef hot baguettes. The actual meat and stuffing in there was lovely, especially the apple sauce, but there was only 2 roast potatoes (one of mine was half black) and a very small amount of gravy in a separate pot. The crackling however was amazing, should’ve been more!! All priced well, portion sizes could be much better. I also got a pot of three cheese cauliflower cheese, which was STONE COLD and somewhat tasteless.

After lunch we went to do the Pick Your Own (PYO). £1.50 per person, plus the weight of your punnet(s) of fruit picked… next to no strawberries, raspberries or anything left/ ready… to the point we walked away with 4 strawberries and 3 raspberry’s, costing just over £6 total. Miles cheaper to go to a shop…

Penny

Great place to stop for breakfast we had our dog Bella with us so sat outside but it’s a lovely area to sit in, staff very polite and friendly, our breakfast was cooked fresh.

Bharat P.

Awesome experience 😃. We visited this place with some friends and we all had a great time.

We went for strawberries and gooseberries picking. They have got a plenty of areas for picking for strawberries. For gooseberries place is small but they have got a plenty of plants so you would still be able to pick. Main thing to consider is timing. It is better if you can reach there early. Also better to go when summer starts. There is 1.5 pounds per person entry fee.

They have enough parking space too.

Overall our experience was great and I recommend going there with family and friends 😀.

Kim R.

The food was pleasant enough. Great outdoor space for children and pumpkin picking if you wanted it.

The cafe was fairly busy even though it was late in the afternoon. Staff forgot to serve us and the prices are on the higher side for a cafe...similar to restaurant prices for similar meals.