Bell & Joes Kitchen is the name of the restaurant at Timmermans Garden Centre, and a rather good one too.

They offer a good selection of hot and cold food featuring all the classics like Fish and Chips, Burgers and Panini and also a Roast Dinner on a Sunday (check out the menus here)

Weekdays they offer up an ‘Early Bird Breakfast’ of “2 rashers of bacon, baked beans, egg (poached, fried, scrambled) and a piece of toast for £3.99 when you purchase a hot drink.

Sadly that only is available between 8.30-10.30am so the chances of myself grabbing one is a bit limited.

Having said that it was nice to dream that on day when I pop by to grab some compost that I could sneak a cheeky bargain breakfast snack at the same time 🙂

They have a really nice outside patio and some indoor space as well, plus a temporary covered section at the moment as well so that people can distance and eat comfortably

BURGER MENU AT BELLE & JOE’S

The menu describes Belle & Joe’s Homemade Burgers as being

“Homemade from prime British beef, cooked to order, in a lightly toasted sesame seed bun with lettuce, tomato, red onion, mayo & relish”

served with French Fries, Side Salad & Homemade Coleslaw.

I quite fancied a burger and since they said they were cooked to order I was feeling pretty optimistic as I placed my order for the Classic Cheese Burger with mature cheddar for £8.99

CHEESEBURGER, CHIPS & SALAD

About 15 minutes later as promised a large plate filled with multiple salads, my Cheese burger and a small wire basket of chips appeared at my table.

The chips were a bit thicker than expected, perhaps more pub chip size than a french frie, but to be fair there were plenty of them and they were quite acceptable as a side offering.

I am not normally one in need of salad to go with my burgers but this one from Belle & Joe’s was at least fresh and plentiful.

All the usual suspects, tomato, cucumber, lettuce and so on, chopped up roughly and piled high. The accompanying coleslaw whilst a bit creamy was also, shall we say large, sat alongside the salad.

Whilst both were welcome and most probably worthy of addition to keep my body healthy.

I felt that for me there was too much and it was getting between this man and his burger.

The solution? I just turned the plate around 🙂

THE CHEESEBURGER

Now then I hear you ask, ‘what about this burger?’ Indeed lets not be distracted by that rabbit food lets get down to business

I was most pleasantly surprised at just how good this burger was. The actual burger patty was moist and juicy with a nice solid bite as you chowed in.

The texture was a little bit crumbly from the coarse grind and the meat was really tasty and felt very fresh.

There was enough melted cheese to justify calling it a cheeseburger and even though there was a fair bit of salad and relish inside the bun it maintained its shape throughout the meal.

I really like it when I can pick a burger up to eat it properly without having to resort to a knife and fork so I was very happy about that.

I also was happy to report that the actual bun was a proper soft white burger bun and not one of those awful brioche buns that people seem to think is a good container for a burger.

Give me a soft white burger bun preferably one with sesame seeds on it and I am one very happy camper

All in all I would very much recommend trying the burger at Belle and Joe’s and having tried one I would happily have another one and come back to try some of their other food as well!

Price wise £8.99 was really good for the quality and the size of the plate. You will pay more than that for something far inferior in many of the chain pubs in town!

OTHER OFFERINGS – PANINI

My dining companion took a chance on one of their Ciabatta, which turned out to be equally decent.

They come with lots of filling and accompanied by a small side salad and a little pot of crisps. I managed to palm off some of my burger side salad to bulk out this plateful which was a win win for us both.

Overall this was an excellent find and another reason I now have for popping off for a cheeky snack under the guise of getting a few supplies for the allotment. I can see a few more Garden Centre meals being checked out this summer 🙂

Belle & Joes Kitchen is located at Timmermans Garden Centre near Lowdham just off the Epperston By-Pass. The official address is Lowdham Lane, Woodborough, Nottingham NG14 6DN

Check out the Restaurant menus here and the Garden Centre can be followed on their Instagram Profile and Facebook Page