Gather Gather - Wokingham

My wife and I stopped by this restaurant while staying at the Crowne Plaza hotel across the street. Although the prices were a bit steep, we were greeted by a friendly man who identified himself as a manager from the head office on a day experience. He was pleasant and accommodating, and the coffees and food were both enjoyable. Definitely worth a visit if you're in a busy enterprise park.

Expect to pay premium prices for small portions of trendy, low-quality food at this restaurant. While there may be a few tasty dishes, the overall selection is limited and overpriced, typical of central London establishments. With little competition in the area, there is no motivation for the restaurant to offer good value to customers.

As a self-confessed coffee snob I was a little concerned what I'd do for my two- or three times daily fix when required to go for three days of training at a Biosciences company in Winnersh Triangle. I was put up in a decent Holiday Inn on-site but I'm not a fan of hotel coffee and anyway, their espresso machine wasn't turned on at breakfast time. Fortunately, immediately outside the hotel was Gather Gather where, I was relieved to discover, they know how to make a good coffee. It was as though a small part of Shoreditch had been transplanted into a Berkshire business park, but without the London prices: a double espresso cost £1.70 The decor is airy, clean and contemporary with plenty of wood and steel and no false ceiling, exposing the ventilation ducts; there's plenty of seating, inside and out. I've just read some of the other reviews and have to disagree with many of them; I found the staff helpful and pleasant, taking time to explain the lunch menu to customers in front of me, but best of all, they know how to make a decent espresso, something I didn't expect to find in Winnersh Triangle. And just to emphasise the hipster connection, they use Union beans, hand roasted in East London. I didn't sample any if the food, but it looked as though they cared about that, too. However, I can certainly recommend their coffee

Really not what I expected but was actually quite good! We were looking for somewhere close and healthy. I started with a bowl of very well priced and tasty Moroccan soup. Wife and I then had a salad, which came in very large portions and was certainly tasty too. Coffee was presented in a glass... which can be off-putting but it was good and well presented. Both had a muffin as dessert which was delicious as well. Decor is industrial chic so not to everybodies taste but the staff were pleasant and I enjoyed it.

This seems to be a cafe designed by someone who has never seen one. Start by playing hunt the menu, follow this by a stress inducing 10 minutes trying to figure out how the queue works. I went in at 1pm, by which time both the hot meals on offer, jacket spud and chicken burger, had sold out. I got an overpriced child's portion of scampi chips and cold peas. If you a hipster and you're not hungry this is the place for you, otherwise you might want to give it a miss.