It was 23 degrees and sunny in Sheffield on Friday afternoon. By Saturday lunchtime my neighbour was dragging her dining table cover back over a soaking-wet bistro set, swearing about the forecast app she'd trusted for the second weekend running. If you've ever had to lug a sodden garden table into a shed at the tail end of a sunny day, you already know why folding ones earn their keep on a UK patio.
I've spent the last few weeks looking at the small-table end of the catalogue — the ones meant to hold a G&T, a paperback, a phone charging beside the sun lounger — rather than the big lounge sets. Here are the five I'd actually buy this summer, sorted by what each one is best at.
If you only buy one: the grey rattan side table with a tempered glass top at about £40 — proper level surface for drinks, light aluminium frame, folds flat. If your patio is already a sea of grey, the blue mosaic table with the lower shelf earns its corner.
The picks
1. Cheapest one I'd still buy — Mixed Brown Rattan Folding Round Garden Table · about £30
A 60 cm round PE-rattan top, black steel folding legs, no assembly. It's the table you pull out for an extra cup of tea on a Sunday afternoon and tuck back behind the shed door before bed. The 70 cm height sits right beside most garden chairs and sun loungers, so you're not leaning down for your drink like you're at a Japanese low table.
The honest catch: the mixed brown is warmer than it looks online — more chestnut than the cool greyish brown the listing photos suggest. Pair it with cream or charcoal seating and it works. Force it next to a bright modern aluminium set and it'll look like it wandered in from the wrong garden. Storing it under cover in proper rain (not the British drizzle — the proper stuff) extends the surface life noticeably.
- Pros: No assembly, light enough to carry one-handed, 80 kg capacity, the price.
- Cons: Warmer brown than the photos imply, no adjustable feet for uneven paving.
- Best for: Anyone who wants a folding garden table without overthinking it.
See the mixed brown rattan folding table on Villalta Home →
2. Doesn't look like a folder — Foldable Rattan Side Table in Mixed Grey · about £39
What sets this one apart is that the legs are fully wicker-wrapped, not bare painted steel. Most folding side tables give themselves away within a second of looking at them — there's an obviously cheap X-frame underneath the woven top. This one is rattan all the way down. From a few feet away it reads as a fixed piece, which is the whole point of buying garden furniture that doesn't look like camping gear.
Two things to note. It's 41 cm tall, which is on the lower end — fine next to a recliner or low-slung patio sofa, slightly under for a tall director's chair. And the rectangular shape (60 × 41 cm) is more useful for a tray of drinks than a single cup of tea, so think about which scenario you're actually buying for. A round 60 cm top would fit two pints; this one fits a pint, two glasses and a tube of Pringles, which is probably more honest about how it'll get used.
- Pros: Fully wicker-wrapped legs, folds genuinely flat, neutral grey works with most palettes.
- Cons: Low at 41 cm — wrong height for tall garden chairs.
- Best for: Beside a sun lounger or low patio sofa where you want it to look intentional.
See the foldable grey rattan side table on Villalta Home →
3. The one to buy if you actually want to put drinks on it — Grey Rattan Side Table with Tempered Glass Top · about £40
Rattan tables look great in photos and then drive you mad because a tall glass tips on the uneven weave the first time you set it down. This one solves that with a tempered glass top set over the rattan body. It's a small detail that completely changes how you use the table — wine glasses sit, books lie flat, a phone won't slide off the front edge. The aluminium frame is lighter than the steel ones too, which matters if you're moving it from the patio to the lawn a few times a summer.
The stated 30 kg capacity is fine for drinks, snacks and the average garden essentials. It's not the table you set a heavy planter or a bowl of soaked-overnight beans on — for that, look at the bench-table combo further down. And the glass top wants a quick wipe after pollen-heavy days or it'll show every fingerprint when the sun hits it.
- Pros: Stable glass surface, adjustable foot pads for wonky paving, light aluminium frame.
- Cons: 30 kg capacity rules out heavy planters; glass shows pollen and fingerprints.
- Best for: Anyone whose patio is uneven and whose drink keeps wobbling.
See the glass-top grey rattan side table on Villalta Home →
4. The one with actual personality — Blue Mosaic Garden Table with Shelf · about £42
If your patio is otherwise a sea of grey rattan and charcoal cushions, this is the one that breaks the spell. Blue ceramic mosaic top, black scroll-foot frame, lower shelf for a small pot or a lantern. It's a bistro piece more than a drinks table — the 35.5 cm top is genuinely small, think one cuppa, one paperback, a candle — but the shelf earns it a second job. I'd put it in a back corner of a paved courtyard with a herb pot underneath and a citronella candle on top.
The trade-off is the size. This isn't where you sit two glasses and a snack bowl. Use it next to a single garden chair, in a conservatory window, or even indoors next to a reading chair. Assembly is required — legs and shelf bolt to the top — and the mosaic does want a wipe after rain to keep the colours sharp. The scroll feet are decorative more than supportive, so this one earns its place on flat paving, not the wonky bit by the back door.
- Pros: Genuine character, useful lower shelf, works indoors and out.
- Cons: 35.5 cm top is tiny; needs assembly; scroll feet want flat ground.
- Best for: Patio corners, conservatory windows, anyone tired of grey.
See the blue mosaic side table on Villalta Home →
5. Splurge — Rattan-Effect Folding Picnic Table & Bench Set · about £120
This is the one that earns its money the day you have ten people round for a BBQ and realise the patio set seats six. It's a three-piece kit — table plus two benches — with an HDPE rattan-effect surface, powder-coated metal frame, and proper safety locks so the table doesn't wobble when someone leans on it to pick up the salt. It folds completely flat, and the benches take 240 kg each, so it's the one for the school football team's parents as well as the grown-up garden party.
The honest catch is weight. The full set is 25.5 kg, and the carry handle is fine for short hops from the shed to the lawn but a faff if you're loading it into a car for a park picnic. Either resign yourself to carrying the table and benches separately (which is easy enough) or treat this as a garden piece that lives in the shed and comes out for weekend duty. The HDPE surface is genuinely waterproof, but the metal frame still benefits from being under cover in winter — leaving it out from November to March shortens its life noticeably.
- Pros: Three pieces in one, 240 kg per bench, fully waterproof HDPE top.
- Cons: 25.5 kg is a lot to lug to a park; needs shed storage in winter.
- Best for: BBQ households, school-football-team parents, garden party regulars.
See the rattan-effect picnic set on Villalta Home →
The verdict
If you only buy one, get the grey rattan with the tempered glass top — it does the side-table job properly, won't tip a wine glass, and looks intentional rather than like something you've grabbed off a campsite. If your patio is already crowded with grey and you want something with character, the blue mosaic earns its corner. And if you've got a weekend BBQ habit and a shed big enough, the picnic set is the one that turns into a hero the first time the in-laws come round and the regular table seats six.
By the Villalta Home Editorial team, June 2026. Edited by Juan Antonio Villalta Pacheco.
