Garden centres with cafes

Whether you stock up on goods for your green thumb or simply soak up the atmosphere, below are just a handful of garden centres with cafes attached. Do you have a favourite nursery that also offers a cuppa? Tell us.

❏ Gardenia Cafe at Lee Rowan’s Gardenworld, Warners Bay (381 Hillsborough Road, Warners Bay, 49546999, leerowans.com.au).

Gardenia Cafe was established in Lee Rowan’s Gardenworld more than a decade ago and has gone from strength to strength in the years since. The cafe makes the most of its location too, with outdoor tables overlooking the nursery area, and indoor tables, the selection of indoor plants and giftware.

Gardenia Cafe catering manager James Clark told GT the cafe was frequented by a diverse crowd, depending on the day of the week, from ladies lunching and having morning or afternoon tea, to families tucking into a meal.

With chef Garry Hayes in the kitchen, Gardenia is introducing a new menu early next month. They also have a changing specials board.

‘‘We have everything from a basic bacon and egg Turkish roll all the way up to Persian eggs – poached eggs on spinach, tomato chutney, lemon oil and dukkah; it’s a new variation coming on to the menu,’’ Clark said. 

‘‘We also have our Gardenia’s big  breakfast, we also do fairly unique breakfast wraps, eggs Hemingway and eggs Benedict.’’

If you’re on the hunt for lunch choose from dishes including ploughman’s plates, salads, burgers, beer-battered flathead, wraps and a range of sandwiches, including the classic club sandwich and a hot roast beef roll.

Clark said Gardenia’s high tea was also popular, including a mix of sweet and savoury dishes served in a tower.

 Think bites perfect to wash down with a cuppa such as cakes, sandwiches, wraps and more.

Kids can choose from their very own menu which includes a ‘‘Pick ’n’ Mix’’ healthy lunch option with apple, sultanas, yoghurt and a sandwich.

Gardenia is equipped with highchairs, change tables and the like to make the trip with kids a little easier, while Clark said they’re also encouraged to wander around the gardens and explore.

Gardenia Cafe is open Monday to Saturday, 7am-4pm, and Sunday, 8am-4pm.

❏ The Garden Table Cafe at Heritage Gardens Nursery, East Maitland (corner New England Highway and Four Mile Creek Road, Ashtonfield, 49644008, heritagegardens.com.au).

The Garden Table Cafe is a warm and welcoming space where much – if not all – of the food is made in-house, from scones and jam, to cakes, tarts and more.

Breakfast is served from 9am-11am from a menu including creamy scrambled eggs and bacon, Moroccan fried eggs, ricotta pancakes and more.

Lunch (11.30am-2pm) dishes include tarts, salads, open sandwiches and melts, while treats are available all day such as scones with house-made jam and double cream, cakes, muffins, pies and patisserie items.

High tea is also served on a Royal Doulton table setting from Monday to Friday, 11.30am-2pm. It includes five different gourmet sandwiches, five petits  fours, strawberries and chocolate dipping sauces, scones with jam and cream, sparkling iced rose tea and a bottomless pot of English breakfast tea for $5 per person (bookings essential). 

The Garden Table Cafe is open Monday to Sunday, 9am-4pm.

❏ Poppy’s Verandah Cafe at Poppy’s Garden Centre (83 Oakdale Road, Gateshead, 49478305, poppysgc.com.au).

Poppy’s Verandah Cafe is also housed within a garden centre and has forged its own following as a meeting place for friends and family.

It welcomes baby showers, mothers’ groups, has wheelchair and pram access, change table facilities and a children’s playground.

The cafe serves Peaberrys Gourmet Coffee and is licensed with a drinks menu including wine, beer and cider available from 10am.

Breakfast is served 8am-11.30am from a menu including home-made scones, Poppy’s big breakfast, omelettes and a handful of  kids’ breakfast options.

Lunch is served noon-2.30pm with dishes including scotch fillet steak sandwich, prawn penne pasta, pan-fried thyme-crusted barramundi fillet as well as a selection of kids’ dishes.

Both the breakfast and lunch menus offer vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Poppy’s Verandah Cafe is open seven days, 8am-3.30pm.

❏ Butterfly Effect Cafe at Wallsend Community Nursery (95 Lake Road, Wallsend, 0400544961, nursery.org.au).

The social enterprise cafe, which closed earlier this year after a lack of funding, re-opened recently with a menu offering all-day breakfasts, hot soups and plenty more delicious dishes.

Where possible the dishes are made with fresh ingredients grown in the nursery gardens and can be served with housemade pickles and preserves.

Butterfly Effect Cafe serves an all-day breakfast menu with dishes such as sweetcorn cakes layered with crispy bacon and rocket and topped with a poached egg and tomato salsa, and oven-baked mushrooms filled with basil, tomato, Spanish onion, fetta, avocado and served on baby spinach with garlic sourdough toast (vegetarian and gluten-free).

The lunch menu includes melts and toasted sandwiches served  with garden salad and thick-cut fries for a hearty lunch. The cafe also has a daily specials board  and a selection of beverages.

If you’ve got the kids in tow, they can choose from the kids’ lunch menu and meet the nursery’s resident turtles Cheryl, Leonard and Hermes, and a school of colourful goldfish.

The Butterfly Effect Cafe is open 10am-4pm, Wednesday to Sunday.