The Eden Project is so much more than food, but I have to admit that the first thing I noticed when I arrived this morning was the baked goods from the bakery. As we entered just after opening hours the bakery stafff were putting out this morning's fresh produce. And it looked delicious. Fresh soft bread and scones ... the aroma was mouthwatering. Sadly we'd had a full English breakfast less than an hour before, so there was no room in our tummies for those tempting goodies. So we decided to go for a walk in the greenhouse biomes first to work up an appetite, and they were fantastic. Not great for people who don't like humid heat, especially the tropical biome, but fantastic if you do. Tropical plants everywhere, with paths snaking along in between them. There were all sorts of big and small plants, and although there were lots of people it never felt crowded. After a climb to the top of the tropical biome we found a stall selling tropical smoothies. I'm not sure exactly what was in it, but it definitely included coconut milk, mint leaves, baobab juice and pineapple juice. It was just what we needed after a very warm and steep climb, and afterwards I was refreshed and ready for more plants.
Second it was the turn of the Mediterranean biome, also very pretty, and much more comfortably tempered, but somehow not as impressive as the very exciting tropics - probably because I am much more used to seeing those plants around in the wild. The smell, however, was amazing. At the end of the biome was a refreshment area, where they were cooking huge pans of stew. There were wafts of tempting smells all over the biome, mixed in with the smell of the plants. Sadly there is only so much one can eat in one day, and we decided to check out the bakery before making decisions about food.
The bakery was situated between the two biomes, and was a huge bustling area with food preparation spaces plus long tables where guests could sit. There was also a lovely outside area, but most people who ventured out there very quickly turned around and came back in again, chased by curious wasps. Once in the bakery everything else seemed very far away, so we made our food choices and found somewhere to sit down. I had a greek salad with gluten free bread, very nice but not really out of the ordinary. My companions also tried the brown bread with raisins, which was apparently very good, and a vegetable frittata, which I was told was nice tasting, but a bit difficult to get into because the vegetables were so chunky. All in all though, it was a tasty meal, and just what we needed after a busy morning. Of course we couldn't leave it without something sweet, so to end the meal we shared a scone with clotted cream and jam. It was delicious, and I just wished there had been more room in my tummy so I could have eaten a whole one.
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