gardens r us & lakeview cafe

I paid a visit to Gardens R Us along Gardeners Road between Mascot and Kingsford to get gardening supplies to start a mini herb garden in the monkey household. There is a Lakeview Cafe right in the middle of its huge compounds, so called because it offers a magnificent view of the Lakes Golf Course as can be seen in this pic below.



You can choose to sit on the main front deck facing the roses section to enjoy your cup of coffee among the subtle scent of multi coloured roses...



Or if you're lucky, you may be able to get one of those three tables out in the open to bask in the early spring sun in the topiary section where you can feast your eyes on all things green and manicured.



I decided to fill my stomach first before embarking on the gardening project and chose a seat on the main deck overlooking the flowers. The below three pictures show the views I had from my little corner seat.





Some weird instinct of mine told me to order a dish that I hate after studing the menu for about 10 minutes...



And it turned out to be the best of its kind I've ever had - gnocchi in a creamy pumpkin parmesan sauce that had a hint of pesto in it and a generous sprinkle of freshly picked herbs from their gardens. I couldn't get enough of the sauce... I had to steal my lunch partner's toast to wipe the remaining sauce clean with. One thing the kitchen could have done is perhaps halve the portion of gnocchi and add 2 slices of crispy toast for dipping into the sauce with instead.



Someone from the next table ordered chicken satay that made me salivate when I saw the dish being served even though I was pretty stuffed from all the carbs... so I'm definitely going back again to try that out.

With a huge sigh of satisfaction from the unexpectedly delicious lunch, I proceeded to check out the herbs section. They have well trained staff who possess knowledge on all things to do with gardening scattered everywhere to tend to your enquiries if you aren't really sure of the whats/hows/whys.



This curly parsley and Green Wizard vegetable and herb mix were among some of the things that went onto my shopping cart.



This is the trolley you push around - mine was filled with little pots of herbs on the top tier. And of course I need a cute little red spade to boost the gardening vibes a bit.



Don't I look like a gardening pro here with my shopping trolley filled with stuff???



Fingers crossed... if the current herbs do well... I may be going back there soon to shop for my second planter box and more plants!