The café was packed with people and is clearly a popular spot

Garden centres are a quintessential part of British culture. With multiple departments selling everything under the sun alongside large offerings of plants and gardening equipment, it is easy to spend a whole day at a garden centre when you need to escape from daily life.

To draw customers in, many garden centres now have their own restaurants and cafés as well as farm shops or play areas to keep children entertained. Cambridgeshire has plenty of garden centres with lovely cafés to test out, so I decided to head down to Scotsdales Garden Centre in Horningsea to see what its Sunflower Café had to offer.

The CamBites series sees our reporters travelling around Cambridgeshire in search of the best food on a budget. Before heading to the café, I managed to get swept up by the range of items on offer at the garden centre.

I spent half an hour drooling over all of the food in the shop and enjoying the bright displays of flowers before dragging myself away to the Sunflower Café. It was completely packed with people. Even though it was a weekday, I was told I’d either have to wait to be seated inside or I could choose to sit outside. Considering it was a fairly nice day, I picked the latter.

I was handed a menu before I picked a table in the garden and had a look through what was on offer while enjoying the peaceful surroundings. The café has a range of classic British dishes to choose from, including both breakfast and lunch options, as well as an extensive drinks list.

To order, I went to the counter and passed by an impressive display case of cakes, brownies, and cheesecakes that looked mouth-wateringly good. If I hadn’t been on a budget, a few slices definitely would have been coming home with me.

I ordered the quiche Lorraine that came with chips, coleslaw, and a side salad, costing £12.99. I collected some cutlery from the island by the counter that had a range of sauces available.

Before long, my food had arrived and I was ready to see what all the fuss was about and why this café was so busy. After taking just one bite, I was impressed by the quality of the food. The slice of quiche was perfectly soft and creamy with chunks of bacon dotted throughout, encased in a light and crumbly pastry.

The side salad was crisp and fresh packed with cherry tomatoes, slices of red onion, and cucumber that came on a bed of mixed lettuce leaves. While it was very refreshing, I felt like the salad would have benefited from a light dressing or balsamic glaze to bring it together.

I was hugely surprised by the coleslaw, which was velvety and rich, and went wonderfully with the side salad to help with its lack of dressing. The chips were homely with a crunchy outside and a fluffy middle to top off the meal.

The whole experience was enjoyable from the lovely service and seating area to the strikingly good food. It is easy to understand why so many people flock to garden centres when they have almost everything you could need in one place. When paired with a fantastic meal for an affordable price, you cannot go wrong with a trip to Scotsdales.

The Horningsea branch of Scotsdales can be found on the village high street. The store is open from 9am to 5pm on Mondays to Saturdays and from 10am to 4pm on Sundays.

All of our food reviews are paid for by the writer. The establishments do not know we will be reviewing their food, allowing us to make fair judgements on each place.