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Eve’s Garden Eco Café
5 Hurworth Rd
Highlands
497888

Eve's Garden - a taste of Eden 2011
How important is it to keep an eye on what’s going on in the world, even when sipping a cappuccino or munching a hamburger? Judging by the recent proliferation of supermarket restaurant tables and chairs overlooking busy car parks and shopping centres, such spectacles are of great interest. But should you value tranquil green surroundings and an opportunity to hear yourself speak, Eve’s Garden, a popular eco café in Highlands, is probably the place to visit.

I arranged recently to meet a friend for lunch at Eve’s Garden, the restaurant section of a vibrant enterprise in Highlands called The Centre for Healthy Living. A smartly dressed guard at the entrance waved me through the gate, and I walked from a secure parking area towards lush green lawns, exotic foliage and palm trees, into the restaurant. I had booked a table for two in a corner overlooking the garden: this corner also provided a bird’s eye view of the many patrons coming and going for lunch and tea between 12.30 and 3 pm.

Maggie arrived on time, and feeling in need of an energiser, we both ordered Red Eye Special, a potent combination of fresh apple, carrot, celery and melon, served in a tall glass with an attractive garnish. There was a variety of health drinks on the menu, including Liver Kick-starter, a great antidote to a weekend of excesses.

Local chefs are not renowned for their skill in soup making, but soup of the day at Eve’s Garden is a treat. Cream of onion soup was velvety in texture and tasted fresh and full of flavour: if for no other reason, I would return to taste all the soups.
In between courses I admired the crisp, white starched tablecloths and carefully folded table napkins trimmed with cotton lace. Flatware and tableware were all matching, and spotlessly clean. There were no mucky fingerprints anywhere, a fault that would immediately lose points on Australian Master Chef!

Guessing correctly that Eve’s Garden’s chef would make her own pasta, I was more than happy with my main course choice of Arabbiata Pasta. The fettuccine was perfectly cooked, and the sauce, made with fresh tomatoes, had a subtle chilli flavour. Maggie kindly offered me a taste of her vegetable curry, but I declined, guessing it was probably too good to share. Before long, we had both wiped our platters clean.
Crêpe Suzette for dessert was less of a delight, lacking the verve and freshness of previous courses.  I rather wished I had chosen a toothsome looking slice of carrot or chocolate cake. Filter coffee, however, served in a cafetière, was hot, aromatic and delicious. Poured into a delicate bone china cup, the taste was so superb that I decided against changing the flavour by adding any warm milk from the jug provided.
Whether you set yourself up for the day with breakfast, fortify yourself with lunch or wind the afternoon down with tea and cake, Eve’s Garden provides the perfect setting.
Speciality Restaurant - Wholesome Health Food
5 Plates
Expect to Spend $12 to $25 per head
5 Hurworth Road, Highlands, Harare

Eve’s Garden - a patch of Eden in Harare (2010)
Eve’s Garden is one of those places that no doubt women’s magazines have in mind when they urge ladies to take some time for themselves, away from the hectic merry-go-round of pleasing everyone else!  The tranquil setting of Eve’s Garden, with guinea fowl gracefully stepping through the lavender, is enough to send you into a totally relaxed and peaceful state of mind.  The restaurant is in those of huge and wonderful old style verandas, complete with broekielace, and all very tasteful with wicker chairs and embroidered table linen.  The tablecloths, cushions and waitresses aprons are all green to emphasise the ‘Eco’ theme. 

This is the perfect place for ladies to meet up for breakfast, coffee or lunch, although there were a few discerning health conscious gentlemen present.  It is very reassuring to be able to park inside and have guarded parking, which also adds to the stress free environment. 

Also, I could imagine spending a morning there for a friend’s birthday, indulging in restorative pampering with some of the massages on offer in the Centre for Healthy Living complex, such as reflexology, reiki and aromatherapy.  One would be spoilt for choice with the cornucopia of all the latest beauty treatments such as Alginate masks, French Paraffin Manicures and Pedicures, all sorts of waxing, make up lessons and permanent make-up tattoos!  There is even ear candling which I have never heard of before, I think just out of curiosity I will have to go back to find out what on earth it is. 

There was a delicious list of all sorts of healthy juices and smoothies on offer but both my friend and I decided on the Lemon Express which was a mixture of grape, apple and lemon juice.  This was bursting with a zingy flavour that made you feel that it was cleansing your jaded system of any toxins that might be lurking within.

My friend asked whether she could choose from the rather decadent breakfast menu even though it was lunchtime, as she really fancied the smoked salmon and creamy egg ramekin.  Luckily they were not so busy that day at lunchtime, as all the HIFA fanatics had come for hearty breakfasts before the mad rush of going from show to show, so they were happy to oblige her. I was glad to see that chickpeas were on the menu, since they are more available now, but it was such a hot day that chickpea stew seemed a little heavy for my lunch option.  I opted instead for the Waldorf Salad, which was a lovely mixture of apples, pecan nuts and celery combined in a light mayonnaise dressing.  This came with homemade olive bread which was a real healthy treat and complemented the salad perfectly.  Beautiful jugs of filtered water with ice, lemon and mint were served with the meal.

For desert I nearly went for the ‘mango mush’ but I must admit the name put me off.   I feel that a little more imagination and wit must be employed when it comes to writing the menu, and am sure a slightly more tantalising name could be thought up! However, when I saw it served up on another table, it did look very elegant and enticing.  My apple and raisin crumble was definitely in the realm of ‘soul food’, warm, comforting and redolent with spices.  It was served with a tiny amount of yoghurt, although more was readily brought when requested.  My friend claims to be addicted to the Grecian Delight and in fact stopped coming to Eve’s garden when it was off the menu for a short time.  She believes that the dreamy layers of yoghurt, with toasted almonds and honey are indeed truly divine.  Eve’s garden is a patch of Eden in Harare, where one can truly, ‘give back to oneself’ and it offers a gentle respite from one’s demanding schedule.
Speciality Restaurant
4 Plates
Expect to spend around $15 a head for a meal

Eve’s Garden – close to Paradise (2009)
Eve’s Garden is relatively new on the scene, having opened its doors in June this year (as far as I can recall) and happily, they have already entered Zim on a Plate, and I was the lucky person to get to review this altogether scrumptious place.

Situated in Hurworth Road in Highlands, off the Enterprise Road, not only is there the fabulous Health Food Speciality Restaurant here, there is also an entire Centre for Healthy Living, so if in the mood to totally spoil yourself, look no further, I‘d say!  Since discovering the place I’ve partaken of divinely relaxing aromatherapy massages, and these, I’ve followed closely, and in a warm and blurry post massage haze, with lunches which, though one hundred percent healthy and wholesome, still manage to taste absolutely awesome.

The Centre for Healthy Living offers a number of holistic options for all round health and well being, including Pilates and Yoga classes, the relatively new to Zimbabwe “Seven Point Five” live blood analysis to help balance your whole system correctly for optimal health, Reflexology, Reiki, Colonic Hydrotherapy, a consultant Nutritionist and Dietician, Occupational Therapy, Beauty Therapy, Massage and Aromatherapy.  That’s quite a list, and apparently more offerings are going to be added too as the Centre develops and becomes known.

The setting itself is quite exquisite, a beautifully designed and maintained, soothingly peaceful garden, the building itself a lovely old house refurbished for the purposes it’s now serving, and excellent secure parking facilities.  Whoever has put this all together certainly has a vision and I wish all those involved – the restaurateurs, the various therapists, the owners of the whole complex, the very best, as I’m sure this is going to be a great success.

So, onto the matter in hand, which is Eve’s Garden, the specialist whole food restaurant.  This would make it pretty much one of a kind in Zimbabwe so far as I’m aware.  The closest restaurant to its type would be delightful and award winning The Shop Café, which is entered in this contest as a Specialist Vegetarian and Whole Food Restaurant.

Back in April or May, I recall there was an article on these pages about the health food chain in south African called Kauai, which spoke enthusiastically about the very wholesome yet totally delicious food and beverages available there.  The writer wished, in the article, that there might be some equivalent available at home.  Well, Eve’s Garden might just be Zimbabwe’s answer to Kauai!  Not that it has set out to emulate Kauai, far from it, it is unique, but in terms of the healthy concoctions one can imbibe and eat, there is some similarity of approach.  There are some simply wonderful juices and smoothies here, such as the Citrus Reviver or the Ginger Spice, which taste delightful and are packed with specifically focused natural goodies – high in vitamin c, or designed to perk you up and give you a boost, and so forth, and made with both fruit and vegetable juices and other joys like mint or ginger to add a certain “je ne sais quoi”!    Even the water on the tables tastes fabulous, because they add some mint and fresh lemon to give it a delicate flavour.

The menu here is very imaginative indeed, and what is more, unlike so many establishments in this country, Eve’s Garden, I have noted over the months, changes its menu regularly, every few weeks it appears, adding that Variety that is the Spice of Life!

My Cold Cucumber and Yoghurt Soup was absolutely wonderful, so deliciously tasty and interesting, and the home made breads served up with this (and every) meal here was as always excellent, and evidently made fresh each day on site.  These, too, vary.  The delightfully named Jewelled Cous Cous, the jewels being dried fruits to add tang, was delicious, so too was the Arrabiata for which my partner in crime opted, whole grain home made tagliatelle with a spicy sauce with hints of chilli.

To follow, I opted for the Grecian dessert, which was a perfect and most enticing layered presentation of delicious natural Greek Yoghurt, almonds and honey.   Wholesome, natural, delicious!  Our meal was rounded off magnificently with perfect cappuccinos.

If you’re not accustomed to eating Whole Food, then you might find the offerings at Eve’s Garden at first rather different from what you are used to eating, and because the food sets out to be healthy and good for you in every aspect, you won’t find it overly rich and it may be less creamy and oily, and a bit drier, than what you’re sued to having in a restaurant.  Wholemeal pasta tastes very different from its refined cousin and is very chewy.  But it is, of course, like everything on the menu here, packed full of its original natural goodness, which is the whole point of eating this way – all vitamins, minerals and fibre intact!

So if you’re in the process of switching over to a healthier lifestyle and diet but you still want to be able to enjoy eating out, without any guilt or worry, this is most certainly an excellent option! 

I’ve enjoyed all my meals thus far at Eve’s Garden.  The décor is also very appealing – refreshing lime greens contrasting with darker greens, which blend into the surrounding lush garden scenery very well; hand made rustic looking finely woven dark brown wickerwork furniture which is both comfortable and attractive, and inside, some comfy sofas with cushions designed to fit in perfectly with the greens and browns colour scheme that reflects the eco-friendly, healthy nature of the food and drink.

The only area where Eve’s garden could possibly pick up a few more points is in the service area.  The service is good rather than great.  The staff possibly just need to develop a bit more confidence in their interactions with the clientele, and be a bit more forthcoming and welcoming, and I’m sure this will come with time.  The prices are eminently reasonable, and true to the theme of the restaurant, should you want to sustain your post massage hazy relaxation and avoid potential caffeine jitters, decaffeinated beverages are readily available.  Eve’s Garden, only a few moths old, has, much to its credit, already earned itself a very good Four Plate rating.  The restaurant is open 7.30 am to 3.30 pm weekdays, and 8.30 to 12 on Saturdays.
Speciality Restaurant
4 Plates
Expect to spend $4 to $ 10 per head