The Grounds of Alexandria (Sydney, AUSTRALIA) ★★★★☆

The Grounds of Alexandria wasn’t on my radar screen until late last night when I was doing my thing on Google Map.

Like The Cannery we visited on our first day in Sydney, The Grounds of Alexandria is situated in a restoration premise. This restoration site dating back as far as 1823 now known as The Mill, used to be a pie factory some years ago. The place has since been turned into a lifestyle hub with boutiques, florist, petting zoo, cafes and a garden (That’s exactly how they call it.) for the general public.

We spent some time enjoying the holiday vibes at the Mill, though to be brutally honest, it was a little early to think about Christmas. And the weather certainly wasn’t helping neither with unexpectedly warm temperature in the last few weeks.

The Grounds of Alexandria is obviously the place to be in Alexandria (is there really other better options?) as seen by the huge lineup. We managed to get a table with 15 minutes of waiting time. But tables were really way too close for comfort so we ended up ordering take-away to be enjoyed in the lush garden instead.

Hazelnut milkshake – Something you don’t see everyday and like I always do, I jump all over it. This was really really nutty, thick and frosty. Definitely something can’t-miss on a summer day (ironically it’s fall or winter here in Southern Hemisphere).

Cheese burger and chips – I normally won’t go for a burger unless I had zero choice. This was just okay.

The toasted brioche wasn’t bad though, meshing well with the beef patty and cheese dill cornichon mayo.

And Jelloman and I were fighting a bit over the fries.

Gardener’s Bowl – The reason we were fighting over the fries….well, they gave Jelloman the wrong salad!

She was craving for something with lighter flavors today and it was a no-brainer for her to get the Gardener’s Bowl with roasted carrots, beetroot, spinach, chickpeas and all those healthy stuff. But what she ended up getting, was their Mediterranean Bowl.

This came with some really heavy stuff like lamb, cabbage and eggplant marinated in Narissa sauce and spiced nuts! Needless to say, she wasn’t happy about the mix-up.

But it was a bit far to go back from where we were seated in the garden, so Jelloman had very little choice but to take it on the chin. This was of course not the light-flavored, healthy salad she was looking for, and not surprisingly, she wasn’t enjoying it.

One of the things that really caught my eyes when I came across The ground of Alexandria was the quality of their desserts / pastries. Their bread-and-butter cheesecakes and red velvet cakes were some of the best I have seen in the city. Unfortunately, there was no spare room in both of our stomachs to take on more sweet stuff.

The Grounds of Alexandria will likely rank much higher on our scale as a cafe, cake shop or afternoon tea spot (look at these amazing cocktails!) but as a lunch venue, it was nothing more than a serviceable option.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: The Mill, 7a/2 Huntley Street, Alexandria NSW 2015, Australia

Closest Train Station: Green Square

Tel: +61 2-9699-2225

Website: www.thegrounds.com.au

Opening Hours: 7:30am - 4:00pm (Mon - Fri), 7:30am - 4:30pm (Sat - Sun)