Dining Inside a Giant Terrarium: Med-Terrace Restaurant Experience at the Eden Project

We ventured into the heart of the Mediterranean Biome for dinner on our most recent visit to Cornwall – Here’s what happened when we dined at the Med Terrace restaurant at the Eden Project…

The iconic Eden Project in Cornwall boasts a handful of spectacular glasshouses encapsulating the world’s biggest indoor rainforest and a wonderful Mediterranean replica. They’re like the most wonderful GIANT terrariums! The biomes are the architectural creation of Grimshaw Architects – A true breathtaking sight to see with the visual design inspired by soap bubbles!

Within these honeycomb-esque pods live more than two million plants. They’re full of paradisiacal flora, rare and exotic plant species and a remarkable amount of history – It’s truly a botanical paradise!

Open every day for lunch (12-3pm), the Med Terrace restaurant is one of your many food options at the Eden Project! During the warmer months, the al fresco style eatery setting in the Mediterranean Biome opens its iconic, hexagonal doors into the evening; After-hours guests are invited in to dine!

You know I’m a true lover of Cornwall, a frequenter of the Eden Project and yet… I had never experienced an evening dinner at the Med Terrace restaurant! It was high time to change that…

Venturing into the Eden Project after-hours, it was absolutely deserted! If you’ve ever visited the grounds in Bodelva, Par during peak season, you’ll be able to appreciate just how peaceful and empty the paths were with no one around.

It was such a great opportunity to get some people-free photos… And you just know I took full advantage of that!

Whilst sneakily snapping some photos of the scenery on our trot down to the Med Biome, we wandered through the greenery, under the foliage arches and down each paved path, wondering what we may be eating that evening.

Stepping foot into the Med Terrace restaurant, we were hit with such a lovely sight; The dining area was lit with pretty festoon string lights and all of the friendly staff were on hand to greet us.

What struck me in particular was just how empty the restaurant itself was too – The staff told us that we were the last party to dine that night. It was brilliant news and we enjoyed such a peaceful time at our table for the evening, taking in the sounds, sights and smells from our seats.

The menu was so impressive. It was incredibly difficult for each of us to settle on one particular dish – Spoilt for choice!

Our final decisions?
An Authentic Lamb Tagine, Stone Baked Margherita Pizza and I personally could not resist the Spicy Cornish Crab Risotto – When in Cornwall, right?!

Authentic Lamb Tagine – North African dish with Cornish lamb, fragrant spices, apricots, almonds, golden couscous, crisp onions and minted yoghurt.

Stone Baked Margherita Pizza – A selection of tomatoes meddled into a passata, herbs and garlic scattered throughout and finished with mozzarella. Not forgetting the crucial part… Stone baked to a crisp perfection!

Spicy Cornish Crab Risotto – Cornish crab and spicy Deli Farm Charcuterie N’Duja salami in a creamy risotto finished with cold-pressed rapeseed oil and micro herbs plucked from the Med biome!

Now, I’m bias but the risotto was amazing!

The salami (made in Cornwall!) was so delicious and added a really lovely heat to the dish. The risotto was perfectly cooked with delicate pieces of Cornish crab quite literally melting in your mouth.

Ensuring all sorts of dietary requirements and preferences are catered for, vegetarians and vegans can enjoy a really lovely meal here. You guessed it – Gluten-free and dairy-free diets are also looked out for at the Med Terrace restaurant! The one thing they warn? “Our food may contain a lot of Cornwall”… Brilliant!

Other dishes on the menu included authentic, Med-inspired paella, seafood and pasta, accompanied by artisanal bread, salads and delicious desserts to finish.

We succumbed to the sound of the chocolate brownie! Hands up if you thought that was ice cream served with the brownie? Think again because that’s actually a great big hunk of Cornish clotted cream… Yes, really!

Whilst we were dining at the Med Terrace restaurant, it was so easy to forget what the weather was doing outside. No matter if it was grizzly, overcast or actually quite bright (surprisingly for UK weather, of course!), when you’re inside the biome, time almost stands still. The atmosphere, temperature and experiences within the Med biome instantly transported us with feelings of being on an overseas holiday; It just needed a view of the bright blue sea and we could have been in Santorini or Andalusia… (I can dream, right?!)

After dining, we were invited to explore the biome for a short while. We had a meander around the biome, discovering all of the different landscapes that the Eden team carefully cultivate. This biome is SO warm, reflective of the climate in the most beautiful parts of the Med, South Africa, California and Western Australia.

There is such a bounty of plants, herbs and vines to explore. The air is filled with so many lovely herby scents! It’s a real treat for all the senses.

And OF COURSE I managed to find some pretty tiled flooring to take a photo of! You may have seen this if you follow me on Instagram. Go check out my feed for more…

A taxi then arrived to collect us. Did you just read that again? I really did say taxi…A minibus had been organised especially for the evening dinner guests. It met us at the biome and carefully journeyed through each level of the Eden Project. Venturing onto the ‘behind-the-scenes’ roads on the attraction’s land, we were dropped off at our car.

With the evening light quickly fading and our stomachs full of only the best Mediterranean-inspired Cornish cuisine, being looked after with a taxi drive from door to door was such a lovely surprise touch!

Being able to say you’ve eaten dinner after-hours at the Eden Project is a pretty cool statement! It was a wonderful evening and we all absolutely loved our dishes. For me, the Med biome dining experience is something you should definitely consider next time you visit Cornwall.

I also wrote some more posts about Cornwall here:

My perfect day in Cornwall!

Porthtowan: Exploring Cornwall

Fancy visiting the Eden Project and having a Mediterranean-inspired feast yourself?
You can check it out here: Eden Project – Bodelva, Cornwall, PL24.