It’s no key that Cape Cod is household to a amount of pretty common restaurants, specifically as the weather conditions gets warmer and tourists escaping from the heat flock in, but hitting the backroads of this attractive peninsula will also direct you to some excellent hidden gems that sense considerably, considerably absent from the bustling streets of Hyannis, Falmouth and Provincetown.
Some of the ideal seafood shacks in Massachusetts can be identified on the Cape’s small-traveled lanes, but it also has some non-seafood destinations well off the crushed route, which include just one that is pretty much in the center of the woods and surrounded by some of the most beautiful gardens in New England.
Have not read of Lilly’s Café in Sandwich? You’re definitely not the only one.
Lilly’s Café isn’t a position that you see though driving and make a decision to pop in to see what it’s all about. One particular of the appealing items about this place is that you basically have to walk in a techniques to get to it, as the cafe is right in the coronary heart of Heritage Museums & Gardens, a sprawling nature middle tucked absent together the banking institutions of Upper Shawme Pond southwest of Sandwich Center.
Simply because of this, fairly few people know that the cafe even exists, and to be straightforward, it is seriously just for people who wander the grounds of Heritage to watch rhododendrons late in the spring, hydrangeas in the summer time and early drop, and lots of other magnificent vegetation and trees — along with an historic windmill, a breathtaking flume fountain, galleries and reveals and so much extra.
Pictures: This Hidden Cape Cod Café Is a Nature Lover’s Desire Amongst Gardens and Woodlands
One particular of the best means to take a look at Lilly’s Café is to consider a stroll beforehand, strolling the numerous trails at Heritage Museums & Gardens in the early morning and doing work up an hunger as you head up and down reduced hills and take some breaks on the numerous park benches together the paths. When you’ve absorbed the elegance of the spot and have labored up an appetite, Lilly’s isn’t actually that significantly absent from any area of the property, so it is just a matter of obtaining your way to the location, which is fundamentally in between the windmill and the entrance.
The grounds surrounding the eatery are merely beautiful and consist of some tables for these who want to commune with character even though eating, but loads of seating can also be located under a tent in entrance of the counter area. The set up is fairly easy, with an ordering window to the ideal and a pickup window to the still left, and the developing does include things like restrooms (there are also services throughout from the gift shop at the entrance to the gardens).
Though it appears like a primary snack bar, Lilly’s Café is affiliated with a several top eating places in Sandwich Center (Belfry Inn & Bistro, Following Door Burger Bar and The Seal), and the top quality of the meals reflects it.
The menu focuses mainly on soups, salads and sandwiches. Highlights involve a traditional New England clam chowder that arrives with oyster crackers a grilled rooster cobb salad with bacon, veggies and balsamic dressing a hummus board that functions a smooth and slightly garlicky hummus and comes with pita chips a turkey BLT which is kicked up a notch thanks to a delicious ciabatta roll tuna melt panini with cheddar cheese, tomato and onion and a tangy mustard and a decadent brownie sundae to finish the meal. The children’s menu at Lilly’s features scorching dogs, macaroni and cheese, PB+J and grilled cheese.
You may possibly assume that a café in the center of a character middle would only offer you smooth drinks and the like, but Lilly’s Café basically has a really strong beer, wine and cocktail checklist.
Cape Cod and the Islands have some outstanding breweries, and a few are represented in this article, like Cisco, Hog Island and Cape Cod, the latter of which has what may perhaps be the best beer for a scorching day with blazing sunshine — the pretty quick-to-drink Cape Cod Blonde which is offered right here. (Beers from Allagash, Wormtown, Budweiser and Guinness are also on present, along with the non-alcoholic O’Doul’s.)
A number of reds and whites are served, if you’re hunting for a glass of wine, as are rosé and prosecco (most of the wines are from California and Italy), and some traditional mixed beverages can be had, which include a mai tai, previous fashioned, cosmo and margarita. And of course, Lilly’s has loads of delicate beverages and juices as properly as bottled h2o.
Lilly’s Café could not have the identify recognition of Arnold’s in Eastham, The Lobster Lure in Bourne, The Beachcomber in Wellfleet or The Lobster Pot in Provincetown, but that is element of the enjoyment of discovering a accurate concealed jewel in an spot so well-liked with travellers. And Lilly’s scenario, it is so significantly off the crushed route and in this kind of a silent section of Cape Cod that it (and Heritage Museums & Gardens by itself) is a authentic oasis, specifically throughout the peak summer season months when so substantially of the Cape is jammed with locals and guests alike.
Lilly’s Café at Heritage Museums & Gardens, 67 Grove Avenue, Sandwich, MA, 01515. heritagemuseumsandgardens.org
