Sasa's Cafe & Fine Food

You know what I definitely underrate these days? Just those small little neighbourhood gems, that aren't getting a lot of hipster media coverage or bloggers with the snappety snap snaps but seem to have been around forever…so they must be doing something relatively right. 

Sasa's Cafe and Fine Food on Riversdale Road was one of those places for me. I had been driving past it for years and always seen it, standing out from the houses around it as a slightly bigger and simple brick structure. 

But after the many years of driving by, on one op shop marathon Saturday with my mum and her friend, we decided to stop in for a spot of sustenance, since it was between two of the op shops we wanted to go to. 

Inside, the space is light and bright, dressed simply. We were greeted with a smile and a laugh as we indulged in all the op shopping we had done so far and presented with huge menus. 

I noticed quickly that all the sandwiches could be made with gluten free bread, at no extra cost. 

Now let me tell you, there aren't that many places that'll do me a cheese and ham sandwich with gluten free bread, so it can be somewhat of a luxury to find somewhere that does. 

Oh my goodness. What a treat. 

With slightly charred crusts, the bread was perfectly crisp, a gorgeous compliment to the cheese that had delightfully melted into bliss over the top of the Virginian ham, oven roasted tomato and seeded mustard. Bread, cheese and ham. It really had been far too long. 

Having enjoyed my ham and cheese sandwich so much, and being so enthused about sandwiches with no extra cost for gluten free bread, I dragged Brad back the weekend after to sample more of the menu. 

We were greeted with the same friendliness from my previous visit and immediately felt at home. 

We both needed a big of a healthy kick to the start of our day, so it was a pulpy freshly squeezed orange juice for Brad and a vegetable juice for me. 

Brad opted to try something a bit different and got the breakfast roti, wrapped around ham, scrambled eggs and avocado, served with a bit of baked beans on the side. Although it probably lacked a little bit in seasoning, it made for a nice twist to the usual, although since the roti had a bit of oil on it, it was a bit messy to eat. 

I on the other hand, got right back into sandwiches, and despite it still being breakfast time, couldn't resist the marinated lamb with roasted sweet potato, baby spinach, red onion and tzatziki. 

For $13, it was pretty awesome value for money. 

Absolutely loaded with generous chunky cuts of lamb, rich and well seasoned, I was almost disappointed there wasn't more sweet potato to balance out the serious protein hit! I emphasise the word almost here. 

I think I tend to not pop into small and modest spots like this, as there's always that concern that you haven't really heard about it from anyone else, and it can be tricky to gauge whether it might be worth spending your dollars. But then I guess, things like this happen, and I learn again that I must stop judging books by their cover…Sasa's Cafe proved itself to be a lovely little local, serving up food that's simple, but obviously made with care. 

Sasa's Cafe & Fine Food

173 Riversdale Road

Hawthorn

View I'm So Hungree in a larger map