SACS in the city

Ok, it's quite possible I'm the slackest blogger in the entire country.  I guess I had to find my niche somehow though, given it seems every wo/man and their dog(blog) has a page dedicated to their personal ruminations and seems to keep at it fairly regularly.

Anyhoo, I finally got some time on the weekend to go to SACS Gluten Free cafe at 105 High Street Northcote. My partner and I were on a hot date - our first proper date since the birth of our son 18 months ago - and I'd decided that the best way to enjoy the date was to ensure I wasn't having tummy issues after eating something baited with gluten. So, on to SACS we went.

Now SACS used to be called Silly Yaks Cafe under previous owners a couple of years ago, and I was a frequent visitor there, particularly keen on their beautiful breads, their lemon meringue pies, and their properly meaty meat pies. I stopped going for a while after the cafe changed owners in 2008 as the service and food standards just didn't seem the same.  Case in point was one of the staff coming over to my friend and I several times one day to take our order, forgetting that she'd done so, coming back and taking the order again (three times in a row), then apologising for the stuff ups by letting us know she was busting for a pee and couldn't concentrate on her work.  I was thinking after the first bladder-induced episode of Alzheimer's she'd have solved the issue by trotting off to the loo, but no, she just kept on coming over with the same issue.  It was like Groundhog Day.  Unfortunately the food wasn't so great that day either, with our meals coming out almost stone cold after a long wait.

I am pleased to say that none of the staff working at SACS last weekend seemed to have bladder issues (and I do confess, I was pretty wary of that after my last experience there). I was also relatively pleased with our food. My partner had a really yummy and hearty minestrone soup, and I had scrambled eggs on delicious bread still baked by the previous owners. My eggs weren't particularly warm, which was a bit disappointing, but I soon got over that as we followed up our mains with some hot apple pie and ice-cream, perfect food for a cold day.  We left feeling completely stuffed full of good food, and quite satisfied with our experience.

There's plenty of other reviews of SACS on the internet, so do Google a few.  Most seem pretty happy with the place.

Interesting note on the atmosphere of the cafe (as observed by my partner), it's a great hang out for the slightly alternative, birkenstock wearing, earnest public servant type. He surmised that you'd hardly ever find a suit in there.

So if you're after a gluten free experience where the whole establishment is gluten free, do try out SACS. Oh, and they also have a couple of high chairs if you want to bring the kids along.