As the weather shifts from cool to freezing cold, the new autumn menu at Hawthorn’s Sardi Cafe hits all the right notes with hearty dishes that exude an element of freshness. Not to mention incredibly colourful. What a feast for the eyes and camera! I opted for the falafel bowl which came with a generous number of falafel balls and blend of beans to amp up the sustenance of what would have otherwise been just another salad bowl. Both the flavour and texture of the falafel balls were well executed; a touch of herbs and spices culminating in a fragrant mouthful, and not at all dry. The grilled vegetable fritters seemed to lose their crispiness fairly quickly (we also did spend some time shooting the spread), but the corn salsa and chilli jam conferred an incredibly fresh and tasty blend of flavours that kept us going back for another bite, and another bite, and another bite… And of course it’s very hard to say no to sweet potato fries whenever I spy them on the menu; Sardi’s were excellent with a great ratio of fluffiness to crispy crunchy exterior.

Grilled vegetable fritters - with corn salsa, smashed avocado, chilli jam and poached egg.

Falafel bowl - with falafels, quinoa, pickled red cabbage, black eyed beans, beetroot hummus, cucumber and cherry tomatoes.

Sweet potato fries - served with avo salsa and aioli.

Sardi Cafe

111 Church St,

Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122.

+61 3 9818 6140

https://sardicafe.com.au/

Disclosure: I dined as a guest of Sardi Cafe. All opinions expressed in this post are based entirely on my experience and observations made during the time of my visit.