A Review of Ripe Cafe in Mount Dandenong

Ripe Sassafras

376 Mount Dandenong Tourist Road,

Sassafras, VIC 3787

Australia

Link to Ripe Cafe Website

Located in Sassafras, it is the perfect stop, for cyclists, for someone on a roadtrip to pick up a quick bite in the little street of local shops. Ripe Cafe sits in the heart of the Dandenong Ranges and is a cozy eatery and extremely charming. Ripe cafe is open 7 days a week, which is extremely rare in the Mount Dandenong area and is most popular for brunches. The cafe is casual and cozy, serving local, fresh and sustainable ingredients and you will have all your dietary requirements sorted here. Vegetarians, vegans and those who require gluten-free options, you will be very well taken care of here.

Exterior of this charming hills cafe which is popular with cyclists in the area

As you enter the cafe you are greeted by sweets and sandwiches. If you manage to not get distracted by the selection, you will be greeted by the main dining hall and then a secondary space with wooden decking complete with a fireplace for a cooler morning. Our preference is always the back deck. It is beautiful and you get a beautiful hit of sun coming through at times.

Gorgeous Back Deck

We had a Veggie Medley which was plenty for 2. Our platter included falafel, hummus, guacamole, roast pumpkin with dukkah and toasted pecans, roast tomato, mushrooms, wilted spinach and scrambled tofu on sourdough toast which was vegan friendly. Oh, did i mention it was absolutely delicious as well? For me, this is a classic execution of a Melbourne bunch. Simple, high quality ingredients with some form of middle eastern influence.

We also had a scone to go along. Miss Marples next door gets all the hype with the scones, but in our many attempts to visit Miss Marples and sometimes getting frustrating with the wait over the years, we have realised that Ripe Cafe also makes a mean rustic scone. Toasted warm scone, fresh double cream and jam is love.

Booking

Ripe Cafe is a large space and our experience has been if you go slightly earlier before the brunch crowd turns up on the weekend, it it generally easy to get a seat. However, we still highly recommend making a reservation if you intend to visit on the weekend. Ripe Cafe is very popular with the locals and it can fill up very quickly. On their website, there are still seats available for reservation one week out.

Accessibility

Ripe Cafe is located on the main street of Sassafras and would mean you need a car to access. If driving, there are plenty of street parking and also a parking lot on the opposite side of the street.

The Damage

Total damage for our 2 pax brunch including 2 coffees was 53 AUD, which is rather standard for brunch. Do remember that this is Melbourne and there are extra surcharges. So expect 10 % surcharge on weekends, 17 % on public holidays and 1.7 % on card payments. Yes, frustrating, but this is the norm.

Would we recommend?

Yes! We love Ripe and have been visiting over the past decade whenever we visit Mount Dandenong. It makes us feel like we have made it out of the city. The food is high quality, casual and the place is cozy and inviting. Definitely would recommend.