IT’S been open for 15 years and is going strong. The Blue Olive Café, in Civic’s beautiful, heritage Melbourne Building, West Row, knows its niche in the market.

Breakfast starts with a simple order of toast ($4) through to dishes featuring – more or less – “the lot” ($17). The lunch focuses on chunky New York-style sandwiches, big burgers, fresh salads and a small selection of mains. The small-batch, roasted coffee is good and The Blue Olive pays homage to tea lovers with its beautiful and fragrant T2 Teas. Fresh juices and smoothies are also available.

We popped by for a bit of brekkie through the week on a glorious sunny morning, picking a spot outside.

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The cranberry and bran muesli with shredded apple and yoghurt ($10.50) sounded lovely, and the green eggs and ham (with pesto and a side of bacon, $13.50) lively.

However, I settled on the Panini with spicy chorizo, pesto, tomato and loads of rocket ($8.50). The moreish combo of flavours and generous amount of ingredients hit the spot. A slight whinge about the tomatoes – the poor things were taken off the vine before they had a chance to get bright red, plump and juicy.

My friend’s dish came with a heap of herb mushrooms on toast and a small side of spinach ($13.50). The mushrooms made the bread a bit soggy, but the tastes were great.

But what about those New York-style sandwiches? The Blue Olive has 28 varieties, including six vegetarian options. They’re large, made with quality bread, fully loaded with interesting ingredients, super tasty – and filling. As they say in New York, these sandwiches “work overtime”.

The Blue Olive’s range is extensive and each is named after an artist, so you have the Monet, the Dali, the Botticelli and more. They’re only $9.50 and are made on artisan breads from Canberra’s famous Flute Bakery. You can select from hand-cut sourdough, seed and grain, white or multi-grain or choose a baguette, wholemeal Panini, tortilla, Turkish or gluten free bread (indeed, The Blue Olive does well at catering for those who are gluten free, including with sweets).

It’s table service at The Blue Olive although this caused some confusion. After waiting a while, we went inside to place our order, but were assured someone would come out to us. Eventually, they did. It wasn’t busy so we were baffled by the delay – just as well we enjoy basking in the sun.

I paid inside feeling the place could use an autumn clean and tidy, to perk it up a bit.

56 Alinga Street, 6230 4600. Breakfast and lunch. Monday to Friday, 7am to 3pm; Saturday 9am to noon. Catering available.