Rosi's Sit Down Café, near The Moor, Sheffield City Centre

Ignore the graffiti, this is a great caff and worth a visit

The sun was shining and I had a little time to kill based on the fact that I'd risen early and was ready for a bit of fresh air at 7.30am. My hotel was in the city centre so I headed out for walk through Sheffield, following the tram lines as I was told by the hotel receptionist.

It goes without saying that I was on the look-out for an independent café, but all I could see was the well-known brands: Costa, Café Nero, Starbucks and Gregg's. I walked for what seemed like a fair bit of time, but was only 15 minutes, when I reached a sign saying The Moor. Looking ahead, it was a dead end, but I walked towards a strange-looking sculpture and had no option other than to turn left.

My journey had taken in plenty of closed down shops, which was depressing, but even more depressing was the lack of a decent 'caff'. But then I spotted Rosi's. It was open and I peered through the window to see what it looked like on the inside. It looked great: linoleum floorings, tubular steel chairs, tables covered with plastic tablecloths – tasteful ones.

Food was frying on the griddle and there was a friendly woman in charge, although she wasn't Rosi. Or was it Rosie? She told me that everybody calls it Rosie's, meaning that a letter 'e' might be missing from the name (although no space for it must mean that it's Rosi's).

The bright and cheery interior of Rosi's

I was the only customer, but then it was only 0745hrs. After a short while two young girls, probably on their way to school, came in and ordered something, bringing the total number of customers to three.

I liked the name of Rosi's Sit Down Café. It was the 'sit-down' bit I liked, something you don't hear 'down south'. Aren't all cafés 'sit-down'?

I ordered two slices of toast and a mug of tea and took a seat at the back of the restaurant where I perused the laminated menu. This was my sort of place: roast dinners, omelettes, snacks, they did everything here, even home-made pies (with gravy and fresh vegetables).

My mug of tea and two slices of toast – lovely!

In fact, let's take a look at some of Rosi's fine fayre: the aforementioned roast dinners are £5.00 (£4.50 for pensioners); the home-made pies range from £4.10 to £5.10 and there's one option with free tea or coffee. There's home-made quiche (from £3.10 to £4.10) a wide range of omelettes, jacket potatoes and pasta dishes. I mean, this is a caff's caff. If you live in Sheffield, go there today.

The toast was good and so was the tea, but I decided not to have a big fried breakfast and instead, after about fifteen minutes, I left and walked back to my hotel, past the branded coffee shops and bakeries, the shuttered shops and the Peace Gardens where water cascaded and fountains forced frothy water out of the ground.

I'm so glad I found Rosi's. The bill, incidentally, for two toasts and a mug of tea was a respectable £2.10p. What more could you ask for, I thought, picking up a newspaper and reading how Ken Barlow had been charged over 1960s rape allegations. What, I wondered, is the world coming to? I later read that veteran broadcaster Stuart Hall played his joker and owned up to various distressing crimes. He gets sentenced in June and is now branded a 'sexual predator'. Whatever next! Well, there's plenty more 'veteran broadcasters' coming up in front of the courts...