Eggs. Warm with runny yolks. Crusty, toasted sourdough that threatens to take out the roof of your mouth. Cultured butter with its distinct sourness. Hollandaise sauce silkier than La Prarie Skin Caviar. A side of spinach or salty, fennel-scented pork sausages. The miasma of just-ground coffee spilling into the street. The burble of early morning voices waking up to a weekend day.
Brunch is an evocative event. It’s why we go. Brunch (not breakfast) carries with it a civilised gravitas.
Where to go for the best brunches in Perth? Read on to find out.Credit: Instagram
Anyone can do breakfast. Brunch is for late risers with time on their hands – the leisure classes, if you will – people who can stroll to their local, meet friends, hang out over endless cups of coffee and wander home after midday. Replete.
Perthlings are experts at brunch and, while it suggests sunny, summer mornings dining al fresco, winter brunching has a distinct appeal for lovers of the mid-morning start. So what are you waiting for? Grab your scarf and beanie and make tracks to brunch. Here are our favourites.
There are some rules, though.
Never before 10am. Any earlier and it’s just breakfast.
If you feel the need, it’s okay to drink, but never a mimosa: these American abominations destroy good orange juice and good bubbles. You want hard liquor.
A good start is a bloody Mary with lots of hot sauce and vodka, or, of course, the ambrosial breakfast martini, shaken with marmalade.
This might be controversial but look for a venue without prams. The last thing you need is a screaming infant disturbing your late-morning sense of peace and harmony, unless of course you’re a young parent and you take comfort from a cluster of strollers around the tables, the high-pitched attention-seeking of your offspring and the splatter of babycino foam on every surface.
Gordon Street Garage is a must-visit for brunch in Perth.Credit: Instagram
The rest of us might go somewhere else.
Your favourite brunch spot must have great coffee. It’s non-negotiable.
Ditto eggs. Any good brunch spot is going to do eggs at least three ways and they are able to make a glossy, tangy hollandaise and be generous with it.
Gordon Street Garage, West Perth
The WAtoday team love Gordon Street Garage because it’s all about inner-city cool, and they don’t leave you wondering.
Want bone marrow for brunch? You got it. A steak perhaps? Sure they do great bacon and eggs, granola, soft-boiled eggs with soldiers, Bircher muesli and eggs benny with salmon – and they are very good – but you’re more than likely two Panadol down and craving their trio of grilled snapper tacos and a great coffee.
Bib & Tucker knows how to do brunch.Credit: Instagram
Bib & Tucker, North Fremantle
Grab a breakfast martini and settle down at Bib & Tucker for brunch time vibes on the sand. There are few restaurants this close to the Indian Ocean and B&T makes the most of its iconic position. Grab a fried chicken roti with pickled jalapeno and coriander or a perky huevos rancheros with eggs, black beans, avo and pico de gallo. They do eggs anyway you want and B&T’s buttermilk pancakes are crowned with Tasmanian double cream and salted caramel.
Lot One Kitchen, Hillarys
Lot One may well be outside the trend zones of Leederville and Northbridge, but it’s no slouch when it comes to innovative, super tasty food.
The eggs are primo at Lot One Kitchen.Credit: Instagram
Ricotta banana bread with maple caramelised figs will perk up your morning. Their breakfast pavlova with berries, passionfruit and roasted lupin granola is a winner, as is house made crumpets and the brisket benny, a slow cooked beef brisket marvel bathed in chipotle hollandaise and plated with potato rosti and a poached egg. Stop it!
They’ve even got a version of the full English, but for vegetarians. Nice one.
Forklore, West Perth
OK, OK, weird name, but put that aside, Forklore is one of the most innovative, fun and downright delicious brunch spots in the city. Of course they do eggs, toast, bacon and avocado, but you’re not at Forklore for these mere delicious items, you’re in for the XO scrambled eggs, bang bang chicken and, our favourite, tonkotsu congee, the pan-Asian rice porridge that gives a savoury middle finger to rolled outs.
And for true lovers of brunch, they have an all day brunch menu. Huzzah!
Epicurean, Crown Perth
Don’t roll your eyes. Hear me out. Yes, it’s a buffet and the very antithesis of the cosy, local brunch joint, but Crown Towers’ signature restaurant is all about the glam red-carpet, chandeliered experience and a frankly awesome food selection.
Take it as a given that there’s nothing you can’t get at Epicurean, from Chinese-style dumplings to Indian curry and from a bewildering array of breads and pastries to fresh fruit and granola.
Slight wrinkle though. Epicurean closes at 10.30am to re-set for lunch service, but as long as you’ve ordered (or cruised the buffet) before then, they’re happy for you to stay on and enjoy.
Finlay & Sons, Inglewood
Instagrammable – and delicious – hash brown eggs benedict at Finlay and Sons.Credit: Instagram
Imagine a long table, artfully distressed and strewn with coffee cups and share plates. Finlay & Sons has the beach house vibe down pat and is hugely popular right now for its Instagramable plates.
Its roster of scrumptious dishes doesn’t stray far from breaky faves, with muesli, eggs any way, smashed avocado, eggs benny and a truly remarkable thick-cut bacon and egg roll doing the heavy lifting. Coffee is very good. Our fave? Fried chicken burger.
Cafe Elixir, Wanneroo
Café Elixir always scores well with punters. We reckon there’s just one reason. Its southern fried chicken eggs benny is a monster.
Crunchy, moist buttermilk fried chicken, two poached eggs, buffalo benedict sauce on tranches of good sourdough. My God.
But it’s more than a one-trick pony. From fruit toast to chilli cheese scrambled eggs and banoffee pie pancakes, the inventive crew at Elixir have you covered.
Good Things, Mosman Park
We stumbled in here by accident one day and were confronted by “The Hulk”. That’s what they call their version of smashed avocado mounded up with mint, peas, seeds, pickled red onions, green chilli, whipped feta and an (optional) egg or two. Wear your fat pants.
Good Things’ famous chilli eggs.Credit: Instagram
The kitchen’s generous serves will test your waistline. Eggs benny, granola, fluffy buttermilk hotcakes with maple syrup and chilli eggs are all memorable. Coffee is first-rate too.
Brunch goes until 2.30pm. Now that’s civilised.
Sayers Sister, Northbridge
Sayers Sister has been smashing out brunch faves for its bolted-on fans at the northern end of Lake Street for years. Its chic, rustic, boho fit-out is charming as is its massive central table.
Scrambled and chorizo at Sayers Sister.Credit: Instagram
They do all the usual stuff. They just do it better than most. Toasts and preserves, eggs benedict, eggs on toast which you can option up, as you like, with bacon, hash browns, spinach, chorizo or tomato.
Cheesecake waffles are a tummy full of love. Egg and bacon bagel is a classic as is the gluten-free potato rosti with apple, chutney, poached eggs and spinach.
Petition Kitchen, State Buildings, Perth
You’ve had a big night out. You walk into the cosy confines of the open brick dining room at Petition Kitchen. You just want coffee, and quick as a flash the smart staff at Petition will have a hot flat white in front of you.
Suitably re-charged, you need food and, while Petition’s fare is a standard suite of brekky faves, they do it well. How about shakshuka with lamb kofta, fried egg and spiced dukka, or hot smoked salmon with poached eggs and hollandaise, smashed avocado or eggs your way? It’s a little bit Parisienne brasserie, a little bit uber-cool diner.
Bread in Common, Fremantle
It’s the home of the OG lamb ribs and still one of the best brunch haunts in the city. Bread in Common’s loaves are all over the place these days, but it’s more than just one of the best bakeries in town. Eggs cooked your way with Cumberland sausage and bacon is always good, as is waffles with burnt orange, vanilla ice cream and honeycomb and sweet corn fritters with smoked yoghurt, pickled chilli and avocado.
Long communal tables, raw brick finishes and superb morning cocktails make this stalwart a much-loved brunch destination. You’ll have to wait for lunch to try those lamb ribs.
Mary Street Bakery, six locations
There are Mary Street Bakery locations all around the inner urban areas of P-Town. Check out their menus, as some differ from others, but at most of the venues you can get cracking brunch staples like cheese on toast, brekky steak sandwich with onion jam, cheddar and chips.
Mary St Bakery locations offer a variety of breakfast staples.Credit: Instagram
How about a coconut braised beef cheek, or smoked salmon with fried bread and katsuobushi hollandaise and their seemingly endless array of fresh baked pastries, donuts, cinnamon rolls and croissants? Their coffee is legendary too.
Also try
- Il Lido, Cottesloe
- Shorehouse, Swanbourne
- Odyssea Beach Café, City Beach
- May Street Larder, East Fremantle
- Peninsular Farm Café, Maylands
- La Veen, Perth
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