🍽 Trying to eat at every café in Northbridge

I spent about ten days in Perth two weeks ago, to work remotely and to speak at the inaugural Localhost meetup. Perth is on the other side of Australia, it’s three hours behind Sydney and is a five-hour plane ride. I actually love going to Perth, because I’m a morning person and going back in time a little bit makes me get up earlier in the mornings, and the days feel so much longer.

I enjoyed my trip this time around – I enjoyed it immensely. I sort of fell in love with Perth when I found the web community to be so approachable and friendly. I’d never come across a friendlier or warmer group. And to have that common interest of web development really put a smile on my face. I didn’t come across a single person whose behaviour put me off. It was pleasant.

Another thing I love about Perth is the food. I tried a few cafés last time I was there, but this time I got to try so many more. I looked up most of them on Zomato, but a lot of them were also recommended to me by others. I’m going to write about some of the good food I had – I would recommend trying out all of these places! Most are in Northbridge, Perth, as that’s where I stayed. You will find a plethora of cafés there. Others are a little out of the way.

Little Bird Café

Ughhhhh I love this place. I have only ever had breakfast here, not the lunches, but the vegan smoothies (or any smoothie I reckon) are to die for. The vegan smoothies do not feel heavy, they feel quite light. Coconut milk is used, and I usually hate the stuff because I used to be allergic to coconuts, but the matcha and cacao flavours, just to name a few, make it taste great. Sometimes banana or dates are added for sweetness. I usually hate dates, but gosh they are a stunning addition to these smoothies. Yum me up, brother.

Twice I had the avocado and feta on sourdough, I asked for it without any meat. The second time I went there they messed it up and accidentally gave me bacon but fixed my order right away. It honestly looks like there isn’t a lot on the plate, but the feta adds such a beautiful flavour to the whole thing. It steps it up from just being plain old “avo on toast”.

Little Bird Cafe 100 Lake Street Northbridge Perth, WA

Tuck Shop Café

This place won my heart the first time I went there and have raved about it ever since. The interior is a little dark, but cosy, even when busy. Getting the asparagus and poached egg with salsa verde last time I was in Perth, this time I just got the same thing again because it was that good.

It was exactly as I remember it. The asparagus was cooked to perfection, the layer of parmesan on top worked so well with the egg and the vegetables, and the salsa verde gave it just that little bit of zest. Highly recommended!

Tuck Shop Café Shop 1, 180 Newcastle Street Northbridge Perth, WA

Tarts Café

It was a rainy day but I really wanted to try something a bit of a walk away, for something different. I walked to Tarts Café, about fifteen minutes from my apartment. It was in a quiet area of Northbridge although the café itself was buzzing. I chose to sit outside on the worn-down metal tables, which still sat undercover from the rain. I was debating what to order… I ordered my usual soy chai latte because it fit in with the cold weather. It arrived in a tall glass. The serving was bigger than I expected. Then I opted for the breakfast quesadillas.

It was probably too filling for my liking but it was tasty! I didn’t feel like anything else on the menu. There is quite a bit of cheese in there, but that’s not unusual for a quesadilla. I’d say it was a little on the salty side but the rocket balanced it out.

Tarts Cafe 212 Lake Street Northbridge Perth, WA

Mr. Fox on William

Mr. Fox is a pretty small café, and pretty new I think – it sits on William Street, the main street in Northbridge. I was tossing up between the green salad and the avocado on toast… I just went with the avocado and paid extra for an egg. I would have gotten the green salad another time because it sounded good, but I didn’t feel like a salad that morning. I also didn’t end up going back, but I probably will next time.

The meal was good. I don’t have any complaints; at the same time I don’t think it was super amazing. I probably prefer Little Bird’s version. I loved the large amount of spinach, though.

Mr. Fox on William 270 William Street Northbridge Perth, WA

Flora & Fauna Café

I seriously have mixed feelings about this place. Their food is photogenic, but I can probably criticise how the appearance of the food is not equal to how good the taste is. The food is colourful and riddled with lots of colourful fruit, but there is also a lot of basically inedible flowers. I had the three types of tomatoes on toast last October when I was here, and it tasted great, but when you think about it, it was just nice-looking tomatoes on toast. If you know me well, you know how much I love Really Good Tomatoes™ but beyond the tomatoes there was not much flavour.

This time, I got the banana bread, which Brett said was more like a banana cake. This was true. The banana bread was so thick and rich, and the fruit that went with it was plentiful. It was too plentiful for me, someone who doesn’t usually like a lot of sweet fruits. I find most fruit to be too acidic for my stomach to handle, or too much for my palate in general (which is why I am more a fan of savoury things and vegetables). I couldn’t really stomach all the fruit so I didn’t finish it. The banana bread was more like a cake, so I disliked how rich it was. If I was prepped for a cake I would have liked it, but the serving of the “bread” was also very large.

Flora & Fauna Cafe Shop 4, 70 Aberdeen Street Northbridge Perth, WA

Aisuru Sushi

Not a café, but definitely a really awesome Japanese sushi place to check out. I went here about three times. The vegan sushi caught my eye immediately. They had quite a few different types and I was pleasantly surprised. One thing I love about Perth is its vegetarian-friendly and vegan-friendly eateries. They seem to be in abundance. Anyway, I enjoyed the plum sauce that was served with a couple of the dishes. So good.

Of course I tried a few of the fish dishes too and greatly enjoyed those. I had tuna sashimi one night and it was delicious, had the right texture and softness. Very happy. I wish more sushi places in Sydney had the class that this place had. The presentation of all the dishes was excellent.

Aisuru Sushi 208 William Street Northbridge Perth, WA

Sayers Sister

This was a nice, very cosy café about a fifteen minute walk from my apartment. It was totally worth the walk. I sat in a corner on a comfortable couch adorned with cushions. I ordered the potato rosti (with poached eggs, spinach and rocket – also with bacon, but I ordered without), which definitely caught my eye on the menu. It’s not often that I find cafés serving rosti, but I love it. I love the crispiness and the flavour in thinly-presented potatoes.

It was so delicious. There was a lot of potato there, and definitely a lot of spinach that was hidden under all the rocket. I wished I hadn’t eaten so much potato in the first half of my meal. You definitely have to make sure you get enough of all the flavours on the plate in each bite, otherwise you might be left with too much potato or spinach at the end. :D

With my meal, I got chai with rice milk. I do love rice milk as a light, alternative option to almond or soy milk – I hate nut milk, I find soy to be overpowering sometimes, and of course, as you might know, I don’t drink regular milk. The chai was great. I wish I could have taken some home!

Sayers Sister 236 Lake Street Northbridge Perth, WA

Opal Café

This café was a little out of the way and had medium reviews. It was about a twenty-minute walk from my apartment and I settled on the poached egg with avocado. It seems that, if you eat at enough cafés, poached egg and avocado is a menu staple. You are bound to get sick of it, but in this case I wanted to give it a try and hope it was something different.

By golly, it was! It was the most impressive breakfast I had to that date. There were little tomatoes that offset the flavour, and a bit of rocket lettuce added to the avocado, while grated parmesan cheese was sprinkled on top. I almost forgot about the mashed avocado beneath, but it was simply delicious.

I really wanted to send my compliments to the chef but I was too shy – hopefully they come across this review somehow. :)

Opal Cafe 134 Abderdeen Street Northbridge Perth, WA

Whisk Creamery

Where do I even start? Whisk does soy milkshakes. Anything that caters to people with allergies or dietary requirements is a plus – especially when it comes to things that are traditionally dairy. I love it. I had the soy matcha milkshake and various other variations… there are so many options for desserts at Whisk. They open late, absolutely perfect for dessert, and you’re not going to regret spending $12 after adding five toppings to your milkshake.

I came back to Sydney and wanted to cry, the 40ºC heat was getting to me, and you know what? I couldn’t walk to a Whisk store… 😭

Whisk Creamery 246 William Street Northbridge Perth, WA

Pearth Organic Kitchen

On the day before I left Perth, I went to Pearth Organic Café, which was recommended to me by Meagan. It was out of the way from the CBD or Northbridge, so my options were to take a bus or train for twenty minutes, or walk for forty-five. Knowing me, though, I’m short, my stride is shorter, so you could make that 50 or so. I ended up catching the train there and enjoying the walk. I decided I would walk back home to “walk off” my meal.

I already decided what I wanted before I got there. The parmesan eggs sounded sooooo good, so I ordered those, along with a matcha smoothie. I need to find a place in Sydney that does these… besides Starbucks frappuccinos. I got cacao nibs in my smoothie as well. The parmesan eggs totally lived up to their expectations. I was dying for some scrambled eggs after so many poached ones during the week. I loved the flavour of the tomato relish but there was such a small amount, I really wished there was more.

I consumed the rest of my smoothie on the walk home. It did take just under 50 minutes to get back. It started to get so hot. The cacao nibs were a little hard to chew and I expected them to be softer, I probably wouldn’t get them next time.

Perth Organic Kitchen 106C Cambridge Street West Leederville Perth, WA

Long Neck Public House

For an eatery in the airport, you’d think it would be pretty mediocre. I stopped by just before my flight on Sunday morning and ordered the most appetising thing I saw. Smashed avocado. Can you have enough avocado? 🥑 Probably, probably not. It came with crumbled feta and a poached egg on quinoa grain bread. It’s easy to think that these things are pretty standard after you’ve had so much avocado. But this place impressed me, particularly for an eatery in the airport. The price wasn’t too bad either.

The presentation was great and the flavours of the dish won me over. Great breakfast. Not too much of any ingredient… and hey, not too much avocado, either.

Long Neck Public House Level 1, T1 Domestic Terminal Horrie Miller Drive Perth, WA

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Now having serious avo withdrawals after all my Perth eats. Oh noes. Shout out to Chynna for crushing on avo – I also borrowed the idea from her to write out the addresses of all these places. 😄

So… do you like smashed avocado on toast? If not, we can’t be friends. 😦 I’m just joking. What is your favourite breakfast food? Brunch food? Do you like café food as much as I do?