sandy's notes

Pub spots and patronage times for a casual outing – neither boorish nor fancypants.

It’s okay to not dress up, just don’t look like a bum.

• Andaluz Bar & Tapas, Basement Level, 21 Howard St, Perth – in one of the alleyway streets between St. George’s Terrace and the parallel road on the riverside of that block. Arty style small bar. Nice nibbles. Not cheap, casual dress okay.
• The Generous Squire, 397 Murray St, Shafto Lane, Perth – nice, relaxed atmosphere. Decent food, decent beer, decent prices. Great place to start a pub crawl.
• Hula Bula Bar, 12 Victoria Ave, Perth – tiki-theme, cosy, dimly lit, interesting beer & cocktails, go during late arvo (tarted up crowds come after dark).
• The Royal on the Waterfront, 60 Royal St (cnr Plain St), East Perth – sports tv, ATM, slow cocktails, outdoor waterfront seating.
• The Queens, 520 Beaufort St, Highgate – fast cocktails but small selection, ATM, ourdoor seating with trees.

It’s okay to be extra casual; thongs okay if it’s light out.

• Fenians Irish Pub, 221 Adelaide Tce, East Perth – sports tv, no cocktails, cigarette machine, undercover outdoor seating.
• Grosvenor Hotel, 339 Hay St, East Perth – sports tv, pool tables, ATM, no cocktails, outdoor seating.
• Moon & Sixpence, 300 Murray St, Perth – british pub, british beer, sports telly, ATM, awesome food, outdoor roadside seating.

Honourable mentions outside the city

• Captain Stirling, 80 Stirling Hwy, Nedlands – sports tv, pool tables, ATM, decent speed cocktails, stone garden seating with trees.
• Fire & Ice, Subiaco Train Station Complex (behind Wagamama) – very good food, awesome happy hour deals, best service. Best pub burgers in Perth, IMO. Highly recommended!!

I should probably explain this a little better – these are non-fast food burger places in Perth. And if I have a pub grub burger that is particularly good, they’ll get a mention here too. I don’t normally order burgers in pubs, though, so don’t expect to see many.

Retro Betty’s Cafe – 127 Oxford Street, Leederville, (08) 9444 0499
Big diameter burgers, juicy filling, buns are light and fluffy.

The Burger Bistro – 16/884 Hay St, Perth (next to Durty Nelly’s in Shafto Lane), (08) 9485 1729
Medium diameter but tall burgers, dense juicy filling, dense bread. Can’t recommend the potato salad, stick with burgers, they’re ace.

Flipside Burger Bar – 294 Cambridge Street, Wembley, (08) 9287 2288
Good bread, good meat, a good eat. Chips are cooked juicy & crispy; awesome sauces, aioli very garlicky and natural-tasting. Mini burger is the size of a normal-person burger – good value.

Jus Burgers – Subiaco & Leederville (both equally as good as each other)
Burgers are awesome, massive, meat is really dense. Prepare to wait, call ahead if you can. Seriously, the food is good. That said, I’m not a fan of the Jus experience. Venues are trendy and small, crowds put me off.

Fire & Ice Bar – Subiaco Train Station (directly behind Wagamama)
Can’t stress enough how awesome the service is at their place. They really make you feel special, and they’re reasonably priced for a Subi venue. Their burgers are delicious. Juicy, stunning combo of meat & veg, not over-done, my cold anti-pub-burger heart melted. I’ve had my eye on the sliders for ages, but still haven’t had one. Will let you know when I have.

In Perth…

Seizan Japanese Restaurant & Karaoke Bar – 566 Hay St, Perth, (08) 9325 5980
Mon-Fri lunch 11:30am-2:30pm, 7 nights for dinner 5:30pm-10pm. Simple lovely Japanese food, airconditionned, comfy ambience, staff dressed in kimono & geta. Beer, wine & sake available. Food favourites:

• Gyu teriyaki set lunch – beef scotch fillet shavings in teriyaki sauce + salad, rice & miso ($12.80 lunch)
• Wafu steak set lunch – juicy garlic steak cubes + salad, rice & miso ($14.80 lunch)
• Chirashi sushi – huge bowl of rice with mixed raw tuna & sashimi bits + salad & miso ($14.50 lunch)
• Plum tea – hot or cold ($3.50 per cup)
• Plum wine served with ice ($7.50 per glass, you can get it by the bottle too, but I forget how much)

Edo Shiki – Shop 17, Forrest Chase, Murray St Mall (next to Forrest Chase entrance of Myer), (08) 9225 7022
Mall opening hours. Sushi & dim sum train. Very open plan, seating a bit squishy, recommended for a quick good-value satisfying bite. Particular foods you can find there:

• Standard sushi you can get everywhere, except for the potato salad stuff they have at Jaws
• Char siew bao – bbq pork steamed bun
• Siew mai – pork mince dumpling with the yellow-brown skin and the orange bit on top
• Takoyaki – octopus balls
• Chicken feet – actually, we call them “phoenix claw” ;)
• Deep fried squid – yes!!

NAO Sushi & Izakaya – 117 Murray St, Perth, (08) 9325 2090
Business hours. Especially for ramen – but they serve a heap of other stuff too, BYO alcohol. Tiny shop with table, bar and outdoor seating. Cosy, simple decor. Takeaway outlet. Good for:

• Ramen!

POPPO – 137 Barrack St, Perth (a couple doors river-wards from the Wellington St intersection), (08) 9325 5997
Open from 11am 7 days. Menu is a 60/40 split on Korean/Japanese food. Very tasty, good value. Quite crowded during mealtimes. Recommended for:

• Bulgogi – Korean style sizzling beef
• Dolsot bibimbap – Korean mixed rice in a hot stone bowl
• Dynamite roll – delicious seafood sushi roll
• Gyoza – good for a cheap lunchtime snack

Mr. Samurai – 83 Barrack St, Perth, (08) 9221 3600
Open Tue-Thu 11am-6pm, Fri 11am-8pm. Really tasty freakin cheap student dining. You can get yummy generous-serve lunches for $5-7. My favourites:

• Omuraisu – chicken bits in tomato sauce rice, wrapped in a flappy Japanese omelette.
• Agedashi tofu – really good.
• I don’t know what anything else tastes like, I only ever get the two above cos they’re bloody nice.

Yoshiya Japanese Restaurant – 1-7 Pier St, Perth, (08) 9325 6009 – street view
Open Mon-Fri 11am-2pm & 6pm-10pm, Sat 6pm-10pm, Sun closed. Slightly pricey, but quite fresh. I ordered:

• Chirashi – was very fresh

Around Perth…

Edo – 320 Barker Rd, Subiaco, (08) 9382 1608
Open everyday from 11am til late.
This place is MADE OF WIN. Any donburi dish on their menu can be re-vamped as a bowl of ramen for just $3 more – so clever. Average prices, but great value. Food is presentable and good quality.

Ha-Lu – Shop 4/401 Oxford St, Mt Hawthorn, (08) 9444 0577
Open 7 days from 6pm, bookings recommended.
Really, really lovely clean modern decor, but still keeps a fairly casual feel. Very good food, delightful presentation. Very, very un-cheap, take it as a treat.

Tsunami Japanese Restaurant – 18 Glyde St, Mosman Park, (08) 9284 7788, online booking form
Open Tues-Sun for dinner from 6pm, same day online bookings must be made before 4pm.
Cosy, dim-light decor. Fancy furniture, wooden floor. Outdoor dining & function area available, pretty Japanese garden to look at. Expensive prices, but the food is freakin good. They do beer, wine, cocktails, sake and apertifs.

Wagamama – Cnr Roberts & Rokeby Rd, Subiaco, (08) 9388 6055
Open Mon-Sun 12noon-10pm. Indoor & outdoor seating, modern decor, noisy. Japanese fusion food, great selection & generous serves of ramen and noodles, $15-20 price range. Serves beer, wine, cocktails and sake.

Zen Japanese Restaurant – Shop 2, 1 Seddon St, Subiaco, (08) 9381 4931
Open Tues-Fri for lunch 12noon-2pm, Tues-Sat 6pm-10pm and Sun 6pm-9pm for dinner. Contemporary decor with cute Japanese trinkets. Simple layout & comfy, casual setting, fully lit. Don’t expect a rush. Lots of variety on menu, generous mains portions. Not cheap, $15-40 price range, but delicious. Tataki is lovely, comes with cut chilli. Serves beer, wine, spirits and sake.

• Places to eat in Subiaco – has more Japanese places around Perth
• Where to get ramen in Perth – more Jap places

Budget:
Low-end, good feed, great backup plan when you just need to make it to payday.

• soon – i only just got here and i’m not broke today

Casual:
Average prices, casual dining, no need to dress up, could do everyday – you get the idea.

• Bamboo – authentic Singaporean & Malaysian hawker food, really good
• Edo – good value japanese food; they do ramen!
• MYO – make your own sandwiches, wraps, pizza & salad
• Paddy Maguires – Irish pub, big serves, rich flavour
• Sicilian Café at Lunch – $10-15 pizza/pasta special, pizzas are huge for cheap, Tues-Fri

Above average:
Not ridiculously expensive, but the upper end of affordable, couldn’t do everyday, bit of a treat.

• Mooba – pricey café, food’s a bit fancy, they take sms coffee orders
• Wagamama – Japanese fusion food, lovely ramen

Takeaway:
Places that don’t really have sitdown space.

• Nippon Fare – sushi takeaway, opens at 9 if you fancy breakfast :)

Notes on the yummy stuff they serve at the Royal in East Perth. If stuff’s missing, it’s cos I haven’t eaten it yet or can’t afford to. This page will be updated as I eat.

Salads

• eggplant & goats cheese stack – three big slabs of eggplant layered with slabs of goat cheese, basil and tomato. spinach & rocket side with balsamic vinegar and baby tomato. heaps of goats cheese, so it’s a bit rich. filling, but not bloaty.

Tapas

• hand cut frites – really good, not crap or generic, big bowl. skinny hand cut potato fries (thicker than french fries, but not as thick as kfc fries) with the skin on. not too oily or greasy.
• chorizo – spicy grilled chorizo sausage, nice softness on turkish bread, lots of green and black olives with pips still in, feta on top. satisfying snack for 2-3 people.

I’m a fan of quiet places to eat. You know the ones – little rundown small-business lunch bars that serve an average meal at an average price. They don’t draw a crowd and are perfectly acceptable places for a solo lunch, eating by yourself and enjoying your own company.

Here are some quiet places to eat in Perth. This list will grow as I find more spots.

Caddy’s Lunch Bar
55 Milligan St, Perth
(Cnr Milligan St and Murray St. – west side)
street view

Plain Street Cafe
18-22 Plain St, Perth
(Head east along Adelaide Tce, then turn right on Plain St. – east side)
street view

In the city…

NAO Sushi & Izakaya
117 Murray St, Perth, (08) 9325 209
Across the road from the Scientology office, and towards the mall a bit.

Ajisen Ramen
20/200 Murray St, Perth, (08) 9225 7288
Near Forrest Chase entrance of Myer in the Murray St Mall.

Around the city…

Edo
320 Barker Rd, Subiaco, (08) 9382 1608 – open everyday 11am-late
Couple doors down from Paddy Macguire’s front entrance.

Wagamama
Cnr Roberts & Rokeby Rd, Subiaco, (08) 9388 6055
At the Subi train station.

Viet Hoa Vietnamese Restaurant
349 William St, Northbridge, (08) 9328 2127
Not Japanese ramen, but you can get pho.