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.

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.