Tag: Northbridge

Caffissimo at the Gallery Review

Caffissimo at the Gallery, Northbridge

After visiting the new exhibition at the WA Art Gallery, we decided to try the cafe out front. It seemed like a nice place to sit and snack while watching people go by. There is no table service, you have to invariably line up for a while. The special soup that I ordered had just run out, so I chose another. It was a surprise when the original soup was served. That was good for us but a little confusing. The half size ‘soup and sarnie’ was a great idea, a bit like a sample plate.  I never like to spend too much on the kids who often don’t appreciate it and don’t finish it, so I went for a short walk to Trackside Bakery went and got some extra snacks. Overall the food was OK, satisfying, but nothing exceptional. I hear that the coffee is good.

Other Things You Should Know

  • open Monday – Sunday 7:30am – 3/4pm, Friday 7:30am – 6:30pm.
  • there are at least another 20 Caffissimo cafes spread throughout Perth.

Location & Contact

  • address: James St Mall Perth Cultural Centre, Perth, WA 6000
  • phone: 08 9228 3100

Regal on Roe Chinese Restaurant Review

Regal on Roe, Northbridge

We had heard that Regal on Roe was the best value dim sum in Perth, and we were looking to try somewhere new after the last time visiting Dragon Palace nearby in Northbridge. Very good first impression, a welcoming feel and not too big. We were offered Chinese tea as we sat down. The service was excellent, friendly and English well spoken. There was plenty of food on offer, which you do not always get. We had arrived early for lunch, which may have helped as the place was not full. There were the usual dim sum options, we did not have a bad serve. The radish cakes were a bit bland, but that was about the only criticism. It was a good outing with the kids – they like plenty of the dim sum offerings, and the watermelon juice and jelly were great bonuses. They also enjoyed watching the live lobster in the tank. We can’t vouch for it being the best value dim sum in Perth, as we thought it was quite expensive. It may have just been that the food looked so good that we ordered more than we would normally. Next time we may try the Chinese place next door. There are plenty of Chinese options in Northbridge we have yet to try.

Other Things You Should Know

  • open for dim sum lunch, banquet and dinner
  • BYO available

Location & Contact

Dragon Palace Review

Dragon Palace, Northbridge

This place has been around a long time on James Street, and if you go past on any weekend you will see lines of people streaming in – always an indication of the popularity of the place. With all those people to cater for, there is a huge dining area and they move them in and out pretty quickly. There is a large range of the usual dim sum options and the quality is good.

Other Things You Should Know

  • open Lunch Weekdays 10:30am – 3:00pm Weekends 10:00am – 3:00pm, Dinner 6:00pm – Late
  • there is also a karaoke restaurant here, so if you like that sort of thing …

Location & Contact

Guzman y Gomez Review

Guzman y Gomez, Northbridge

Great new Mexican restaurant in Perth. Take my advice, try the spicy chicken guerrero burrito – grilled chicken (grilled in their special marinade) with pico de gallo and tomatillo salsa, rice, black beans and cheddar cheese, packed into a flour tortilla. I have not had a burrito as good as this since San Francisco. There are lots of options, you can pick a style (burrito/taco/quesadilla/nachos and then choose a filling (chicken/steak/beef/pork/fish or veggie). All the food is good really, fairly authentic Mexican fare as far as I can tell. Very casual and kids friendly, highly recommended.

Other Things You Should Know

  • open Sun to Thurs: 11am – 10pm, Fri & Sat: 11am – 12 midnight
  • Beware the yellow signage is a bit glarey

Location & Contact

  • address: 87 James St, Northbridge, WA 6003
  • phone: 08 6365 4552
  • web: www.gyg.com.au

Bivouac Canteen and Bar Review

Bivouac Canteen & Bar, Northbridge

I went to Bivouac for a night out with a group of friends. Bivouac means a temporary camp without tents or cover, so I’m not sure how that is related to a cool restaurant in Northbridge that uses free range, organic and local produce. In fact there were a few things that didn’t fit with the theme of the restaurant. The setting was quite casual and relaxed. I was interested in trying something from the ‘Secret Menu’, which was in fact just the specials. They also had a quirky menu naming system, large plate and small plate for entree and mains, for some of the beverages, there was grapes, apples & pears, for wine and cider!

We shared some of the dishes, and the food was excellent quality. We tried Haloumi salad (gri lled haloumi, rocket, pine nuts, sour cherries and grilled zucchini), goat chops (gin gin goat chops with chermoula rub), freekah chicken (freekeh, cinnamon poached mt barker chicken, almond & pine nuts), porchini croquettes, manoushi, quattro formaggi (4 cheese and mushroom) pizza, greek lamb pizza, mechuoi lamb (moroccan mechoui lamb, eggplant puree, date & preseved lemon relish), and to finish up we managed to squeeze in the panna cotta, baklava, and the secret tart (dark chocolate tart with turkish delight). Hmm …all were scrumptious, but my favourites were the croquettes, the haloumi salad and the morrocon lamb!

The service was quite slow, which fit with the relaxed feel of the place, but very friendly and helpful.  There was also a selection of art work for sale around the walls, interesting pieces but not something I would hang at home.  We had quite a bit to eat and shared a couple of bottles of wines between us and it still was only about $50 each, pretty good value.

Other Things You Should Know

  • open Tuesday to Saturday late
  • no bookings taken
  • licenced

Location & Contact

  • address: 198 William St, Northbridge, WA 6003
  • phone: 08 9227 0883
  • web: bivouac.com.au