Kürtösh, Surry Hills

This homey café is about one thing - Delicious, passed-down-from-mama recipe pastries and cakes. They're pretty proud of their house specialty - the twisty Hungarian pastry called (funnily), Kurtosh. It's quite good. Honestly, I'd say forget the pastry twister and go one of the Slab Cakes instead. Oh, so good! So far, my favourite has been the Catastrophe Flourless Choc Cake. Or mayyyybe actually the Lemon Crumble Cheesecake. Pretty much mention Mum's Chocolate Cake and I'm ready to trip a blind person for a bite! If you can't choose, you could order a sliver of each and call it day. This is the best bit about Kurtosh - everything is sold by weight, and there's no minimum (or maximum) for what you buy. So you can literally order a sliver each of four kinds of cake. Hoorah! 

Lemon Crumble Cheesecake and Catastrophe Flourless Chocolate Cake

Extra bonus: open late so you can pop in for after dinner dessert.

Kurtosh
Crown Street, Surry Hills; and Willoughby Road, Crows Nest
Mon- Fri: 7am - 10pm
Sat + Sun: 8am - 10pm

Victoria Street, Darlinghurst
Open until 11pm on Fridays and Saturday

To The Woods, 6054

Bassendean just upped its cute factor. Newly placed on Old Perth Road, this humble coffee shop is a neat little meeting point between Guildford and the city. Hot drinks and cakelets come made-in-house or locally sourced. Brunchy things - breakfast parfait, Pear Raspberry Banana Bread and savoury croissants, will see you with change for $10. Simple, thrifty and lovely. Coffee is creamy good and Little Miss Glass Half Full making it, is infectiously chipper. If the weather's sweet, grab a $5 gourmet pie to go and drive down to nearby Point Reserve for some river vistas.

I'm pegging Old Perth Road as the next Maylands strip. Watch this space.

To The Woods

Mon-Fri: 7am - 3pm

Sat: 8am-1pm
9 Old Perth Road
Bassendean, WA
08 6363 5453

Love Thy Neighbour, 6003

In a word: humble

Rear entrance and courtyard neighbouring Ezra Pound

LTN aren't trying to be anything far-out or exotic, just a warmhearted place with quality comfort food, at reasonable prices. Coffee is strong and the home style brunch has that (currently trending) American-Canadian twang. Boston Baked Beans with poached egg come under $15 and are warming and delicious. A rich tomato sugo seeps through the rye bread forming soggy tomato-y goodness. This is the kind of food and feeling you fancy on an overcast/antisocial/hungover day.

Boston Baked Beans on Rye Sourdough with Poached egg, 

Home cooking isn't the only thing to warm you up at LTN. The pint sized cafe rests inside William St Arcade. It's closed off and hushful. Introverted, yet cool. Mahogany coloured decor and personable baristas, lend that familiar vibe. LTN makes you feel at home. 

Poached eggs on Rye Sourdough $9.50

If you're on a diet, take full use of the table service and avoid the counter at all costs. The sweets are deadly! Some guest appearances: Banana Caramel Layer Cake, Mississippi Mudpies, Oreo Cupcakes and many more gut-busting Americana experiments! Peanut butter is a favoured ingredient.

Food: 4/5 (Simple hearty food, lovingly prepared)
Coffee: 4/5 (Velvet smooth and on the stronger side. Like!)

Ambience: 5/5 (Buried at the end of an arcade. Warm, quiet and mellow.)

Service: 5/5 (Affable and relaxed. Not all up in your business but pleased to serve you)

Value: 4.5/5 (On a hipster budget. $9.50 for eggs on toast. No. B.S.)

The Office on Harrogate, 6007

I knew I was onto a winner when I recognised the lady heading up the kitchen here is from Voyage in Sorrento. You can expect the same wholesome and modern food that doesn't rely on fatty crap for bravado. Fresh and lean; an excellent lighter lunch option for West Leedy office workers. Actually, I'm kinda jealous I don't work within radius! 

Snazzy salads, toasted paninis, lamb wraps, seasonal soups...Might all sound a little 'standard' but you'd be way off. Everything is done with a little more attention to detail here like; serving fresh squeezed juices in mason jars and making sure every quesadilla that leaves that kitchen has a spritely garnish of greens and house made chutney. 

Medium mixed salad plate

For your afternoon sugar fix, The Office on Harrogate has you sorted. Of the wholefood treats on offer; the miniature Sticky Date Cakes proved most popular. Deftly crafted coffee is of the 5 senses breed and the gentlemen serving it up are super fine.

I wouldn't make The Office on Harrogate your next location for a fancy lunch date, but working 9-5 in the area, this should be your staple!

Food: 4/5 (Fresh ingredients, changing menu and never boring)

Coffee: 4/5 (Expertly crafted)

Service: 4/5 (Friendly, efficient for the quality)

Space: 3/5 (Variety of seating indoors and outdoors, for large group meetings or two person lunch dates)

Moana Coffee, 6000

We don’t ‘look up’ enough we humans. Focused always on the path ahead, we fail so often to observe the beauty above us. Moana Coffee reminds us to stop and smell the roses. You’d quite likely fail to notice it if you hadn’t heard the chatter on the grapevine. Suspended over the commercial Hay Street Mall, Moana is like a floating island of calm, and is perfect for a bit of solitude away from the tourist traps below. 

The balcony cafe, which you reach by a stately staircase, is positioned at level with the canopy of colonial buildings; the historic skeletons, of what they today house at street level. Up here you’ll meet Tranquility, History and Coffee.

Since its beginnings in 1907 as a café, the bygone Moana Chambers have seen an assortment of tenants from tailors, to jewellery makers, to families and theatre performers. Sewing machines and theatre chairs have since been replaced with coffee gears and low and high seats on which to perch; but the historic casing still remains. The reactivation of Moana Chambers into cafe-gallery and office space is thanks to a collab between the City of Perth and Spacemarket. Spacemarket has been responsible for awakening a number of underused buildings around Perth and repurposing them for creative ventures like artist studios.

 

Hanging outside on the quiet balcony is peaceful and charming. British Racing Car Green coffee cups, looped fairy lights, buffed floorboards, up cycled chairs and elegant archways. The ambience is lovely. Leaving will be an ache.

The beans are supplied by Bonissimo; my soy cappuccino had rich flavour and a fat crema, with good cocoa dusting. To fill your tummy, there’s a simple selection of bakes, toasties and salads, plus soups for the wintertime. 

I’ll be honest, I’ve been sitting on this review for a while, mostly for self-seeking reasons; I’d like Moana to stay the city centre sanctuary it is! The earnest owners work hard though, and deserve every patron they get. So I put my selfish motives aside, to share with you this treasure…

Coffee: 4/5 (Full flavoured and produced to a high level)
Ambience: 5/5 (An oasis. Can’t help but linger)
Service: 4/5 (Sweet and sincere)
Value: 4/5 (Slice of homemade pumpkin bread: $3.50, Small coffee: $3.80, soy milk: 30c)

Typika, 6010

Britney Spears ‘Toxic’ and Anastacia ‘I’m Outta Love’ were the last tunes I expected to hear when I visited the latest hotspot for a fashionable brunch last week. I like to indulge in some noughties pop now and then, just not over morning eggs and artisan-roast coffee. Thankfully, the taste in brunch hour music was the only point out of shape here.

Typika has become an instant favourite among Western suburb ladies of leisure and you don’t have to spy hard to see why. Exciting menu, quality cooking, smart service and a behemoth space that features a state-of-the-art coffee roaster. With floor-to-ceiling glass walls, the lab-like roasting room takes the limelight at Typika. The mammoth yellow building is a bit of an eyesore from the street, but there's a buzz inside and you sort of feel like you’re dining in a stylish, pumping factory. 

The AM menu is fresh, thoughtful and full of things that sound like something you’d want to try. Typika really used their genius when they dreamed up the Spiced Beef Benedict ($18.50). Gooey poach eggs and tears of slow-cooked beef come smothered with Harissa (Tunisian chilli paste) spiced Hollandaise. A defiant version of a breakfast classic. It’s that dish that creates buzz, and launches a hundred Instagram tags. The dish that your boyfriend/dad/big brother will probably order. 

Eggs Benedict with salmon on house baked gluten free bread

Not having the backbone for beef at 10am, I went for the Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. The helping of fleshy pink salmon, wilted spinach and Hollandaise, was generous. What really impressed me was their Multigrain Gluten Free Bread ($2? extra) which they bake on site. A combination of Tapioca, Soy and Rice flour, this was seriously the most deceptively gluten-free bread I have ever tried. Springy, fluffy and wonderfully not like cardboard! 

The tour de force: coffee. Well, it was very good. Full-bodied, rich and smooth. The only downside are the steep prices, but admittedly, I wasn’t surprised by them in this neck of the woods, especially as the owners (of Cimbalino) are famously elevated pricers.

Also on offer are some little deconstructed cake pots and biscuits that would make fine breakfast dessert. Next time! 

With food this exciting and coffee this good; finally that mediocre Atomic place has some healthy competition. 

Food: 3.5/5 (Big portions, bold flavours and fantastic house baking)
Coffee: 3.5/5 (In house roasting is pretty good)
Service: 3/5 (Efficient but dismissive at times)
Ambience: 3/5 (On the fence. Bustling, open....questionable music)

Value: 3/5 (Not cheap. Paying for quality and locale.)

Tea For Tú, 6000

Tea for Tú has all the makings of a girlie meeting place – pastel vintage crockery, a small library of loose leaf teas, cutesy fit out, and a willfully obscured courtyard that is perfect for gossiping.

Via William St.

Courtyard and urban art on Lock Lane

Fall upon this hideaway by one of two ways: underneath (one of my fave bars) Mechanics Institute via Lock Lane; or through a buried doorway at the back of Tú boutique. It’s all very The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This minuscule tea salon, with its daydreaming decor and inconspicuous nature; will have you seeking it on days you just want to get away from the noise.

Courtyard via Lock Lane

In order to fully indulge your inner Marie Antoinette, take your tea with a French pastry. Choose from a small showcase of delectable sweets; cupcakes, croissants and masterpieces from Choux.  Heading trends; Tea for Tú are also one of the few cafes that serve creamy green tea lattes and price take-away coffee at $3 before 9am. 

If all this frou-frou isn’t for you, then maybe the free Wi-fi connection, kindly service and coffee strong enough to give you the jitters, is.

Coffee: 4/5 (Strong, full-bodied, smooth).

Cakes: 4/5 (Small selection of fine looking cakes)

Service: 4/5 (Chatty, obliging and cute!)

Ambience: 4/5 (A tucked away location for quiet contemplation and secret catch ups)

Excelsior Deli, 6008

I chanced upon Excelsior Deli whilst running errands in the Western Suburbs the other morning. The pleasant location is accessible yet somewhat secret. A small detour from the Subiaco commercial hub, this cafe-delicatessen is positioned on a leafy Shenton Park street.

I stopped in for a Soy Long Mac after observing the gadgets and damn, it was delicious! The combination of - Synesso machine, 5 Senses Compton Road blend and a moustached barista- is proving a heady mix! Smooth and creamy texture with a hazelnutty, buttery taste. Perfect with soy milk and the best i've had in months! It reminded me a lot of the stuff at The Daily Espresso Bar in Swanbourne, who guess what? - use the Synesso/5 senses/hipster barista formula too.

The nifty space has seating to convenience a variety of visitors: 4 seaters, alfresco seekers, newspaper readers and a big table up the back with a bit more privacy that would work nicely for client meetings.

Back table ideal for meetings

There are some tidy looking sweets like Portuguese tarts, chocolate banana bread and oval berry friands which look either home made or very well sourced. You could also make a satisfying brunch of one of the savoury items. And also: gelato! I'm not sure of the brand or if its homemade but it stood out as high quality to me.

     


Need to get caffeinated in Subi? Detour to Onslow Rd. You wont be disappointed.

Coffee: 4.5/5 (Food and drink is not cheap but oh, that coffee was gewwwd!)

Service: 3/5 (Nay the fastest coffee up, but they're concentrating on consistency)

Value: 2/5 (Regular Soy Long Mac = $5)

Milk and Paper, 6019

Milk and Paper is sweet new coffee pit-stop on Scarborough Beach Rd. Grab a cup, sweep over the day’s headlines and maybe get a small treat go with. The lovely owner is gradually adding personal touches around the small space, and introducing locally sourced baked goods. The ladies here are brewing with Sydney roast, Two Seasons. I’m a Fiori girl through and through but Two Seasons might be your cup of…coffee! I always admire a business who branch out too. Coming soon: light brunch, Wii-fi and text ahead coffee orders - win!

My favourite thing about Milk and Paper are their distinctive take-away coffee cups. If you’re a sucker for a novelty, a stop at Milk and Paper will be worth your while.

Prospects: Unique roast, coffee cup art love, polite service, being able to read the New Yorker while I wait
Drawbacks: Not enough seating, coffee could be stronger

Chinta, 6018

The creators of the Balinese sanctuary that is Chinta, have shaped a perfect tangle of gift shop and cafe. Sitting in the beautiful courtyard surrounded by potted bamboo, stone carved Buddhas, hanging lanterns and trickling water, whilst sipping chai from delicate teacups, has got to be good for your soul.

The kitchen delivers on creamy coffee and excellent café cabinet fare. We had the beef quesadilla served with a delish lime and mint yoghurt dressing, as well as the roast veggie stack, $14. Layered baked carrot, pumpkin, zucchini, sweet potato and what I think was vine leaf, made the perfect healthy lunch. The chai tea brewed with soy- was the best I’d drank since Leaf Tea Merchants closed down, too. 

Top: beef quesadilla, Bottom: Roast veg stack $14

So tastefully decorated, the island home wares and tropical merchandise, seep effortlessly into the ambience. So much so, that it’s hard to pick what’s for sale and what is a permanent fixture. At loss of a less clichéd metaphor - Chinta is quite accurately, an oasis among the Scarborough Beach Rd drought.

Food: 4/5 (Healthy, light and flavourful lunches with side salads worth eating)

Drink: Chai Tea and juice -  4/5 (Best chai in a while! Not too sweet, tastes natural. Order with soy)
Ambience: 5/5 (Merchandise that actually adds to the atmosphere without being overbearing. That courtyard!)
Service: 4/5 (Efficient and gracious)

Value: 4/5 (Standard suburban cafe prices)