Secret Garden Cafe

Secret Garden Cafe - 64 Angelo St South Perth

Breakfast served all day from 7.30am

Licensed for BYO

After a suggestion to go here from one of my readers, my sister and I thought we'd check it out. The Secret Garden looks like an ordinary cafe/lunch bar from the front but out the back there is seating amongst beautiful lush gardens made of hanging vines and trees. But guess what? My sister and I didn't know it was around the back and we sat at the side of the cafe! I am devastated we missed sitting out there to have our breakfast. We only found out it was like that out the back after one of the waitresses came out and told us to make sure we went around there for a look.

The first thing I noticed about the menu was that the meals were mainly "egg" based with a couple of omelette selections and eggs benedict and norwegian etc. There was muesli, toast and fruit salad but no pancakes! Not that I would normally notice one item missing off the menu but both my sister and I were craving them for some reason. The prices are very reasonable at Secret Garden, with most meals costing around $15. The prices range from $5.90 for toast up to $18 for a big breakfast which has all the usual fare of toast, eggs, bacon, sausages, hashbrowns and tomato. The menu offers heaps of extras to bulk your meals up with as well. There is also a good selection of drinks at Secret Garden. They make make freshly squeezed juices - right from the fruit based ones to those scary "detox" type juices of celery, ginger or carrot.

As always, I was hanging for a drink of milk so I ordered a vanilla milkshake, cappuccino and decided on the bacon and eggs (scrambled) with hashbrowns to eat. I saw a stuffed mushroom on the menu that looked delicious but I thought back to my Left Bank experience and changed my mind. My sister ordered the ham, cheese, onion, mushroom and tomato omelette with a latte and fresh OJ. The drinks came out really quickly and looking at the OJ, it as obvious it was very fresh - just out of the juicer!

The coffee's were steaming hot. I would say almost too hot. I love my cappuccino's hotter than most but this was like the milk was still boiling when I put my lips to the mug. OUCH! My sister also agreed that her latte was too hot. The coffees were quite creamy in texture but the taste was a bit on the bitter side. Both of us didn't finish our coffees, I instead gulped my yummy milkshake down!

Our meals did not take that long either. Presentation is nothing to rave about - big meals on big plates. But it seems to go with the feel of this place and I thought it was cute seeing a slice of orange on lettuce as garnish. The orange was a nice palate refresher after the meal! My sister said her omelette was tasty but a bit on the greasy side. The use of the red onion is not something we have seen often but it was a nice addition.

My meal was a fairly simple meal but the scrambled eggs were well over cooked. I covered them with tomato sauce and made the best of it. The bacon was cooked nicely though and I am fairly sure they had soaked the fat off on paper towel or something as it didn't seem as greasy as bacon usually is? One thing that was done differently is that both meals came with toast but it was presented in a separate basket rather than on the plate. I didn't mind this but it turned out that neither my sister or I even touched the toast. Not necessarily a bad thing although I hate wasting food.

The service at Secret Garden was sweet and friendly. There is garden centre next door and the whole time the wait staff are saying hello to the garden staff and vice versa and everyone seemed relaxed and happy. Our meals and drinks came out quickly and service was always with a smile. I have heard that Secret Garden does an amazing Moussaka for lunch so maybe I will have to go back there and try it. I also must mention the lovely selection of cakes they had on display! I would love to go back and try a slice or three.

So if you venture to Secret Garden Cafe make sure you walk all the way around the back to fully enjoy the beautiful seating this place has to offer! Also this is another place offering an all day breakfast - so sleep in after a big night and take your time to head down there for the most important meal of the day!

Greenhouse

Greenhouse - 100 St Georges Tce Perth

Breakfast served from 7am Mon - Sat

Fully Licensed

Firstly, I am trying something new this time with adding a few pics of the food etc. Everything was so interesting at the Greenhouse I just had to photograph it!

Greenhouse is a restaurant at the entrance to the new enex100 building in the city and you can't miss it with all the outer walls covered in strawberry plants! Greenhouse was a concept started in Melbourne where the restaurant is eco-friendly and semi self sufficient. The roof top is used to grow fresh produce which is then used in the meals! The inside is decor is very fitting with the theme of Greenhouse with garden hooks holding up spirit bottles and watering cans used for water jugs. It was a little cramped inside but the food makes it worth it!

My sister and I haven't been to breakky together in a long time so it was nice to head out together to a place like this! The first thing I noticed about the breakfast menu was that none of the meals contained bacon, although you can order it or pork sausages as a side. The meals ranged in price from $6 for toast up to $18 for poached ocean trout, potato, capers and watercress. Now THAT is something I have never seen on a breakfast menu! I also got really excited when I saw eggs and soldiers on the menu!

My sister decided on the toasted muesli, mango and yogurt and I thought I would try something different and get the poached eggs, crushed peas and basil on toast. We also ordered coffee's and an OJ.

The OJ came out in a little brown ginger beer or old school medicine looking bottle - very cute!

The coffee's were lovely. Smooth and just the right temperature.

Our meals arrived not long after and wow! My sisters muesli was served in a steel scoop with the yogurt in a jam jar! My eggs looked so perfectly poached I didn't want to break them. They use organic free range eggs and I have never seen yolks so huge!

I was a bit skeptical at first about how peas and eggs would go but I am definitely a fan after eating this meal. The peas tasted so fresh and sweet with just a hint of basil throughout and the eggs were flavoursome. My sister commented that the yogurt was fresh and creamy and the muesli was beautiful with plenty of nuts.

The wait staff here are wonderful as well. Very friendly and attentive. Our water glasses were refilled and everything was service with a smile.

Greenhouse is now my number 1 in the top 3. Big call... but I just love this place! Everyone should go and check Greenhouse out for beautiful food made from fresh organic ingredients!

The Left Bank

The Left Bank - 15 Riverside Road, East Fremantle
Breakfast Served Daily - 7.30am - 11.30am
Fully Licensed

So it's Wendy Tosh and I.... dropping our friends to what was to be another messy boat party at the East St Jetty (we went on one the week before and it was a rip snorter) when we decided it would be a perfect opportunity to have a nice breakfast over looking the river at The Left Bank.

It can't be denied that The Left Bank gets top points for location and setting. It was beautiful sitting outside on that balmy morning (this was the last week by the way.. I have been in a alcohol induced coma until now). Straight up we knew we wanted Bloody Mary's and coffee.. food could come second!

The guy who made a Bloody Mary's looked less than impressed at being at work... until our shining faces rocked up and ordered this drink at 9 in the morning. He commented with a smile, "rough morning?"... and then he was our best friend until we left! The cocktails were exceptional!! Tosh and I both commented that they were perfect - right amount of Tabasco and everything. YUM!

We thought we had better order some food so we didn't look like complete trash bags. The menu prices were reasonable for most things, ranging from $5 for toast up to $22 for Eggs Florentine with Salmon.. which I thought was called "Eggs Norwegian"? Anyway I pondered over a couple of the more interesting choices like the Mediterranean Breakky Plate - grilled chorizo, spanish style beans, turkish bread, hommus and rocket or the Bruschetta which was mushrooms, feta, and rocket on turkish bread drizzled with basil olive oil. Despite these lovely options I went with The Left Bank Breakfast which was bacon & poached eggs on toast with roast tomato, field mushrooms and hollandaise sauce. It was the hollandaise that drew me in because I don't think I have ever had a full breakky with it - plus I was craving bacon. Wendy Tosh went Eggs Florentine.. only for her love of Hollandaise and quest to find a sauce better than Dome!

We also ordered coffees. Let's face it... you don't go to a pub for breakky to talk about the coffee... but I will. The coffee's came out quickly and were actually really nice and hot! I hate luke warm coffee. Now... if only our breakfasts followed the same pattern...

Tosh's breakfast came out about 10mins before mine did. Which is unacceptable considering there was only 2 of us and it was a weekday when the place was quiet. I told her to start and she was disappointed to discover her poached eggs were hard. Hard poached eggs is the WORST. She said the hollandaise sauce was really nice and if it weren't for the eggs the meal would have been perfect. Mine came out and it was like the chef had given up the will to live when he plated my dish. The majority of the bacon was burnt, not nice crispy, acceptable burnt... it was "touch it with the knife and it turns to ash" burnt. The eggs were also hard and the worst part was the field mushroom. I don't know if anyone has ever worked in a kitchen before... but you know that smell your clothes get from being around grease and hot pans etc all day? That's what this mushroom tasted like. I had one taste and pushed it to the side... and some accidentally got on my bread another time and the mere taste of it nearly made me gag.

I am really hoping that it was just one of those bad days for The Left Bank because it is such a beautiful place and I have eaten there before and it has been lovely. Overall the service at the bar was brilliant... AWESOME Bloody Mary's and coffee. Wendy Tosh liked her meal besides the hard eggs....it was just me with the bad luck!

Raffles Hotel

Raffles Hotel - 67-71 Canning Beach Road, Applecross
Breakfast Served Weekends 8am - 11am
Fully Licensed

Being a hot morning, what better day to have breakfast by the cooling river. The Raffles Hotel, with it's beautiful outside area overlooking the Canning was the perfect place for me, Wendy Tosh and Juanita Sangria to have a bite to eat for breakky.

It was very empty when we arrived at 10.30am, so we got the pick of the place for a table. We chose outside by the ponds in the shade. We did have grand plans of drinking Bloody Mary's.. or maybe that was just me.. but we were all a little hung over from the night before and decided to stick with "normal" breakfast beverages, which we ordered straight away. Wendy Tosh ordered a coke, Juanita Sangria and I ordered watermelon, orange and passion fruit juices and I also HAD to get a HOT coffee on this HOT morning. Oh... and I almost forgot, like the waitress did three times... a BIG bottle of water.

The drinks came out pretty quickly, which was lucky considering we were all dying of thirst. The juices were nice and cold and refreshing. The coffee was nothing memorable but nothing that made me think"ugh disgusting". We asked again for our bottle of water, which was annoying considering the hot weather and our hang overs.

You would expect the Raffles to be fairly pricey but their breakfast menu looked reasonable. Prices ranging from 5.90 for toast/croissants up to $17.90 for scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, asparagus and potato rosti. There is one menu item for $25, which is an omelette with blue swimmer crab, but I think you would have to a particular "taste" for something like that. (I can't think if anything worse for breakfast.. crab *shudder*). There weren't too many choices on the menu that you become over whelmed; there was a nice selection from which most people would find something they liked.

Wendy Tosh announced that she was a connoisseur of hollandaise sauce and was going to have the eggs benedict. I ordered the sourdough with fresh tomato, basil, feta and olive oil - with bacon on the side. Juanita Sangria decided on the turkish fried eggs with tomato, cardamon relish and flat bread. This meal usually comes with veal sausages but she asked for the meal with the potato rosti instead.

We were really impressed at how accommodating they were to some minor menu changes. Now days places are putting on menu's that they don't allow changes. The waitress even suggested replacements for the veal sausages!

It was beginning to get irritating that we still had not gotten our bottle of water. It wasn't busy and the wait staff were standing around. Wendy Tosh had also ordered another coke that hadn't come out yet. We got up and got our own water and asked for the coke again. The waitress acted like she didn't know anything about it, even though she took the order! We put it down to them being as hung over as us.

The meals didn't take long to come out and they all looked delicious! At first, Wendy Tosh thought her eggs benedict looked a bit on the small side but she said this was deceiving as the poached eggs were quite large and plump and the meal was filling. Her "professional" opinion on the hollandaise was that it was a bit on the buttery side and not enough flavour. The turkish eggs looked very different. They were fried with paprika and Juanita Sangria said that they tasted lovely. The potato rosti was a perfect replacement for the veal sausages. My meal was delicious. The saltiness of the danish feta (my favourite) was perfect with the fresh basil and tomato. There was a drizzle of basil pesto over the bread as well. The side of bacon I ordered seemed like a good idea at the time but I didn't really eat much of it.

If you are looking for a place with a beautiful setting, fully licensed (for one of those champagne breakfasts) and a good, reasonably priced menu then the Raffles Hotel is perfect. The service could have done with some improving though but when you sitting outside in our beautiful Perth weather, overlooking the river... it's easy to forgive.

Rifo's Cafe

Rifo's Cafe - 933 Albany Hwy, East Vic Park

Breakfast Served All Day from 7pm, 7 Days a Week

Fully Licensed and BYO

Well it has been a long long time since I have been out for breakfast - my sister was my usual breakfast partner and she has moved to Port Hedland and any time I tried to arrange a weekend breakky/brunch with friends it failed because they are mostly messy booze hounds. (love you guys).

I finally made a pact with my friend Mr Peter Baby that we would go out on Sunday for breakky! We decided to drive to Vic Park and our first choice was closed (weird for a Sunday?) and then we saw Rifo's Cafe. I knew of Rifo's in Maylands, so I was keen to try this out. The cafe still has the same retro look and feel the Maylands one has but it's a lot bigger inside.

We were seated quickly even though the cafe was very full with some large tables. Water glasses were placed on our table... no water. We were both starving and commented how delicious everything looked on the menu! They have all the standard breakfast fare as well as some not so mainstream items like Fillet Steak and Eggs (a bit roadhouse .. but I did consider it), which comes with tomato, roasted eggplant and capsicum and toast. Also the Slacker Sandwich seemed tempting, which was a continental roll filled with bacon, egg, cheese and BBQ sauce.

We thought the prices were a bit on the high side, especially when they are charging $25 for a big breakfast! Everything else was about $11-$16 on average.

Mr Peter Baby decided on the Eggs Benedict and a pot of tea, I chose to have a cappuccino and The Hippy Chick, which is your standard vegetarian "big breakfast" option with baked beans, spinach, toast, tomato, asparagus and hash browns. We also both ordered juices. The waitress told us that we had just ordered after the very large table so our FOOD would take about 20-25 mins. I thought that was good of her considering some places can just leave you to wait.

We were prepared to accept the wait on the food but we soon got annoyed when we realised our coffees and juices weren't coming out in a hurry either. 20mins for drinks? Pathetic. I was watching the girl at the machine and I wasn't seeing a lot of drinks being run from the counter. I had to ASK for some water to come to the table while we waited (remember we had glasses put on our table when we arrived). Eventually my juice came out.. then a couple of minutes later Mr Peter Baby's juice came out. Another few minutes my luke warm, flavourless cappuccino was put in front of me... aaaaannnnnd a bit longer still - out came the pot of tea. I asked Mr Peter Baby how her tea was.. the comment was "it's not hard to fuck up tea is it?"

Our meals came out and mine was almost stone cold except for the hashbrowns. The toast was like eating a piece of biltong and the spinach was soggy. The asparagus was cooked quite nicely though and I love heinz baked beans. Mr Peter Baby at first commented that her Eggs Benedict were nice until she actually realised that she should have ordered maybe some more eggs, sauce or muffin with the half a pig of ham they put on the plate. She did say the hollandaise sauce was nice though.

I don't know whether it was a case of the large table that ordered before us somehow comprised our meal quality or the chef was having a bad day... but we were very unimpressed by our Rifo's experience.

The wait staff were nice and friendly, the all day breakfast is a bonus and it was a beautiful day to go out for breakfast with my friend. Pity about the food!

Monza

Monza - 147 Oxford St, Leederville

Breakfast served from 9am - 5pm Saturday, Sunday & Public Holidays

Licensed - fully licensed plus $7 corkage for BYO

Looks are deceiving... like a classy yet modern design of a restaurant making you think the food will also be worth eating. My sister and I parked in Leederville with the idea of just walking down Oxford st and deciding where to go. We walked past Monza and from across the road we both said "It looks nice", and decided to go in.

I knew it was going to be bad within the first minute. I asked a the barista if we just sat down or??? (since no one came up to us when we walked in). Her answer was "just sit over there". Motioning towards one of the many empty tables they still had on a Sunday at peak breakfast time.

We sat down with our menu's (which we got ourselves) and looked over the uninspiring choices. There was nothing special or different that caught my eye. Although, the prices were actually very reasonable with toast at $5.50 up to $18.50 for the Monza Big Breakfast - Two eggs on toasted sour dough, bacon, oven roasted tomato, mushrooms and home made baked beans.

The waitperson came to take our orders and at first I thought she was deaf and was lip reading as she kept asked me to repeat my order about 4 times and weirdly held a fixed gaze on my face while I was speaking. She didn't write the orders down, which began to worry me as she also asked my sister to repeat her order as well as getting it wrong when she repeated it all back to us. I ordered the Vegetarian Breakfast with scrambled eggs, toasted sourdough, mushrooms, avocado, roasted tomato and home made baked beans. My sister ordered the Monza big breakfast. To drink I asked for a "fresh" OJ and was told the juices weren't fresh they were from bottles... even though the menu clearly says"fresh juices". So we both ordered a pineapple juice and me a cappuccino and my sister a latte.

The coffee's came out.... wrong. My sister got a flat white but I got what I ordered. The coffee was very bitter, like they had used International Roast. They were also watery.

I don't know what others thoughts are on this, but if I have finished my coffee AND my juice, then I have waited too long for my food. My sister is very patient and even she started to comment on how long it had been. I saw a table that were there before us get up and ask where their meals were so I knew ours still weren't coming any time soon.

Did the chefs not prep properly? Was there an issue that morning? Did they get slammed early on with an influx of customers? Whatever the reason.. waiting 45mins for breakfast is unreasonable.

Our meals came out and I wish I could say it had been worth the wait. How hard is it to make scrambled eggs? My eggs were bland, not scrambled.. more like a slab of egg on toast. The "homemade" beans that we both had were dry, floury and tasteless. It was like their chefs had run out of salt. My sister commented "it's not hard to cook bacon I guess". We both said in sync "the mushrooms were nice"... well at least there was a small positive!

So if you like mushrooms.. maybe Monza is for you. For the rest of us - don't be deceived by Monza's good looks... keep walking down Oxford st for something better.

Etro Bistro

Etro Bistro - 49 King St, Perth

Breakfast served from 7am - 11.30am Mon-Fri and 7.30am - 3pm Weekends

Licensed - Yes

I was lazing in bed on Sunday morning after a big Saturday of drinking and debauchery and I heard my sister get up and go to put something in the microwave. I jumped up and saw it was friggen PIZZA! Luckily I stopped her and suggested we go out to breakfast, thankfully she agreed! We decided to head into the city to check out Etro Bistro on the trendiest street in the city - King St.

We arrived at 10.30am and surprisingly found it to be quiet considering it was great weather, peak breakfast time and free parking was still available in the city. We easily got a table outside, which I found them to be a little too close to one another. It's irritating to overhear the conversation of a group of cyclists 3 tables down as clear as if they were sitting at the same table.

The waitperson came out quite quickly and took our drinks orders. I like this style of service - first thing in the morning, you want your coffee, OJ, milk etc straight up! She left us to look over the menu which is split into savoury and sweet options. I don't think I have seen this before? It's a nice touch.

The prices were a little on the high side... as in a few dollars more than the usual prices I see around town. Prices range from $4-$5 for muffins and croissants up to $21.50 for Smoked Salmon Benedict - smoked salmon, poached free range eggs, baby spinach, avocado mash and of course hollandaise.

I was trying to decide between getting the Marmande Omelette - free range eggs, champagne ham, cherry tomatoes, swiss cheese, chives and French Toast in Cinnamon Sugar - sour dough soaked in free range egg mix, caramelised with cinnamon sugar - served with maple syrup and extra for cream cheese (I would have gotten cream cheese as well!). They both sounded so delicious! Overall the menu was very well thought out with a nice selection of meals to suit every body's taste.

The waitperson came back with our coffee order and I decided to order the Marmande Omelette and my sister ordered Eggs Benedict with a side of bacon.

The coffees were fantastic.. I have been having a good run lately! Our meals took a little longer than expected, but the table of cyclists ordered before us so it was understandable.

My omelette was awesome! It was light and fluffy with a nice buttery taste. The ham and cherry tomatoes were really nice. My sister commented that her meal was also nice. The hollandaise was beautiful and creamy. The presentation of the meals was amazing and something I noticed straight away. They had small salads as garnish but the small lettuce leaves they used were arranged in a fan formation. Great attention to detail!

I think Etro is another place you could have a "power breakfast" at with it's CBD location and plenty of room inside for larger groups. The service was also excellent with the wait people being friendly and attentive. I would definitely go back to this great King St location!