Perth’s 25 Essential Cafes and Bakeries: The Definitive Guide
From Japanese kissaten to retro lunch counters, Good Food’s inaugural Essential Perth Cafes guide spotlights 50 venues defining the city's 2026 cafe culture. The first 25 drop today.
Perth’s early-rising population—gym junkies, surfers, CrossFitters, and FIFO workers—has long made cafes a way of life. But as the city’s food scene matures, so too does its coffee-and-brunch culture. Today, Good Food launches its inaugural Essential Perth Cafes and Bakeries guide, a curated list of 50 addresses that define Perth cafe and coffee culture circa 2026. The first 25 venues—veteran trailblazers that continue to set the pace—are published now; the second tranche, spotlighting the vanguard, arrives July 31.
Diverse Flavors Redefine Brunch
If the 2010s were defined by flat whites, eggs Benedict, and square plates, the 2020s have brought a far more cosmopolitan palate. Modern-day brunching in Perth now draws heavily on flavors from Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and other Asian nations, as well as spices from North Africa and the Levant. Specialized venues celebrate these influences: consider the cheery Japanese kissaten Hinata, or the Indonesian breakfast noodle shop Bakmi Kochan 88. The result is a looser, more expansive definition of what a cafe can be—a daytime spot that blurs the line between restaurant, bar, kiosk, and bakery.
The Rise of Craft Bread and Bakeries
Perth has also benefited from a boom in specialist sandwich shops and bakeries. Standouts like Tuart Hill’s retro-leaning Strollio’s Luncheonette and Highgate’s Chu Bakery combine both concepts, offering house-made breads and pastries alongside counter-service meals. Not every cafe needs to bake its own sourdough, however—wholesale producers such as Mary Street Bakery, Big Loaf, and Common Bakery now supply many of the city’s best venues with daily fresh loaves and croissants, proving that skill and scale can coexist.
Coffee Quality on the Rise
Alongside better baked goods, coffee standards have climbed. New cafe empires—Community Coffee Co and Modus among them—have raised the bar for espresso, batch brew, and pour-over. Many of Perth’s new-wave coffee roasters began as side projects for existing cafes, and their specialty beans are now a fixture on the city’s best menus. The result is a coffee scene that goes well beyond the traditional long mac topped up.
The first 25 venues in Good Food’s guide are already live on the Good Food app and at WAToday. Next week’s second list promises a glimpse of the vanguard—newcomers and rising stars that will shape Perth’s cafe culture for years to come. Together, they paint a picture of a city where global influences, artisanal craft, and a relentless early-morning energy converge to make every coffee count.
