Stuff Your Face

It’s east meets west budget bohemian grit, which isn’t to say the food is gritty, just that the feel of the place often is. After all, this is Northbridge, a dining destination without parallel in Western Australia. Historically, the hub for newly arrived immigrants Northbridge is home to many of the diverse cultures that have mished and mashed together to create WA as it is today. And nowhere, nowhere, is that diversity more evident than on the plates of Northbridge restaurants. Eating in Northbridge is thus best looked at as an adventure to be had, a chance to taste a different culture without the expensive airfare. While there are a few high-end restaurants, Northbridge is for the most part budget eats where the charm lies less in ambience and service and more in quirky authenticity.

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The most readily apparent cultural influenceon cuisine in Northbridge is Asian, and indeed, much of the best Asian eateries from Vietnamese to Chinese. Weekend lunchtime dim sum is a Northbridge institution with Welcome Inn Tea House on William St, near Newcastle, a great bet for cheap eats. And The Emperor’s Court, on Lake St, simply the best bet full stop. The most awarded Chinese restaurant in Perth and deservedly so, The Emperor’s Court combines friendly, engaged and genuinely caring service and flawless Cantonese (including the dim sum delicacies and a Peking Duck banquet) in a tastefully styled Chinese courtyard interior.

However, there is more to Asia than China, and so it follows there is more to Asian cuisine in Northbridge than dim sum. Despite taking its name from a Chinese city, Old Shanghai, at the heart of Northbridge has an open cafeteria setting surrounded by various food stalls – Singaporean, Japanese, Hong Kong Chinese. However, to get the best of Old Shanghai make your way out the back of the cafeteria to the winding alleyways of hidden little Asia, where you are more likely to hear Japanese, Korean and Mandarin than English. Billy Lee’s is the most famous landmark back here, a digestive holy land for those wanting something in the wee hours that does not come with ‘the lot’. Just a few doors down, Kim Chee House provides an appropriately carnivorous menu of Korean. Their barbeque does justice to the Korean art of marinading bulgogi, while the shared pots of Asian stew are a perfect date. (Essentially, the restaurant chucks all the veggies, meat and/or seafood ordered into a tasty broth and delivers it to your table where it simmers over a flame so that as you eat the broth boils off and the flavours – and hopefully the chemistry – intensify).

Southeast Asia is also well-represented in Northbridge. Viet Hoa, on William St, does Vietnamese with little added cost. The service and ambience are minimal, but then again so are the prices and the food is always well worth it. For an even sweeter side of Asia, Café Mozart, also on William St, is a patisserie with a mix of traditional Asian buns filled with red bean and the like alongside the usual Aussie café treats.

While Asian may be the best reason to eat in Northbridge, it is by no means the only, as European immigrants have also left their mark on the area. Café Kostas, on James St, near William St, resides in the oldest ethnic newsagent in the state. Run by a Greek couple, the café has sandwiches that put the deli in delicious, while coffee and freshly squeezed juices are sipped by a mixed bag of city businessmen, local Greek-Australians and bohos. Just around the corner on William St, Kakulas Brothers is a European grocer for those of the more DIY mindset.

Northbridge also has a few great coffee stops for those needing to refuel amid their retail therapy (see Shop ‘Til You Can’t Stop) on the next page. For the strongest high-octane coffee, Urbanistar, in the alleyway off William St, near Roe, has cuppas freshly roasted and ground to order.

For late-night fixings, The Moon Café is a gay-friendly mecca that attracts a little of everything and a little of everyone to its spacious mix ‘n match retro interior. The food is good and cheap (as well as cheap and good) and the kitchen stays open well past midnight seven days a week. Monday and Tuesday, they run a popular $12 pizza and pasta special and Thursday is live jazz.

And while we’re on the topic of late nights, it’s time to swing past the pubs and clubs…

Welcome Inn Tea House
354 William St

The Emperor’s Court
66 Lake St

Old Shanghai
123 James St
www.oldshanghai.com.au

Billy Lee’s
66 Roe St

Kim Chee House
66 Roe St, Shop 5

Viet Hoa
1/349 William St

Café Mozart
1/399 William St
www.cafemozart.com.au

Café Kostas
67 James St

Kakulas Bros.
183 William St
www.kakulasbros.com.au

Urbanistar
William St Arcade

The Moon Café
323 William St, Shop 2
www.themoon.com.au

Megan Smith