Perth Voice Interactive

I WAS in a parallel universe: I’d just enjoyed a fantastic meal at the Daily Planet Cafe in Mt Lawley but I was reading very different reviews on the net.

“Waste of $”, “the place has gone to sh#t”, and “worst service ever” are some recent comments that were completely at odds with my own experience.

I thought back to our lovely waiter, her easy warmth and professional manner.

With a new chef things were a tad slow in the kitchen, she’d warned, apologising long before we’d noticed the time whittling away, and offering free coffees as compensation.

I opted instead for a second beetroot, apple and ginger juice as the first ($8) had been so good.

Back at my desk I ran my tongue around my mouth remembering the fantastic flavour of the risotto I’d eaten just hours before, and thought, “easily the best I’d had—ever.”

So much so I’d made a point of asking the chef about the amazing flavours and texture of the mushrooms and what species they were.

“Field mushrooms, cooked in truffle oil,” he’d replied, adding he’d had a “really good stock” to cook the arborio rice in.

“easily the best I’d had—ever.”

I checked my loved one’s experience, who stood steadfastly by his spring rolls saying he hadn’t tasted the like since leaving the UK three decades ago.

One Planet puncher reckoned the menu was over-priced but these spring rolls were a mere $9 for two monster-sized delights, with real flavour, stuffed with vegetables and rice noodles, and accompanied by an Asian coleslaw salad that was both sweet and delicious.

They were magnificent on every level, including value for money, D’Angerous opined.

So I rang Daily Planet manager Ali Vassallo, and things fell into place.

“I have only been here for two weeks,” she said. “And the chef has only been in the kitchen two times now.”

She didn’t shy away from the bagging the cafe has come in for recently.

“We have ostracised the community of Mt Lawley and it’s something we have to turn around,” she said.

This is a lady with her finger on the pulse: when she discovered the cafe’s Thai-born dishwasher loved cooking he was told hang up his pot-scourer and get wokking: he’s the genius behind those amazing spring rolls.

“He’s got a great feel for food,” Ms Vassallo says.

Like other things at Daily Planet the menu is in transition but there’s no shortage of choice, including the house-made carbonara gnocchi ($16.50) and a house-made pate with onion jam and crusty bread ($14.50).

Or there’s the breakfast menu which goes until 3pm for very slow risers, which has green smoky slow-cooked beans, with chorizo, ham and eggs ($17.50) or something as simple and delicious as toast with blackberry butter ($5.50).

With its funky, relaxed decor, the Daily Planet is a good spot to be whether eating, or just relaxing over a drink or two with friends.

Give it a go Mt Lawley, I’m sure you’ll fall in love all over again.

by JENNY D’ANGER

Daily Planet Cafe
634 Beaufort St, Mt Lawley
9328 7560
open Sun–Thurs 7.30am
to 4pm, Fri/Sat until late