Perth Voice Interactive

THE EXCHANGE BAR is a bit of a West Leederville oddity.

Surrounded by office blocks and trade outlets on Harrogate St, it’s a fully licensed bar that does lunch, breakfast and dinner (it’s open from 6am on weekdays).

Nowhereman Brewing Co is nearby, but it’s only open from 4pm later in the week.

There are no other daytime boozers in the vicinity and The Exchange is like some guilty pleasure for those shackled to a soul-crushing nine-to-five.  

I was keen to see if this hybrid all-rounder could deliver good food, so I jumped in the Voice jalopy and spluttered up the Canning Highway to investigate.

I’m declaring Monday the real start of Autumn as the temperature had plummeted and the wind had an icy bite.

Jumpers and long trousers were in full force and we might all be turning on the heating soon.

Situated opposite Bad Love Burger Co, The Exchange Bar is in a nice spot with an alfresco deck overlooking a leafy street.

Despite the wind, I decided to sit outside, where I could watch people shuffle out their office cocoons into the frigid air.

Exchange’s menu was a sprawling affair that covered breakfast/lunch (6.30am-2.30pm) and dinner (from 5pm).

It was pretty much modern Australian with the brunch menu including waffles, pan fried mushrooms, keto salad, smashed avo, and chorizo & chipotle beans.

The dinner menu had a smaller range with burgers, gourmet pizza, nachos, arancini, and salt and pepper squid. 

There was also a display cabinet where you could get takeaway stuff like sandwiches, pizza, parmis, salads and arancini.

I was a bit nervous about the food, as usually places with big menus aren’t so good (it’s best to do a small range really well than try and be everything to everyone). 

On a chilly day, I decided to go for something hearty, so I ordered the Brisket Burger ($26).

You ordered at the bar – a cosy refuge overflowing with colourful signage, beer pumps, glasses and bottles of spirits.

It felt like somewhere you could lose yourself for a few hours during the day – a boozy Xanadu – before stumbling back outside and meeting reality head-on.

On a Monday lunchtime, there was a decent amount of folk in the bar and it had a nice lively buzz courtesy of the inoffensive EDM playing in the background.

The bar staff were super friendly and the man brought out my large bottle of premium sparkling water ($8) to my bench seat outside.

It was nice and refreshing with a slice of lemon and ice cubes.

It wasn’t long before he was back with my brisket burger.

It was simplicity personified and there was no greasy edifice or slop hanging out the side.

Instead I had a modest-looking burger where the flavours did the talking.

The toasted brioche bun was a delight – light and fluffy on the inside, it had a pleasant crunch and tasted super fresh.

The main attraction, the beef brisket, didn’t disappoint and had that strong, intense meaty flavour you only get through slow cooking.

The brisket and chipotle mayo gave the burger the perfect blend of sweet and smoky, so it never got too sickly or cloying. There was plenty of it and they hadn’t skimped on the portions.

The burger was topped with rocket, tomato and a slice of cheese.

The rocket was a good choice as it needed something peppery and bold to cut through the smoky brisket.

It was a delicious burger, but just have lots of napkins on hand as it was a sticky, tactile affair.

After the high of the burger, the accompanying basket of fries was a let down.

They didn’t come out at the same time as the burger and they tasted like frozen chips that had been shoved in the deep fat fryer.

A shame, as the burger had such great homemade-style flavours.

Fries aside, I really enjoyed my visit to The Exchange Bar.

It’s a West Leederville oddity that reminded me of the the cult Steve Buscemi movie Trees Lounge.

The Exchange Bar
32 Harrogate St, West Leederville
exchangebrewingco.com.au

by STEPHEN POLLOCK