Perth Voice Interactive

IF you have a sweet tooth and attend TAFE in Leederville, you might want to upgrade your dental cover.

That’s because it’s situated directly across from the Gather Bakehouse, a new eatery on Oxford Street that specialises in delicious cakes and bite-sized treats.

I went there for lunch on Tuesday and my internal GPS must have blown a gasket as I walked into the camera shop next door by accident (a strange place to buy cakes and almost like a Monty Python sketch).

I attempted to save face by looking at a zoom lens for a couple of minutes, before heading back out and discovering that Gather Bakehouse was a hole-in-the-wall job.

Thankfully there was a stylish parklet out front and sheltered seating around the corner, so plenty of places to sit if you didn’t want take-away.

On a sunny autumn day, the place was heaving with folk enjoying a casual lunch.

The display cabinet was crystal clean and uncluttered – a minimalist affair that let the sweet treats (which were like mini works of art) take centre stage. There was a delicious range including cookies, brownies, cakes and crookies (a croissant filled with chocolate chip cookie dough). 

Gather also do lots of savoury stuff including wraps, bagels, sandwiches, croissants and croque monsieur, as well as a range of hot and cold drinks.

It’s a good pitstop for lunch or even just a coffee and a slice of cake. I kicked off with a vegan wrap ($12.50).

It was huge and made from a thickish flat bread you’d normally find on a kebab. But it wasn’t stodgy and the mottled, spinach-infused bread was fresh, light and tasty (especially when toasted).

I can see why they needed a thickish bread to hold things together as the wrap was bulging at the seams with tofu, kale, carrot, avocado, red onion and thick, conspicuous slices of pumpkin.

A real veggie treat that held together nicely and wasn’t drenched in sauce with a very light dressing (if any).

The wraps were big, so if you’re getting a cake as well, get one cut in half to share.

The chicken katsu wrap ($12.90) was just as good, with lots of tender slices of chook and a refreshing medley of greens. A great savoury start. I don’t have a sweet tooth, but I could tell the baked goods looked freshly-made and were beautifully presented. They were big as well. Thankfully my wife “Special K” can sniff out a Mars bar from 100m, like some demented truffle pig.

So she and the kids got hoed into the hundred hour brownie and biscoff blondie (both $7.50) and a couple of chunky cookies (biscoff and nutella $7 each).

“These big New York-style cookies are rich, bold and delicious. A nice mix of white chocolate with the biscoff adding a subtle flavour twist,” my wife noted.

The hundred hour brownie was beautifully presented with a chocolate swirl on top and a sprinkle of raspberry and sea salt.

It tasted as good as it looked: “A lovely combination of  ganache, cocoa and melted chocolate in this one. Very decadent and moreish,” Special K said. Last but not least was the biscoff blondie, which was like a sophisticated version of caramel shortcake with a biscoff biscuit nestled precariously on top.

“It’s got a nice texture,” my wife said.

The service was good with the pleasant young lady behind the till asking if I wanted a bag to take the cookies home. 

Gather Bakehouse is a cool little addition to the cafe scene on Oxford Street and well worth a visit.

Gather Bakehouse Perth
201B Oxford St, Leederville
gatherperth.com.au

by STEPHEN POLLOCK