IF you’re like me, you’ve walked past the entrance to McLean Lane – the alleyway linking Murray and King Streets – many times without venturing in.  You know the one – Santorini-blue paint, colourful hanging lamps.  For me, it has always held the promise of magic.  Perhaps I have avoided it for fear it would…

“THE roof looks like a giant evaporative air-conditioner!” That was my initial reaction as I walked towards the new WA Museum Boola Bardip at the Perth Cultural Centre. I was probably being a bit harsh, and the architecture began to grow on me as we walked up the huge limestone concourse towards the entrance. My…

IF my recent dining experience in Perth is anything to go by, the inner-city restaurant scene is bouncing back following months of uncertainty.  I tried to get a table at three different restaurants and they were all fully booked – a great sign for the local hospitality industry, but annoying for me. I was catching…

MY love affair with hot dogs started when I was an exchange student in Denmark, Europe. The streets were littered with small huts, where vendors sold a mind-boggling range of hotdogs like ristet (ketchup, mustard, remoulade, onions and pickled cucumbers) and fransk (hollowed baguette filled with mayo-based French dressing). Since Denmark it’s been a bit…

PERCHED on the top level of Yagan Square is Shy John. The CBD restaurant/brewery opened about a year ago and serves classic Cantonese fare and makes its own beer off-site.   Shy John is named after John Pong Shying – reputed to be Australia’s first Chinese settler in 1818. There’s a plethora of cantonese joints…

DON’T worry, you won’t find a dry meat pie, soggy bread roll or limp vegemite sarnie at the Tuck Shop Cafe in Perth. Instead there’s a comprehensive breakfast/brunch menu and a mouth-watering range of pies. Finding a chunk of string in the watery filling of a pie in the school canteen put me off them…

RELAXING amongst the brightly coloured cushions in a packing crate seat at Lot Twenty was a great start to an evening of culture. A friend and I were off to the Blue Room Theatre next door, and as time was short, the helpful waiter recommended we order from the share section on the menu. In…

YOU wouldn’t know it, but below St Georges Terrace is Lalla Rookh – a restaurant-bar serving Italian-inspired fare. As I wandered down the staircase and into the expansive dining room, I felt like Alice in foodie wonderland. Wasting no time, we kicked off our culinary adventure with sardine bruschetta ($16). The toasted bread was topped…

PERTH restaurant Garum is a collaboration between the ritzy hotel Westin Perth and celebrated Aussie chef Guy Grossi. The My Kitchen Rules judge is the brains behind Garum’s Roman-inspired menu, but the real star is head chef Stefano Pingue. If you sit back and watch Pingue work the pass, you’ll see a serious chef dedicated…

PERTH loves a new restaurant. Hunter & Barrel has been open for less than two months and the Raine Square newbie is already attracting big crowds. When we arrived at 5pm on a Friday we were told they were fully booked, but thanks to some table shuffling they squeezed us in upstairs. Hunter & Barrel…