Perth has barrelled through 2024 with diverse and consistently high-quality new restaurants. There’s no single way to describe these new openings and wrap them up with a neat bow; other than to say they’re all good and we’re happy they’ve landed.

There’s a hidden spot behind a much-loved Chinatown listening bar; fire-fuelled barbeque joints; a Japanese micro-precinct where you can sit elbow-to-elbow with fellow diners and watch chefs dish up light, brothy oden in front of you; and a fine diner where waistcoated staff serve tableside caesars and fill flutes from the state’s biggest champagne collection.

Here – in alphabetical order – are the new restaurant openings that caught our eye in 2024 (and one honourable mention).

When you say the name – Ah Um – it sounds like an expression of uncertainty. “Ah, um, I don’t really know. I’m not sure.” It’s ironic because Ah Um, the hidden dining room behind record bar Astral Weeks, is totally self-assured. You enter the jazz kissa through Astral Weeks. The dining room is smaller than its sibling venue, but it’s designed with acoustics in mind (so you can actually chat over a meal without resorting to sign language). The menu comes from ex-Wines of While chef Branden Scott. There’s kingfish served with gems of grapefruit, a nuanced beef tartare with nuoc cham, and pommes dauphine with Basque goat’s milk cheese and Aleppo pepper. The sake list is curated by the same suppliers who stock Sydney’s Ante.

The Bridge House has good juju. The heritage Harvest Road cottage housing the restaurant was home to long-running restaurant Harvest and then later Habitue. Now it’s a cosy, modern Australian diner with chef Trent Dawson (Nikola Estate, Cha Cha Char) leading the kitchen team. “Our credo is great ingredients treated with respect and plated beautifully, while remembering that we’re trying to create a neighbourhood restaurant, so not a tweezer in sight,” says owner George Grundy. Mains include fennel and basil risotto; roast market fish served with charred Abrolhos squid and a seafood broth; aged Wagyu steak with potatoes dauphine; and 24-hour slow-cooked lamb shoulder with malted mint jelly and black garlic sauce.

From Bunnings, misnomer-laden tourism campaigns and Christmas feasts, the barbeque and Australian culture go hand in hand, so why aren’t there more diners dedicated to the humble Aussie barbie? The team behind Cassia – who also run Cosy Del’s and Laika Coffee – thought there should be, so they opened one. Head chef Emily Jones (ex-Wildflower, Si Paradiso, Republic of Fremantle) is steering the ship and meat is the star attraction – all of it cooked over a 1.2-metre-long woodfired grill. O’Connor beef tartare comes with egg yolk confit in charcoal-infused oil, Mayura Station Wagyu is served as pastrami, and slow-cooked lamb neck has local artichokes as accompaniment. Seafood features prominently with pickled Port Lincoln mussels; local cuttlefish with smoked eggplant; and colossal Shark Bay tiger prawns brushed with fermented chilli. Veggies get a look-in with a must-try dish of Brussels sprouts, elevated with miso mustard and fresh jalapenos.

Daisuke Hiramatsu (Hifumiya and Jigoro) and the crew at Tsukumo Group are behind this brand new opening, which is inspired by Japan’s yokocho alleyways, with colourful lanterns and bright signage. The compact precinct has five micro-eateries, and is designed so guests can chat with any of the friendly chefs while grabbing a bite – just like at a Japanese yokocho. There’s chicken grilled over charcoal by chef Naoyuki Suzuki (ex-James Parker); a spot serving Hiroshima’s Onomichi-style ramen; a 12-seat, reservation-only oden kappo headed by chef Midai Hatakeyama; another serving crisp tonkatsu; and a tea bar serving pudding and Japanese whisky.

The 248-seat heritage venue opened by Joel Beresford, Daniel Sterpini and chef Stuart Laws bills itself as a tavern with a flame-fuelled menu alongside a strong drinks list, including one of the broadest collections of cellared beers in the country. Laws will change the menu seasonally to highlight the best from local producers such as Bathgate Farm in Albany and Butterfield Beef from the Stirling Ranges, Lake Janis Dairy Farm, and Futari Wagyu. It oozes vintage charm with old timber, exposed brick, original frescos, pressed tin, chandeliers and old-timey curios.

The luxe brasserie and grill from the Kaillis Group offers views from South Cottesloe to Rottnest, waistcoated staff and a menu of classic French cooking from James Cole Bowen. The seafood bar serves pacific oysters kilpatrick with preserved chilli and smoked lardo. And the grill cooks western rock lobster with curried buckwheat and vadouvan butter. The Gibney Caesar (served tableside) and Fremantle swordfish (300 grams) are knockouts. For dessert, there’s chocolate cake with olive oil gelato and strawberries and cream, with shaved red berry ice and strawberry consommé. The vast drinks menu includes Perth’s largest champagne selection. But the tableside cocktails, particularly the smoked Negroni, steal the show.

This Highgate opening from Tomas Bidios (Tommy Tacos) dishes up the comfort food of the American south. Think low-fuss dishes smoked in a woodfired oven with “no foams, no gels, no bullshit”, such as pull-apart beef short ribs with hot honey, Jerusalem artichokes and pecans. And a 400-gram Berkshire pork chop brined in a blend of tea and apple juice for six hours. Mains all come in well below $50. Desserts include hummingbird pecan pie served with peanut butter ice-cream and salted caramel, and a bourbon-spiked apple and cherry cobbler.

Special Delivery at Doubleview Bowls Club, Doubleview

There’s no neat way to categorise Doubleview Bowls Club. It’s not quite a restaurant (despite the quality of the food), it’s not as sporadic as most pop-ups, and, with an ex-Rockpool chef in the mix, it’s certainly not your run-of-the-mill bowling club. Jacob D’Vauz and Anisha Halik are feeding 600 people twice a week with dishes including slow-roasted oyster blade, scallop and prawn toast with curried mayo, and fish’n’chips. The menu is affordable – a family of four can eat well for under $100 – and the twice-weekly meals have injected a much-needed youthful energy into the club.

With additional reporting by Holly Bodeker-Smith, Jasmine Loda-Batey, Jono Outred, Clare Ryan, Madeline Wallman and Ange Yang.