Perth’s Best New Openings of 2023

Every year the Broadsheet team puts its collective wallets and waistlines on the line to eat and drink its way around Brisbane, sampling venues as they open. We’ve pooled our findings to creative comprehensive lists of the best new bars, best new restaurants and best new cafes and casual spots.
But if you’re feeling exceptionally time-poor as we battle our way through the silly season and don’t have time for a longer read, consider this your cheat sheet to the best new venues of 2023.

Perth’s Best New Restaurants of 2023

• Al Lupo, North Fremantle:Al Lupo isn’t a beach bar. Rather, it’s an elegant modern eatery, which just happens to be by the beach. There’s seafood on the menu, sure, but the kitchen’s range goes beyond fish and the drinks offering is similarly far-reaching.
• Mistelle, Shenton Park: This family-run restaurant might have swapped the vineyards of the Bickley Valley for the leafy streets of the western suburbs, but Chantelle and Benoit Lasplace’s raison d’etre remains unchanged: represent bistro dining and wining to the fullest. Drop into the bar for a glass and some snacks, or book into the restaurant for duck confit, crème brûlée and other classics.
• Subiaco Continental, Subiaco: Sitting pretty at one of the suburb’s major intersections, Subiaco Continental has drawn inspiration from the grand all-day eateries of Paris and the corner bistros of New York City. In the kitchen, chef Marcello Segalina is leaning on European classics: gildas, mussel escabeche toast, pastas and steak frites.
• Threecoins & Sons, Mount Lawley: Threecoins & Sons is a restaurant designed to comfort rather than challenge guests. Very little of the menu requires googling. Reservations are accepted. The menu is a round-up of Italian favourites that should be instantly recognisable to anyone who’s ever eaten in a restaurant set with a gingham tablecloth. House-made pastas cover plenty of ground. Vitello tonnato, burrata with caponata, and seafood fritto misto feature among the snacks. Six varieties of pinsa, a Roman flatbread, round out the menu.
• Yiamas, Subiaco: This modern Greek taverna is a cliché-free zone. The drinks list gives Greek tipples the respect they deserve, including xinomavro, assyrtiko and ouzo; the room’s minimalist fit-out is contemporary, and zero plates get smashed. Instead, they’re sent out into the wild carrying Justin Scarvaci’s sharp takes on Hellenic cooking, from upbeat vegetarian dolmades to a cool baklava and bay leaf parfait ice-cream sandwich.

Perth’s Best Casual Dining Spots of 2023

• Al Trancio Slabs of Pizza, Belmont: Homey Italian cooking is the name of the game and, thanks to Marco di Ciano’s keenly priced menu, it’s hard to lose. While Roman-style pizza (sold by the slice, slab or half slab) is the house specialty, the porchetta panini is what you’re really here for: a hefty sandwich starring rosemary-spiked roast pork, cradled between two golden plinths of house-baked flatbread.
• Bottega Deli, Claremont: The food offering at this family-run Italian deli is based on “cucina povera” – which translates to “peasant cuisine” – inspired by rural cooking and the way this style elevates simple ingredients. The display cabinet will be lined with takeaway salads, pastas and paninis (think mortadella with buffalo mozzarella, giardiniera and Calabrian chilli).
• Casa Pizza Wine, Mount Hawthorn: This is a takeaway spot with serious pedigree. A spin-off of Casa (just next door), it’s helmed by Alex Cuccovia (now-closed Ace Pizza), Paul Bentley (Si Paradiso) and Cale Mason. These beautifully blistered pizzas are hardy and designed to survive even the bumpiest drive home. Their pizza dough is given a 72-hour ferment and fired in a twin-deck Moretti Forni oven. Favourites include a twist on the Hawaiian with a zingy habanero and pineapple salsa; and a carbonara-inspired pizza.
• Dahl Daddys, Margaret River: Trading out of an after-hours cafe at the Margaret River Skate Park, ex-boilermaker Corey Rozario is serving singular, deeply satisfying curries and dal that celebrate his family’s Burmese roots as well as South Asian food culture at large. The dal is made according to his dad’s recipe, kangaroo is turned into bunny chow, and all the condiments are house-made.
• Hoodburger, Duncraig: It might not get more retro than this! Duncraig is the fifth location for the family restaurant with a warm-hued ’80s design. It’s serving modern takes on a menu that wouldn’t feel out of place in an Archie comic. Think smash burgers, chicken tenders, fries and (liquor-spiked) milkshakes.
• Goldbird, Fremantle: Short Order Burger Co supremo Simon Kony knows a thing or two about deliciousness betwixt bread. The chicken tenders come in a range of spice levels, the limited chicken-skin sandwiches have all the hallmarks of signature dish status, and everything is tied together by a fun retro bent.
• Lola’s, Fremantle: In an utterly charming space next to sister venue Peggy’s, Lola’s offers retro charm and a menu combining modern-day baking craft with no small amount of nostalgia. The 11-pizza-strong menu is split evenly between red- and white-sauce-based pies, and a small edit of pizza-adjacent sides makes up the rest of the menu.
• Rojiura Curry Samurai, CBD: Rojiura Curry Samurai chef-owner Nobukazu Muraki believes curry should take time. The base of his Hokkaido-style curry – soupier than the thicker, roux-based Japanese curries usually served around these parts – takes three days to cook and involves vegetables, seasoning and, curiously, some banana.
• Yalla Bala, Leederville: Ben Kotkis wouldn’t say he’s a great cook. We’d disagree. Diners are making quick work of his juicy spiced chicken shawarma, grilled mushrooms, and golden and verdant falafels.

Perth’s Best New Bar Openings of 2023

• Bar Vino, Mount Lawley: Willing Coffee owners Veronique and Tim Willing have turned their popular Central Avenue cafe into a wine bar. There’s also some fine diner in this bar’s DNA; Jed Gerrard (Wildflower and Hearth) consulted on the Mediterranean menu, and bar manager Mathieu Fichot – also a Wildflower and Hearth alum – oversaw the list of 150 wines.
• Beaconsfield Wine Bar, Beaconsfield: While there’s a prosaic quality to the name of Beaconsfield’s newest drinking establishment, don’t go thinking it’s ordinary. Run by Matt Sharples, a former venue manager at Madalena’s, the bar has snappily priced and highly gluggable by-the-glass options and straight-shooting cocktails. It also serves snacks like cheese, charcuterie and tinned seafood and a cheesy potato chip dish.
• Bertie, Bassendean: Veteran bartender James Connolly’s neighbourhood (wine) bar in Bassendean offers a handy wine selection, well-made cocktails and good beers. Plus there’s a sharp menu from Anthony Yuill (Shadow Wine Bar, Vue de Monde) that riffs on the comforting British dining theme: think Scotch eggs, steak and chips, and roasted capsicums in tikka masala.
• Edward & Ida’s, Northbridge: Guinness on tap, Midori Splices, heavy pours of liqueurs and retro styling are all embraced by this new bar from the Foxtrot Unicorn crew. The cocktail menu is different across the upstairs bar and the downstairs speakeasy, and the menu – from chef Blaze Young – boasts curry-spiked Scotch eggs, a sausage roll with a house-made brown sauce and a fish burger making waves with its use of flaky Patagonian toothfish.
• Folly, CBD: Folly, a rooftop spot on the 18th storey of Quest East Perth supplements classic cocktails and crowd-pleasing plates with panoramic views.
• Patio Bar, Fremantle: Taking over the former home of the beloved X-Wray cafe, Patio is a study in giving punters what they want. The drinks list favours small players in the wine and beer space, while the Mediterranean-leaning menu (meatballs, focaccia, fried whiting) is designed to comfort rather than challenge. Non-alcoholic options astound and most of the menu is gluten-free.
• Vin Populi, Fremantle: If the name – or the CV – of owners Emma Ferguson and Daniel Morris (Balthazar, No Mafia) didn’t give it away, vino is the calling card of this easygoing wine bar in Freo’s west end. Each day’s offering is listed on chalkboard menus by style (“local orange”, “Marg River chardy”, “natural red”). Just as pivotal to Vin Populi’s appeal is its menu of Italian comfort cooking.

Perth’s Best New Cafe Openings of 2023

• Cheerio Coffee, West Perth: Get the bourekas, filled with various cheeses and encrusted with seeds and spice. Get the galette, all flaky and burnished and laden with seasonal fruit. Get the Saturday doughnuts. Just get here early as everything at this micro-bakery from former Mary Street Bakery head baker Courtney Gibb moves exceptionally quickly.
• Coffee Heads, Vasse: Coffee Heads is set to turn all your expectations of drive-though coffee on, well, their head. The roadside kiosk from three local hospo heavyweights – chef Brendan Pratt (ex-Vasse Felix), and James Tischhauser and Isaac Kara (both Margaret River Roasting Company) – is proving a godsend for weary motorists with a custom blend with smooth buttery notes which works both hot and cold. There’s also a miso-caramel milkshake for the young and young-at-heart. There’s also a knockout roast chicken roll.

Perth’s Best New Bakery Openings of 2023

• Grain Bakery, Shenton Park: Grain Bakery’s newest location sells treats such as a Reuben-inspired pain Suisse, pastries filled with pecorino and ’nduja paste, and danishes freighting mushrooms, XO sauce and pine nuts. There are also classics all made in an open kitchen.
• Teeter, East Perth: Natasha Brownfield’s baked goods are unusually good. Her shatteringly crisp croissants are among Perth’s finest, sandwiches made with house bread are a delight and barely-there chiffon cakes are pictures of grace and exacting technique.

Perth’s Best New Gelateria of 2023

• Gelato Messina, Highgate: After 20 years dominating the east coast dessert scene, Gelato Messina has finally opened its first Western Australian outpost. Sitting in a corner spot in Highgate, they’ll serve 40 flavours – 35 classics and five rotating specials – some of which will be pasteurised on-site in a raised open kitchen.

From newly opened spots to old classics, here are the dishes our Perth team can’t stop thinking about.