City Farm Cafe, East Perth (April 2012)
City Farm Cafe in East Perth has been under new management since late January. Keeping with the philosophy of City Farm, the cafe menu is still driven by organic ingredients and produce, used whenever possible. The meat and eggs are from free range and organic animals, the toast thickly sliced from wonderful crusty loaves baked by Loafers Organic and the coffee is Rubra Organic. But I don’t keep coming back to feed my conscience; I keep coming back because the food and coffee taste good.
The breakfast menu is simpler than it was before. Gone are the wonderful spicy baked beans that went so well with a gooey poached egg. You can get free range eggs cooked however you want, served on organic toast, but the free range bacon’s been relegated to side item status for an extra AU$5. The other hot breakfast items will appeal to cheese lovers – there’s Croque Monsieur (AU$8.50) with free range ham, creme fraiche and Gruyère, and the free range scrambled eggs with chives and Tasmanian Mersey Valley aged cheddar (AU$14). But if your idea of breakfast involves anything smothered with hollandaise sauce, you may be disappointed.
When my friends Craig and Caroline came to visit from Sydney, I took the week off to be their tour guide and help them eat their way around Perth. They were keen to check out City Farm Cafe after reading about it in my tweets and on my blog. We met there for breakfast on their second day in Perth.
I ordered scrambled free range eggs on organic toast (AU$10) with a side of free range bacon (AU$5). The eggs were soft and creamy; the bacon with fat still on, crinkly and irresistible.
Scrambled free range eggs on organic toast (AU$10) with a side of free range bacon (AU$5)
Craig ordered fried eggs on organic toast (AU$10) also with a side of bacon (AU$5).
Fried eggs on organic toast (AU$10) with a side of bacon (AU$5)
Caroline chose the crushed avocado with lemon juice on toast (AU$9.50). Although I was enjoying my bacon and eggs, I couldn’t help wanting the fresh avocado too, which looked and smelled glorious, all mashed up on two slabs of crusty bread.
Crushed avocado with lemon juice on organic toast (AU$9.50)
Caroline also ordered a pumpkin, pesto and Danish feta muffin, loaded with baked pumpkin and chunks of soft salty feta. We all enjoyed a taste.
Pumpkin, pesto and Danish feta muffin and innards
Freshly squeezed fruit juices are a regular part of the menu now, made from local fruit – watermelon, Pickering Brook Granny Smith apples and Serpentine navel oranges (all AU$7.50).
Watermelon juice and flat white
More recently, I met my friends Chad and L for breakfast at City Farm Cafe. They both ordered poached eggs on toast, L with spinach, and Chad a side of bacon which they shared.
Breakfast with friends
Despite my friends’ willingness to share their bacon, I wanted to have my own. I ordered scrambled eggs on sourdough toast (AU$10) with baby spinach (AU$4) and free range bacon (AU$5). The bread on our plates was enormous! We all struggled to get through just one slice each.
Bacon, scrambled eggs, spinach and toast
I’m no coffee expert. I’m just led by my tastebuds. I like the coffee at City Farm Cafe – it’s rich, strong and creamy.
Soy flat white – Rubra organic coffee
The new City Farm Cafe coffee loyalty cards have recently become available (as far as I know, the old loyalty cards are still being honoured). The card pictured below has since become significantly more dog-eared and covered in stamps as I get closer to that free coffee.
Coffee loyalty card – buy 10 get 1 free
The cakes and cookies are all baked on the premises and many are gluten-free. In the lead-up to Easter, Loafers Organic hot cross buns have been available too. The muffins are baked fresh daily and are often still warm from the oven when I turn up in the morning for my daily takeaway large soy flat white, which comes in a Biocup. The freshly baked muffins are right there on the front counter to tempt you with their enticing aroma like those strategically placed lollies and chocolate bars at the supermarket checkout. Usually, at least one of the muffin varieties is savoury – caramelised onion in a muffin has to be one of the best smells ever – and thank goodness, there are sweet flavours other than raspberry and white chocolate. I like raspberry and white chocolate, but seriously, cafe bakers of Perth – I think raspberry and white chocolate has been done to death.
Cakes, hot cross buns, muffins
In the display case at the front counter are paninis and rolls made fresh each morning. I’ve become terribly addicted to the toasted panini with chicken, Brie, avocado and spinach (AU$10, from memory). It’s great for breakfast or lunch. I haven’t dined in for lunch at City Farm Cafe yet – that’s on my to-do list.
Toasted panini with chicken, Brie, avocado and spinach
There is now more seating peppered around the grounds, perfect for soaking up the sunshine, especially if you’d like to get away from the noise and the crowd that tends to bunch up around the front counter at peak times.
City Farm Cafe
1 City Farm Place (next to Claisebrook Train Station, down the stairs, close to the City Farm Yellow Cat bus stop)
East Perth WA 6004
City Farm Cafe opening hours
Monday to Friday 7am to 3pm
Saturday 8am to 12pm
Closed Sundays
Telephone: 0418 594 408 – Ayla and Aaron
See my other posts about City Farm Cafe
City Farm growers’ market is on Saturdays 8am to 12pm (while the Cafe is open too!)
City Farm has a school holiday program for 6 to 12 year olds. The next school holiday program runs 16 to 20 April 2012. Includes lunch picked from City Farm’s own gardens (whenever possible). Numbers are limited so books are essential (book for any or all the days).