The Mount Lawley morning coffee run - Cantina or Fez?

If you live and/or work and/or hang out in Mount Lawley you will know that over the past few years, a number of coffee shops have appeared along the strip. The first of these boutiquey type cafes was Soto which opened it's doors 8-9 years ago.  At the time, Soto reached lofty heights not previously scaled in the Mount Lawley area (which up until that point only boasted Globe and Dome)  - it had comfy couches, al fresco smoking table coolness, an interesting breakfast menu, it was open late and it had gooooood coffee.  But 8 years is a long time and Soto is now looking a bit old, a bit lonely, a bit worn and there are now a LOT more cafes to choose from - the Merchant, Cafissimo, Exomod, Cantina, Fez to name but a few.  For the most part I don't rate them for coffee, Mount Lawley cafes often seem to trade on the coolness of the area rather than the quality of their coffee.  The exception is Cantina which does just about everything well - coffee, breakfast, lunch, cakes, snacks, dinner, impromptu coffee and dessert post movies, Cantina doesn't falter.  Even though I've had a go of every cafe on the Beaufort St strip, for the past couple of years I've gone to Cantina for my coffee and it's always good, attested to by the massive queue and 15 minute wait.  Fez, a more recent addition to Mount Lawley, is closer to my work so my workmates go there on the coffee run.  Fez uses 5 Senses coffee and Cantina uses Fiori.  Fez and I got off to a bad start when my first coffee on their first day was talked up bigtime but not that great.  Being mindful that it was day 1, I've been back a few times and sadly the coffee is never quite right, but Cantina always is.  Awesome flavour and texture, never panic-attack-inducing.  So for now it's Cantina for me.  Until the Planet Cafe opens - Planet have never done anything half-assed, so I reckon they could be a contender.  Keep checking!

Cantina:  663 Beaufort St Mount Lawley

Fez:  83 Walcott Street Mount Lawley

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1550188/restaurant/Perth/Mount-Lawley/Fez-Mt-Lawley%22%3E%3Cimg alt="Fez on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1550188/minilogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:15px" /></a>

holiday part 1 - breakfast

Sorry about the double breakfast photo, still figuring out the intricacies of blogging!! (if anyone has any tips.. ?)

Well i flew out from the big D and managed to successfully manage to eat my way round Perth and not take any photos of anything cos i was so excited about all the food options.... after a few days and some clarity (Perth has more food definitely but lots of stuff about the eating experience in Perth still shits me to tears) i took myself off to the Merchant on Beaufort St in Mount Lawley for breakfast - avec camera phone! Going to the Merchant was in the interests of my neural pathways, never been there, the sissy said it was good ... rocked up - its all very funky with some couches, a bit of al fresco table action, perused the menu which has some funky little spanish options and some yummy looking frittery things on it, so i asked for the first option and was told it hadn't been made yet. hmm. asked for my second option and was told that it hadn't been made yet. mmmmmm. asked for my third option which was poached eggs a slow roasted tomato, house made baked beans, mushrooms, that gorgeous Fresh Provisions bacon (i think it comes from Elmars, the german butcher over the road - it is smoked and Freshies is the only place I have found to buy it - it is the BEST EVER!!!!! EVER!!!!!) and spinach (they said they hadn't PLUCKED IT FROM THE GARDEN YET - not - no, they didn't have it yet (!), so i got given rocket instead). It was all VERY delicious, although my eggs came out all boogery and i had to ask them to give them a bit more heat and the coffee was weak as piss, which was funny as they had quotes from the "barista" on the menu about the latest coolest coffee blend. The juice i had which had beetroot and all kinds of yumminess was really good. So i took myself away having had a bloody good breakfast that i had to work to get - which is not the best way to start the morning but far from being the worst. The Merchant needs to pull it's socks up a bit - don't put stuff on the menu you dont have yet!!! Or better yet, GET IT DONE IN TIME!!! Perth still has a way to go before it becomes Melbourne, but the old Perth brekky which used to be Fast Eddy's or nought, has improved outta site.

The only other brekky I had which was in any way memorable was at Cantina 663 on Beaufort St, near the Astor Cinema. Service is ace, really quick, the coffee is great, the tables and booths are comfy with lots of configurations and options for having something to eat and there's the whole undercover outside arcade thing going on so you can sit at a table and set your kid free and watch them crawling out the arcade door and onto busy Beaufort St at peak hour....oops

Food is tasty, presentation good, nothing humungously special about it, just good decent food. I had banana bread, toasted (yum) and some of their house-made granola which comes with some fresh fruit... also had scrambled eggs another time and they were pretty good - not amazing like the ones they used to have at Tarts before it went up its own ass, but good.

still waiting on photos but will post when they come through.... :-)))