The Best Cafes in Perth & Fremantle

/ Yale Wanders

In Australia, coffee is serious business.

Long an aficionado of cold brew, I’d never really been a fan of hot coffee, served straight up or via a speciality drink.

The one exception to my hot coffee preference?

Flat whites.

With less milk than lattes, and a thin layer of micro-foam, a flat white that’s made with a good espresso is truly delectable.

Heading to Australia for a two month long road trip, I bought a keep cup- that’s how many flat whites I planned on consuming while in the land down under.

Our journey in Oz started in Western Australia, with a week long road trip that would take us from Perth down to Margaret River and over to Esperance before back to Fremantle.

Planning out a couple of days in Perth and Fremantle, I was keen to find some good cafes to start the Aussie coffee vibes.

Thankfully, there was no shortage of cool cafes in this part of Oz, or in the small towns we’d pass through on our road trip.

We were actually surprised with how great the laid back coffee culture was in one of the most remote cities on earth.

Perth, a former gold-rush town is often overlooked in favour of more-well known and populated ‘Straya destinations- Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns.

But, we loved Perth.

It reminded me of the Pacific Northwest, a part of the States I fantasize about living in.

In fact, if I was still living in Bali, I reckon I’d be doing regular visa runs to Perth. It has everything you’d look for in an Aussie city- cutting edge art and fashion, cool cafes, craft distilleries, endless coastline, and loads of avo toast.

If you find yourself in Perth, any of these cafes would be worth a pop in. Keep in mind, most stop operating mid-late afternoon, in true Aussie style.

8 Cafes for Ace Flat Whites in Perth, Australia

DuoTone: Our top pick for a caffeine pick-me up in downtown Perth, DuoTone is an independent speciality cafe, serving all-day brekkie until 2 pm. Their flat white was my first one in Australia, and it sure didn’t disappoint- rich, creamy and perfectly balanced.

Hylin: A bit off the grid in West Leederville, Hylin was our absolute favourite cafe in all of Perth and Fremantle. It’s worth the trek, that’s for sure. With modern decor and plants galore, Hylin is warm and welcoming. Their breakfast menu looked spectacular, and while we didn’t have time to try anything off it, we couldn’t get over how good their giant banana, chocolate chip muffins were. They were so good, we schemed over how to return before leaving WA post-road trip. And, while the flat whites here sure won’t disappoint, we also dug their homemade cold brew.

Architects & Heroes: A bit out of the way of most Perth-goers, if you find yourself in the Subiaco hood, as we did on our way south, Architects is simple, but with incredible coffee. The breakfast menu looks great here as well, and the teas are sourced from around the world.

Addison & Steele: An open space with a funky, fun interior, this cafe is favoured among locals for its open concept coffee bar. It’s exactly the kind of place you come to sip a cuppa and catch up with a friend.

Blink: Hailed as the best coffee in Fremantle, we couldn’t decide what we liked more about this small, but punchy cafe- it’s incredible coffee or the friendly baristas. A great place to stop en route to the ferry for Rottnest Island- we parked here just long enough to get coffee, then drove another few minutes to the ferry terminal with our morning brew and blueberry-banana muffins in tow.

Layup: Located in Perth’s Northbridge ‘hood, Layup is known for its chill vibes. With indoor and outdoor seating, Layup draws crowds for their great coffee drinks and legendary acai bowls.

Hush: Post Rottnest, we were looking for a cafe to do a bit of work in after wandering downtown, historic Fremantle. Our interest in Hush came at first, because they were open an hour later than other cafes in the area. Once inside, we loved the space- minimal decor, flowers on every table, exposed beams. The only downside? No WiFi, but at this point, we’d already become used to hot-spotting with our phones.

Greens & Co.: With an overnight flight to Queensland on the agenda, and a few hours to spare before we had to return our car, we turned to Google to see if there were any cafes in Perth open late- a rarity in Oz. Our search turned up a few options- all of them in Leederville. Greens & Co. had a lot of great reviews, many of which mentioned delicious cakes. As soon as we walked in and saw the cool music decor and dozens of low-hung lanterns, we were sold. Free Wi-Fi, creamy hot chocolate, and incredible array of cakes to savour for dessert made our visit here all the sweeter.

Have you ever been to Perth, Australia? Would you add any places to this list of cafes in Perth?

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