Watch out Melbourne and Sydney, there’s a new hip city in Australia. WA no longer stands for ‘Wait Awhile’…Western Australia is where you go to Experience Extraordinary.
By Michelle Tchea
Watch out Melbourne and Sydney, there’s a new hip city in Australia. WA no longer stands for ‘Wait Awhile’. Western Australia is where you go to Experience Extraordinary. Historical Buildings converted into pop-up restaurants, laneways transformed into uber cool hot spots, galleries revamped into totally chic cocktail bars. 
To the unassuming pop-in tourist, Perth might just seem like another Aussie city. But if you look a little closer, peer into the tainted windows and delve a little further into the once beaten down laneways, you’ll find hidden gems and secret hotspots to tickle all your tastebuds.
Perth has definitely all the charm and alluring characteristics a great city should have: clean parks and waterfronts; gourmet restaurants; cool cocktail bars; farmers markets and yearly music and arts festivals; and a trendy vibe of friendly locals ready to buy you a drink.
In a city constantly evolving and keeping tourists and locals alike on their toes, where do you go for the coolest gigs, best drinks and insane food trends that put rival city Melbourne to shame? Travel and lifestyle guru, Michelle Tchea gets her friends to point us in the right direction. Yeah, Perth is cool only if you know where to look and where to walk.
The Stables Bar –
The Stables Bar takes its name from its historic use as one of Perth’s original horse stables. he Stables Bar is located at the end of a small Hay Street laneway, and features two levels of bar and restaurant area, and an outdoor second-level bar with views across the city skyscrapers. The separation from the roadside means that customers are immediately transported away from the bustle of central Perth, to a landscaped oasis that provides a perfect environment for socialising and to enjoy Head Chef, Ben Keal’s European inspired dishes. Website
Wolf Lane–
Sitting in the West End shopping precinct in Perth’s CBD, Wolf Lane is a well-established mecca for the inner city bar scene. The interior and styling of this small bar has received a face-lift with new lighting as well as vintage furniture – including lamps, bookshelfs and trunks – offering an ‘old school’ look and feel. Boasting a new front door at the rear of the venue, guests can meet in the open air laneway while enjoying a new menu of local seasonal produce. Website
The Butterworth Bar and Kitchen –
located in the Exchange Plaza (in the Perth CBD), the Butterworth Bar and Kitchen is a bar, restaurant and café offering a fresh contemporary menu, impressive wine list, cocktails and coffee. With award-winning chef Damien Young at the helm, menu’s are focused on in-house artisanal food combined with quality seasonal ingredients, while the American-style cocktail bar features house-made bitters and liquers. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and takeaway and delivery options are available from 6.00am until late. Website
Venn –
16 Queen Street, Perth, By day this cafe is a perfect place to grab a light lunch and shop around the designer concept store. By night, if you are lucky, invite yourself up to the gallery or simply crash a Bachelor’s party and go nuts at the open bar. Website
Bar Lafayette –
Cocktails and diverse wines is all there is to it when it comes to Bar Lafayette. It’s located on the ground floor of the beautifully restored Perth Technical School, and has been carefully refurbished to retain its old world charm. Website
Bar de Halycon–
Located in Wolf Lane in the city’s central business district, is Perth’s first pintxos bar. Offering diners an opportunity to feast on freshly prepared dishes featuring mainly WA produce prepared with a Spanish twist. PThe two-storey venue has a distinctively WA flavour and includes art work by Moira de la Hunty, custom-made furniture by local furniture and industrial designer Chris Maple, sawn timber table tops and a feature wall have been sourced from WA’s historic Bunbury Jetty, and staff uniforms were designed by iconic WA fashion designer Aurelio Costarella. Website
Print Hall –
The perfect place to stop by for drinks after work, or after a long day touring the city. Paying homage to the heritage-listed Newspaper House on St George’s Terrace – former home to The West Australian newspaper – the Print Hall offers a bar and dining room headed up by David Coomer (Star Anise and Pata Negra) partnered with Shane Watson (The Red Sea in Adelaide – My Restaurant Rules). Below the ground sits the Small Print bakery and coffee roastery, on the first floor you’ll find The Apple Daily Bar and Eating House, while the rooftop terrace Bob’s Bar pays tribute to former Prime Minister Bob Hawke and boasts a restored neon sign of The West. See fact sheet attached in email. Website
