One of the biggest thrills for this particular food blogger is finding awesome, quirky cafes that not only have great coffee and great food, but that also make you feel at home. My favourite cafes sprawl far and wide, from Hardware Societe in Melbourne, to Tricycle Café in Hobart, to (the sadly defunct) Moose General Store in Redfern, Silo Bakery in Canberra, and now my latest discovery – the gorgeous Mrs S. in Perth.

I instantly fell in love with the cute décor and extensive use of mauve. The menus change frequently, and were pegged into Little Golden Books. Talk about some good old childhood nostalgia! Mrs S. served breakfast until 11.30am and lunch until 3pm. We were visiting for lunch, and I started with a long black, a sterling example without any bitterness.

Steve chose the Poached Chicken Salad with pineapple, herbs and nam jim dressing. It was a really nice, fresh, summery dish that ticked all the boxes in terms of big, banging flavours and textures.

Of course I couldn’t go past ‘The Manwich’ – an aptly named sandwich of gigantic proportions, absolutely filled to the brim with pulled pork, beetroot pickle, cucumber and rocket. It was delicious! The pork was really flavoursome and the beetroot pickle was the perfect accompaniment. I will say though, that I was defeated by the Manwich, and couldn’t finish it without some help from Steve.

With such a vast array of gorgeous homemade treats, of course we had to finish with something sweet. I chose a slice of carrot cake, which was cut into a generous wedge and slathered in cream cheese icing, with a sprinkling of coconut and crushed pistachio on top. This carrot cake was seriously good, on par with my new favourite. Also, I was amused to find that I own the same plate 😉

Steve had the Cheesecake Brownie, which was a rich and delicious little morsel that we really enjoyed. In fact I liked it so much that it inspired me to create a nice little twist on the recipe, so stay tuned for that real soon.

I can’t wait to come back for breakfast on my next visit to Perth (there’s some cornbread with my name on it!) and if you’re ever in the area I’d definitely recommend Mrs S for a great casual brunch or lunch. I loved everything from the quirky touches like the Little Golden Books as menus to the gorgeous homemade treats, to the lovely staff, who were lovely and, bless them, had even heard of this little blog!

Mrs. S – 178 Whatley Crescent, Maylands (08) 9271 6690