Perth rewards the curious diner. The city's geography alone – from Fremantle's port-side streets to the polished corridors of the CBD – means a single dining trip can span a cellar door pouring its own wines, a South American kitchen working with Cranbrook saltbush lamb and a heritage building that doubles as one of the city's more characterful Italian restaurants.
The five venues below run from Fremantle to the heart of the city, covering breakfast through to late dinner and a handful of occasions. What they share is a clear sense of identity – each one knows what it does and does it with conviction.
Julio's – West Perth, WA
Julio's occupies a heritage-listed 1902 building on Hay Street that spent much of its life as Walsh's Menswear. The restoration has kept the bones of the place intact while making room for a full Italian dining program – breakfast, lunch and dinner – inside the Holiday Inn. The room has a fireplace, private dining options and alfresco seating, which gives it range across seasons and occasions.
The Executive Chef leads a team working across a menu anchored in Italian fundamentals: a salumi selection, housemade pasta and substantial mains. Mornings lean Italian too – banoffee french toast, Italian purgatory eggs and eggs benny are regulars. The dish that draws people back is the pappardelle with braised lamb ragù, roasted eggplant, sugo, olives, ricotta salata, pangrattato and truffle oil – a plate that is generous without being showy.
H&C Urban Winery – Fremantle, WA
There are not many places in Fremantle where you can watch wine being made while you drink it. H&C Urban Winery is one of them – a cellar door producing its own wines in the middle of Fremantle. It shares those wines in a setting that is as easy to spend an afternoon in as it is to drop into for a single glass. Tap beers, spirits and digestives round out the bar offering.
The food holds its own. The steak frites – rump, medium rare, with crispy chips and a sauce au poivre – is the dish that people tend to order twice. Beyond that, the menu covers enough ground to satisfy most tables, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options available. The pace here is unhurried by design; there is always activity in the winery itself if you want something to look at between courses.
Book a table at H&C Urban Winery
Miss Mi Perth – Perth CBD, WA
On Murray Street in the city centre, Miss Mi draws on Hong Kong tea houses, the mountain cuisines of Myanmar and the open-fire cooking traditions of South-East Asia – then runs all of that through a contemporary lens with Western Australian produce. The name translates as 'honey' and the restaurant opened in February 2023. Chef Alex De Leon leads the kitchen, which turns out a menu that shifts and evolves rather than settling into repetition.
Smoke and aromatics do a lot of the work here. The slow-cooked duck leg with hoisin maple glaze, braised bok choy and citrus is the dish that anchors the menu – rich, lacquered and precisely balanced. Alfresco seating brings outdoor dining into the equation for those who want it and the venue suits everything from a solo dinner at the bar to a longer shared table occasion.
Firewater Grille – Perth CBD, WA
On the lobby level of the Duxton Hotel, Firewater Grille has operated since 2013 with a menu that spans breakfast and lunch buffets through to a full à la carte dinner service. Chef Suseno Hadisutarno's team works across a wide range – seared yellowfin tuna with yuzu and sesame ponzu to start, chateaubriand for the table as a main – and the retro cocktail bar anchors one end of the space.
The signature dish is the tomahawk steak, served medium rare to share, with hand-cut fries and steamed seasonal vegetables. It arrives at the table with the kind of presence that steak should. For a different register entirely, Firewater also runs High Tea and dessert sessions and the cascading water feature gives dinner a particular mood after dark. Halal options are available, which broadens the table considerably.
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UMA Restaurant – Perth CBD, WA
Inside the Pan Pacific Perth, UMA Restaurant takes its name from a pre-Incan word meaning strength and flow. Executive Chef Xerxes Bodhanwala draws from the culinary traditions of Peru, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, then anchors those flavours in Western Australian seasonal produce. The result is a South American dining experience built on real research rather than approximation.
The lomo de cordero – Cranbrook saltbush lamb backstrap with lemon myrtle mustard and cachaça jus – is the dish that captures UMA's approach most plainly. Native Australian ingredients and South American technique sit together without strain. A degustation program is available for those who want to move through the full range and the dining room suits a dedicated evening rather than a passing occasion.
Secure your table at UMA Restaurant
From a Fremantle winery pouring its own drops to a South American restaurant working with saltbush lamb in Perth, the city's dining precincts each have their own character. These five venues give a clear picture of what Perth offers when you move beyond the obvious – and each one is a reason to plan the trip around the table.
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