At Broadsheet, when we start to prepare our end of year lists, we look for trends, something we can point to and say, “This is the one singular cuisine or craze that defined this year.”

So, here we go: 2025 was the year Malaysian cuisine went mainstream – but it was also the year of Filipino street food, and Taiwanese fusion, and ramen, and tableside tofu, and Korean banchan, and NY-style pizza, and Sopranos-inspired subs.

There was no single through line linking the venues this year, but we’re glad to have such great new additions to the local scene.

Here – in alphabetical order – are Perth’s best new restaurant openings of 2025.

Avalon, Claremont

Mediterranean philosophies guide the kitchen at Avalon, a 120-seat restaurant inside The Grove Residences in Claremont. It’s the latest venture from the team behind Cup & Co in Floreat and, while the menu leans Greek and Italian, the approach is broader. Dishes like vine-leaf-wrapped snapper with preserved lemon and roasted tomatoes nod to more traditional Greek cooking, while looser interpretations like prawn macarons with sea urchin and crisp basil leaves to play with your expectations. With live music throughout the week, the experience at Avalon is layered: refined dining, but warm and lived-in.

Charim, Northbridge

The story of Charim is one of resilience.

Chef-owner Hyan Cha was inspired by Korean kisa sikdang diners, a fast-paced canteen-style restaurant designed for taxi drivers. Despite the humble concept, the execution at the 12-table, no-reservation Northbridge joint is faultless.

It serves a traditional set menu with dishes that land on the table simultaneously. The centrepiece is one of four Korean staples: futari Wagyu bulgogi, osam bulgogi (a sweet-spicy surf’n’turf of squid and pork belly), spicy pork, or bibimbap. Each comes with a bowl of rice, a bowl of yukgaejang (a rich soup of beef and vegetables) and seven banchan (seasonal side dishes). The banchan selection might include house-made kimchi and rolled omelette with fermented pollock roe, raw Shark Bay prawns in a fiery marinade, seasoned acorn jelly, or crisp grilled mackerel (the grilled fish dish is so popular that its temporary removal from the menu sparked an Instagram outcry at the time of Broadsheet’s coverage in March).

Hospitality is a notoriously tough business. In August, Charim’s bookings had dropped and, on an evening when he only had one table booked, Cha told those customers he was considering closing. One diner at the table posted a Tiktok about her meal and encouraged people to book into the restaurant before it closed. Her video racked up nearly 30 million views. The social media fame translated into increased bookings and Charim remains in operation as one of Perth’s best new restaurants.

Jujube Dining, Doubleview

Bowls clubs, once a shorthand for mid-strength lagers and retirees in whites, are now moonlighting as dining destinations, drawing in crowds with guest-chef takeovers and inventive menus. The Doubleview Bowling Club – known to locals as The View – is a hub for such takeovers. It started with Special Delivery, the cult hit from chef couple Jacob D’Vauz and Anisha Halik, which scored a mention on last year’s best new restaurant list. Now the club welcomes Jujube Dining from chef Glenn McCue (ex-Old Young’s). On Wednesday and Friday nights, you’ll find the Irish-born chef on the pans, cooking a Taiwanese-influenced menu just metres from the greens.

There are bowlo classics, sure (McCue reckons that “people would riot” should the double quarter pounder be removed from the menu), but Taiwanese ingredients are creatively worked into the dishes. For example, the focaccia made especially for McCue by the Strollio’s team is elevated with sesame and spring onion and served with a whipped-white-bean and fermented tofu dip. Another favourite is the black pepper beef, accompanied by Irish champ mash and red cabbage, braised with Sichuan peppercorns and Chinese black vinegar.

Kalye Filipino Streats, Northbridge

After seeing a wave of Filipino restaurants open in Sydney and Melbourne, Ardlee Indoy and Eloise Bayaras were inspired to open a diner to prove to their guests that there’s more to Filipino cuisine than adobo. Kalye’s menu is a pared-back series of street food favourites, neatly divided into columns for mains and extras. Leading the menu is inasal (grilled chicken, a quintessential street food). There’s also pares, a rich beef broth served with tripe and bone marrow on the side. The drinks menu is sweet, including gulaman (brown sugar juice and jelly) and buko pandan, packed with coconut shreds.

Light Years, CBD

Light Years is known for its surfside east coast venues. So, when the team announced it would make the trip west to open a new iteration of Light Years, some were surprised to see it land not in Freo, not in Cott, but smack-bang in the middle of the Perth CBD. It’s an unexpected move, but the team has made the sprawling space in the 140 William Street precinct its own. Modern Asian dishes are designed to share, and include Moreton Bay bug rolls, cumin lamb pancakes and the signature lobster rolls. It’s all accompanied by a meticulously crafted wine list and a clutch of seriously good cocktails.

Lulu’s Cantina, Subiaco

You might think you know a lot about Joel Valvasori. The chef’s Italian restaurant Lulu La Delizia has been a much-loved staple since 2016. But did you know he’s watched The Sopranos end-to-end eight times? He’s just introduced a panino inspired by mob boss Tony Soprano at Lulu’s Cantina, the new neighbour to his Subiaco pasta bar. The cantina is not an overflow room or an afterthought. It’s its own entity, with its own kitchen, menu and wine list. During the day, lunch could include panini or a tuna crudo with macerated lemon and capers. In the evening, it edges into wine bar-bistro territory with a daily pasta special and Lulu’s famous meatballs served with soft polenta and grated parmigiano.

Magnolia BBQ, Victoria Park 

Jacob D’Vauz and Anisha Halik know how to draw a crowd. Last year, the chef couple had diners flocking to Doubleview Bowls Club for their Special Delivery pop-up. This year, the pair has stepped up with Magnolia BBQ, an 80-person restaurant that runs twice a week out of Modus Coffee in Vic Park. The space is transformed with candles, tablecloths and curtains, but the biggest indicator that the coffee shop has switched into restaurant gear is the appearance of a custom smokeless woodfired Zesti oven.

The ever-changing menu draws from the Malay Archipelago – Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia – and is threaded with Halik’s Christmas Island background, but Magnolia is not bound by tradition. Instead, every dish is filtered through the pair’s own memories, decades of combined hospitality experience, and family know-how (the sambal is made by their aunties each week). The menu changes weekly, but it might mean Abrolhos Island scallop crudo with green mango, sambal hijau and kerupuk (a deep-fried fish cracker). Or Fremantle swordfish chops, brushed with sambal and served bone-in, resting in a broth made from Stakehill Farm tomatoes. Or pie tee: pastry shells filled with beef tartare and black pepper jam, crowned with smoked bone marrow mayo. 

The venue is family-friendly with highchairs available and a shaken Milo Dinosaur named after the couple’s daughter. The whole menu is also halal and alcohol-free.

Mame, Mount Lawley

Tableside-cooked tofu and simple homestyle dishes are at the heart of Mame. It’s run by husband-and-wife team David Jung (ex-Nobu Perth, Sushia Izakaya) and Airi Yamamoto. The menu at the homey Japanese restaurant is largely inspired by Yamamoto’s grandmother, with dishes made using family recipes.

The tofu, for example, is made with a 100-year-old family recipe. It’s one of three signature dishes that form the backbone of the menu. The other two are obanzai and onigiri. The obanzai set comprises nine small dishes, ranging from pickled items and seasonal vegetables to fish and minced beef, all served in colourful bowls inside a wooden box. Onigiri is served with a choice of eight fillings. To avoid soggy seaweed, Mame’s onigiri is served lying on one flat piece of fresh nori for customers to finish wrapping themselves. It’s not quite a trip to Japan, but it’s perhaps the closest you can get in Mount Lawley.

Ronnies Pizza, Scarborough Beach

Ronnies is just a few minutes’ walk from Scarborough Beach. It’s close enough that you can grab a hot slice and carry it back to your towel and it’ll still be steaming. The casual new venue is a joint venture between the Hoodburger team and long-time collaborator Chris Fabbro. The pizzeria is serving American-style slices that are sturdy enough to hold in one hand, chewy with a crisp base, and cut big enough to fold. The dough ferments for up to 72 hours.

Toppings include a Chicago-style sweet sausage slice; a vodka sauce number with mellow tomato flavour and silky texture; and a mortadella and caramelised pineapple pie. Another pizza features spinach pesto and whipped ricotta – a vibrant green-white combo that’s salty, creamy and fresh all at once. There is also a tight list of subs served on crusty, toasted rolls from Stuzzico including a meatball sub topped with marinara and melted provolone.

Ten and Sen, Leederville

Broadsheet writer Ange Yang called the dishes at Ten and Sen “joy in a bowl”. From the team behind Rojiura Curry Samurai, Ten and Sen serves hearty ramen bowls decorated with a colourful array of WA vegetables. Owner and head chef Nobukazu Muraki is paying homage to the ramen of his hometown in Hokkaido – Muraki says there are more than 1300 ramen shops across the island.

Serving its signature spice ramen – with a rich tonkotsu broth – and Hokkaido miso ramen, each bowl has toasted broccoli (with a light tempura crisp), tomatoes, red onions and seasonal vegetables. Accompanying the rich bowls is a rotation of “tapas” and a selection of Hokkaido’s finest booze, including reds and whites from Yoichi Winery alongside a selection of Japanese saké and whisky.

Wang Xiang Noodle, Willetton

At Wang Xiang Noodle, Albee Huong and head chef Kok Hau Chee dish out nearly 400 bowls of specialty pork noodles every day. The bowls of moreish broth, tender, thin pork and crispy fried nuggets were quickly embraced both by homesick East Malaysians and Perth’s noodle-obsessed community.

The restaurant is an extension of a venue Chee’s family opened in Miri, Malaysia, 10 years ago. Since then, the business has opened outposts in Sabah, Sarawak, Johor and now Perth.

The translation of its signature dish – sang nyuk mian – is just “pork noodles”, but that description fails to do the dish justice. It’s loaded up with offal, smooth pork slices, and your choice of noodles, but the strength of the dish lies in the pork broth, made of bones gently simmered for hours. Chee says the kitchen goes through two or three kilos of pork bones every day. For rice lovers, the menu boasts a chicken rice dish from Chee’s grandfather’s family recipe, and to drink, there are cups of hor ka sai – a mix of dark coffee, evaporated milk and Milo – pulled straight from the menu of a Malaysian kopitiam.

Reporting by Jessica Rigg, Madeline Wallman, Ange Yang & Sue Yeap.

The Best of 2025 is proudly presented by Square, Kia, NAB and Four Pillars. The restaurants in this article were selected independently by Broadsheet's editors.