Not Sides, But Stars: Perth Restaurant Bread We Love

When restaurant bread is done well, it transcends its role as a prelude and becomes a main event. Mums everywhere have often warned against filling up on bread because it’ll spoil our appetites – these breads are worth being defiant.

It’s also a great litmus test. Great bread provides tangible, tasty evidence of the care and capability of a venue before the meal even begins. Bread at this level isn’t just something to tide you over. It’s proof of patience, process and precision. Texture, temperature and what’s offered alongside it all speak to the quality of a venue.

If you’re still treating bread as background noise, these are the venues that will change your mind. Here – in alphabetical order – are our picks of seven of the best restaurant breads in Perth.

Bread In Common’s woodfired organic bread with churned butter and onion ash, Fremantle

Few venues take bread as seriously as Bread In Common. Baked daily on-site, the much-loved loaves go through extra-long fermentation before hitting the oven and emerging with a bronzed, blistered crust. They’re served simply, with house-churned butter and a delicate dusting of onion ash.

The real fun lies in the add-ons, with a dedicated menu of optional (but strongly recommended) spreads. Try the chickpea, red pepper and mustard seed dip; ultra-rich lamb gravy with pickled chilli; or house-made ricotta with nectarine and spiced pepitas. For those who can’t get enough, loaves from the on-site bakery are available to take home.

Canteen Pizza’s woodfired pizza bread with San Marzano tomato butter, Applecross

Defying gravity and demanding attention, Canteen’s billowing balloon of bread is more of a show stopper than a side. It swells into a magnificent golden dome in the woodfired oven, hitting the table blistered and charred in all the right places. Stab to release the steam, then tear away the crust piece by piece and smear with the velvety, vibrant San Marzano tomato butter.

Casa’s focaccia with pumpkin-seed dip and pickled green tomato, Mount Hawthorn

The focaccia at Mount Hawthorn’s slick, wine-inclined restaurant Casa goes through a patient three-day process before hitting the plate. The slow fermentation builds flavour and improves digestibility. It’s been a staple on the menu since day dot, served with a smooth pumpkin-seed dip and tangy pickled green tomatoes. This is the kind of snack or start of a meal that begs for a glass of something textural and white. You’ll spot it elsewhere on the menu, too: offered with olive oil for dragging through pasta sauces or mopping up steak jus. Wander next door to Casa Pizzeria and you’ll find the same dough is reimagined into garlic-buttery slabs.

Lions and Tigers’ sourdough naan with whipped ghee, Fremantle

Head chef Jason Goodorally is the first to admit that we have “Steve” to thank for Lions and Tigers’ sourdough naan. That’s “Steve” the sourdough starter, which forms the basis for the subtly spiced flatbread at Fremantle’s playful Anglo-Indian restaurant. It’s baked to order and then amplified with a quenelle of whipped ghee, smoky black cardamom salt and jaggery for a mellow sweetness. There’s a more decadent iteration too, stuffed with cheddar and truffle, and paired with an earthy and rich fermented mushroom butter.

Manuka’s flatbread, Fremantle

Arriving at the table warm, swollen and scorched, Manuka’s famed flatbread has been a fixture on the menu since the Fremantle favourite opened in 2015. The golden exterior gives way to a soft, springy centre. It’s served sliced into six strips for easy sharing. Slather it in chef-owner Kenny McHardy’s smoked garlic butter or swipe it through the eggplant baba ganoush and house-made hummus, topped with toasted pepitas and dusted with za’atar.

Shui’s salted coconut rice bread with chilli black garlic butter, Subiaco

At first glance, Shui’s gluten-free coconut rice bread resembles a cross between a mantou steamed bun and mochi. The golden, glossy mound is soft and airy, with a crisp exterior and satisfying bouncy pull once you tear in. It’s ostensibly a side and serves as a practical plate-scraper but, if you ask us, this deserving dish holds its own as an entree. Pull it apart and drag it through the rich, smoky chilli black garlic butter.

Sonny’s house-made bread with koji-cultured butter, Mount Hawthorn

After nearly two years of tweaking, testing and fermenting, Sonny’s hybrid focaccia-pizza style bread has quietly become one of the most compelling opening salvos to any Perth meal. Chef Sofika Boulton hand-mixes the dough daily, allowing it to ferment slowly over 24 hours. Each loaf is then baked fresh every morning and finished over an open fire for a crackled, smoky top and soft, steamy centre. Before serving, it’s brushed with lemon-skin-infused olive oil and flaky salt. The accompanying whipped koji-cultured butter offers a savoury, subtle complexity that lingers long after the last bite.