The Old Bakery Gallery and Cafe - Maylands

This cafe is an old favorite of ours, and I got an e-mail on Friday that prompted me to blog about it - the Old Bakery on 8th is going up for auction! I just hope the new owners continue to run it as a cafe and keep it as dog friendly as it has been all this time. 

The Old Bakery is blessed with this beautiful leafy courtyard with established trees and plenty of shade. There is a rear entrance, near where those cars are parked in this picture, and it was very convenient for me to park the doggie trailer out the back.

Bender, Barbie and Mouse have shared breakfast with us in this lovely spot with many other friends. If anything lets the place down it is that the poached eggs are sometimes overcooked.

We took Barbie this weekend for a just-in-case final hurrah. We don't know what will happen when the place is sold. I got my usual eggs benedict and a cappuccino.

Barbie of course laid down in the corner on the cool sand under the trees. There were a bunch of pigeons flapping around in the garden nearby but they didn't really get her attention. It seemed like no one really noticed her, usually at least someone would come to say hello. I think she was secretly happy that she could laze around uninterrupted until we were ready to pass her some of our left overs.

After breakfast we took a little stroll around the surrounding suburb for Barbie to stretch her legs. Unfortunately due to the very hot weather the last month, we can't stay outside much past 10am so we had to head home after a very short wander around the block. 

I just hope that the new owners of this place continue to trade as a cafe, and continue to be dog friendly. Otherwise we will be mourning the loss of an old favorite!

Cafe Review: Beez Neez Bayswater

This cafe is a tiny one in the suburbs, on Beechboro Road, Bayswater, Perth. It used to be a really bad fish and chip shop but about 6 months ago a very lovely couple took over and made it into a cafe. They mainly cater to tradies getting their early morning coffee fix and they take coffee orders by SMS. 

Their Urbanspoon page is here:

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1760232/restaurant/Perth/Beez-Neez-Cafe-Bayswater

We decided to take a stroll and get some breakfast there this weekend, and of course Barbie had to come to give her two cents worth.

She seemed to be a little perturbed at first that we didn't bring her blankie, and so she decided to poke her tongue out when I asked her to pose for a photo.

There were a lot of people coming and going to collect their take away coffee orders. Barbie looked wistfully at them hoping for some attention. After we had finished our breakfast she got some pats from some nice ladies who had been sitting there for a while before even noticing Barbie lying there quietly.

The outside area has three tables, but there is usually one free. The surrounds are pavements but they are nicely shaded. After thoroughly inspecting the area for scraps and crumbs, Barbie settled down behind our table. 

My coffee arrived very promptly. Fortunately it wasn't a really windy day so my chocolate didn't try to fly away as it has previously!

The coffee was nice, and the food was good too. The eggs were perfectly poached, and the bacon cooked nicely - I really don't like it when they overdo it and it's crunchy.

The food was a bit too much for me, so Barbie got quite a bit of bacon. She didn't complain. In fact the bacon passed her test with flying colours.

Barbie quite liked this cafe as there was plenty of space for her to lie down in the shade out of the way of people walking past. We love the food here, and the service is prompt and friendly. This cafe ranks quite highly and I am sure that it will become a regular haunt of ours. 

Doggy score - 8/10 (there is a slight markdown for the lack of grass or dirt which are Barbie's preferred surfaces to lie on)

Human score - 8/10 (being on a fairly exposed street corner which can be windy at times, and is at a bit of a steep angle which effects drinks balancing on the table mean a small markdown from the humans). 

Getting back to normal, slowly

*news just in* you can now buy the paperback of H.Y Hanna's debut novel: Big Honey Dog Mysteries #1 Curse of the Scarab over at Amazon. You can see my review of the book here.

Barbie's leg is slowly healing, and we have attempted to resume normal life as much as possible without overdoing it. We revisited the Kinky Lizard recently, which we reviewed back in June. We had to park in an expensive car park since we didn't want Barbie to walk very far. She did enjoy the flowers and the lovely spring day though!

We also tried out a new winery in the Swan Valley, Edgecombe Brothers. Honey the Great Dane had been to visit and recommended it, so we decided to give it a try. The cafe seating area is very garden-like and it was a great place for the dogs to chill out. 

There was an 11 week old staffy pup running around off leash, and his kids were not doing a very good job of keeping an eye on him. The first time he romped over to our table, Bender got up and he got scared and ran away. He came back a couple of times later though and didn't seem scared at all by the end. The only problem was trying to stop Bender and the puppy playing underneath the table. Unfortunately we didn't get a photo, but his name was Shadow and he was adorable!

We ate some lunch (I had a potato frittata which had more eggs than potatoes), and then we went for a very short wander through the winery. 

They were both very satisfied with their day out and slept all afternoon when we got home. Hopefully Barbie doesn't feel like she is missing out on too much life whilst she is still in recovery mode! 

Outings with Olive - Breakfast in East Perth & a big, noisy crowd

Olive has been listed as being up for adoption on Facebook, Gumtree and Petrescue, so I don't think she is going to be with us much longer. With that in mind we decided that we should try her out in some new situations so that we could get more of an idea of her personality.

Barbie and Bender were pretty tired after their two hour outing to Whiteman Park, but I thought that Barbie would like to come out to breakfast. We went to the Partisan in East Perth again. We parked down near the river so we wouldn't have to pay, and got to take the dogs for a little walk to Claisebrook Cove, where the cafes are.

Olive is a bit like her sister Mouse, she doesn't like to walk in a straight line. I think she will understand the idea of leash walking fairly quickly though.

I ordered some fruity French toast and I didn't like it much - I should have stuck with poached eggs on toast, but Olive tried to stick her nose on my plate the second the waiter set it down.

Olive is a real people magnet, and once they come and start patting her, there's no stopping, because she won't let them! She didn't really relax during breakfast, but she did pretty well. 

When we walked back to the car, Olive jumped into the back by herself. We came home and let the dogs rest for a while and I watched a game of football. We then headed back out to the Avon Descent finish at Riverside Gardens with Olive to see how she would deal with the PA system and the maddening crowds. 

She was a bit tired and a bit overwhelmed by all the noise, but she didn't shut down and turn into a greyhound statue. I think she just needs to go to more of these types of events and her confidence will grow. She met some gorgeous kids who just wanted to cuddle her. 

We also met a couple of ladies who had three tiny chihuahuas. The lady bought the smallest Chi over - who was about half the size of Frou - absolutely tiny. The Chi tried to sniff Olive's butt but only managed to reach her ankle. The lady held the little Chi up to Olive's nose, but the Chi was a bit freaked and was flailing it's legs around trying to kick Olive in the muzzle. Olive didn't even flinch. 

We didn't stay long as it was clear that Olive was tired. When we got home she did exactly what Mouse did - refused to get out of the car. She was comfy on the back seat and just wanted to sleep there. 

Silly Olive!!!! 

City Dogs - King's Park Botanic Cafe again!!

Barbie still has a sore foot. It has been going on for some time, she had an abscess, which the vet cut open and cleaned out, but the silly wench put another hole in her foot in a brief licking session. They put another bandage on her foot, and she has to endure at least another 3 days of not getting it wet.

It's winter so that means no real walks. We had to take her out though, so we decided a cafe visit would work.

We did go for a little walk on the pavement, then N took Barbie to the cafe, whilst Bender and I visited the bin to dispose of some poop bags.

N has just bought a real camera so it was a good opportunity for her to try it out. She has a lot to learn, but it takes some pretty good shots on 'auto' mode!

Not sure what Bender was thinking here, though perhaps he was just trying to look cute. He was a very good boy, lying down straight away. It would be handy if we could convince him to lie down underneath the tables though.

It was a bit colder than we expected - for some reason I thought the sun would be shining in the middle of the afternoon. Silly me. Barbie was a little bit cold, but soon all was forgiven.

Barbie: OMGERD! Look at all that food.... burger, and chips and.....MEATBALLS! How much is for me? I need food to keep warm!

I think chips are Barbie's favorite cafe fare - of course she is only allowed to eat a few, to make sure she keeps that streamlined figure of hers. There is nothing worse than a fat greyhound.

Bender stuck close to me as well. I guess he thought he was being helpful when I dropped something on my lap. He quickly cleaned my lap for me, but he left a big puddle of drool behind. Thanks Bender. 

Of course, they got some meatball too - Bender particularly enjoyed the meatballs, he is not quite as obsessed with chips as Barbie is.

So... what do you think of the new camera? Hopefully the quality of the photos on this blog will be onwards and upwards from here! Of course, I'm the writer so if you see any really good photos, I probably didn't take them! 

Barbie's Cafe Review - Partsian Cafe East Perth (and a walk on Claisebrook Cove)

We have been to Claisebrook Cove with the dogs before, and it was very busy, so we ended up going around the corner to Kinky Lizard Cafe (review here). 

Today it wasn't too bad, and we managed to get ourselves a nice spot at The Partisan. This place provides the ultimate in dog-friendly ordering as the counter is outside, so you can wait in line with your dog and put in your order.

There were quite a few other dogs there, including this little white yapper who didn't want Barbie to come too close. There were also another couple of noisy dogs that went nuts when they saw us. Barbie held up her head and ignored them like the good little Princess that she is. 

She enjoyed some scritches from me while we were waiting for her food, and a waitress came over to say hello. The waitress commented on how big Barbie was, which we found amusing because we always call her 'little Barbie'. I think it is important to bring big dogs into East Perth, otherwise it would just be small white fluffies. They are cute, but you need a bit of diversity, yes?

A lot of people also commented on Barbie's hoodie. It was overall a pretty friendly environment and there was plenty of room for her to lie down. There was no danger of anyone treading on her as everyone took notice!

We had a great breakfast, I ordered eggs benedict and kept some of the ham for Barbie. N got a bean casserole type dish with plenty of salty prosciutto for Barbie to snack on as well. She was very happy for the meaty treats.  

She had her cheeky face on hoping for more, but while the people next to us liked her and her cute little hoodie, they didn't have any snacks for her!

After being so good at the cafe, we rewarded Barbie with a short stroll around Claisebrook Cove. From these photos you can see how beautiful the view from the cafe was. 

The cafe is where the white umbrellas are in this photo, taken from the other side of the Cove.

We decided to have a bit of fun with Barbie and get a photo of us in this model boat - I had to lift her up there as she didn't want to jump in! I thought the photo was worth it.

Overall this cafe was great, and I could go there by myself with a dog and order my coffee without having to go inside. The food was good and the view was even better. 

Barbie says:

I felt like a celebrity at this cafe as people aren't used to seeing bigger doggies. I do wish that people whose dogs don't behave well in public didn't bring them along to cafes, but I guess it means people can see how good I am in the face of barking and yapping! There was plenty of room for me to lie down and I didn't feel like anyone would stand on me so I was quite relaxed. 

Overall human score 7/10 (coffee could have been better), dog score 8/10.

Barbie's Cafe Reviews - Kinky Lizard Expresso Bar, East Perth

We originally headed to East Perth to check out Toast Cafe, which is listed as 'dog friendly' on Urban Spoon and is located facing the calm waters of Claisebrook Cove. Toast was packed and there were no tables, so we were forced to walk around the corner to check out what else was available.

We ended up at the Kinky Lizard Expresso Bar on Royal Street.

Kinky Lizard has tables out on the footpath but they also have a little courtyard area. We chose the street side tables as there was more room for all of us.

It was a bit chilly and Barbie was very glad to be wearing her new 'Chilly Dog' coat which I won for her at the Greyhound Angels annual fundraising auction.

It was a pretty busy footpath, with prams and other dogs wandering by. There was also a rather stressed out looking lady with a suitcase on wheels. The first time she walked past us, she did at a normal pace. About 10 minutes later she came sprinting back down the footpath, the suitcase making a hell of a racket. Barbie was only slightly perturbed by the strange noise. In another 10 minutes, she was running past us again with the suitcase. I wondered why she would be running around with a suitcase, and N said we should offer to look after it for her. We didn't see her again after that though.

All of the street trees were losing their leaves, and it was funny to watch the dogs as the occasional one fluttered down onto their heads.

Bender was a bit annoyed that he wasn't allowed to go and play with a little blonde boy dog whose owners were waiting for takeaways. They looked like they would have loved to take all the tables down together.

Finally the food arrived. Barbie was remembering her experience at Little Creatures with Honey the Great Dane and was very keen to have a little taste of the food served up to the humans. I had to guard my butter packets. 

The food was good and so was the coffee, but we saved some chorizo for the dogs to reward them for being quiet and well behaved. 

Bender was very impressed and wanted more. I think next time we should order an extra meal for the pups to share!

Kinky Lizard was quite a nice morning stop. It's well located for a nice stroll along the Swan River before or after breakfast as well. I think I preferred King's Park as a breakfast location as the people were more universally friendly. It's a great cafe for the doggies if it's not too busy, and good for humans too. 

Dog Friendly Cafe Review: Botanic Gardens Cafe - Kings Park, Perth

I have to thank Honey and Hsin-Yi for finding this cafe for us. They wrote a blog entry about it well before we got around to visiting. I have been living in Perth for years and they only just moved here, and yet they are finding all these great dog friendly places for us to try.

The Botanic Gardens cafe is located near Fraser's Restaurant on Fraser Avenue. We drove up there at 8.30am and there was plenty of parking, but by the time we left the car park was getting rather full. Before we sat down to breakfast, we took the dogs for a walk around and enjoyed the lovely panoramic views of the Swan River. Bender and Barbie were both very happy to be somewhere new and they got a lot of attention. A group of tourists took photos of them.

As there is a lot of space between the tables there, both Bender and Barbie got to come and try this place out. As it had been raining the night before I bought Barbie a foam camping mat to lie on.

The staff were very dog friendly, and most of the other patrons were too. A lady came over specifically to pat Barbie. She was from Melbourne and missing her Whippets at home. She commented about Barbie's small size and said she looked like a Whippet. She enjoyed the attention, though Bender felt that he should be patted and commenced bouncing and squeaking to get her attention.

We decided that whenever people ask how old Bender is they are expecting us to say he is a puppy, so we will tell them that he is two! 

Barbie didn't really lie down on her camping mat much as she was busy investigating her surroundings, and I think she was a bit cold.

Bender was happy to lie down on the pavers, and they are the nice smooth kind, not rocky or pointy. They will be nice and cool on a summer's day in the shade. 

From a human perspective the only drawback of this cafe is that you have to order at the counter, so you need to have someone to baby sit the dogs while you go and do that. It is a very minor quibble though, as at most cafes you still have to go inside and pay at the end of your meal. I just think the idea would be to sit down, get served and pay the waitstaff from your table. When I find a place that does that I can take Barbie out to a cafe on my own. 

The food was very good, the service was quick and the seating area was comfortable, with a great view.

Parking the car might be an issue, as it sometimes is at King's Park later on in the day on a weekend, but all was quiet at 8.30am when we arrived. 

Human score: 9/10

Barbie tells me that from a dog perspective, it's definitely the kind of cafe where you will get attention from other customers, it's probably not the cafe for a dog not so outgoing around people. 

There is a lot of space around the tables and the staff and other customers are friendly. There would be a nice sea breeze blowing through here in summer, though Barbie told me it was a bit cold on a winter morning. She was happy I bought her a mat to lie on but this time she was asking for a coat as well. You can never please some doggies. 

Bender is not fussy and did not really have any criticisms of the cafe. He just wanted more people to talk to him instead of just wanting to talk to Barbie. He still doesn't understand that if he bounces and squeaks a lot of people get a bit intimidated!

Dog score: 9/10

Barbie's new Career in food reviews starts at Lush

This weekend we visited a cute little cafe called Lush at 144 Scarborough Beach Road in Mt Hawthorn. We chose Lush because it was on a list of 'dog friendly' cafes I found on Facebook. Mt Hawthorn is quite a built up little down centre, and when we first drove past the cafe we only saw a couple of tables out the front, but when we stopped we found a little alleyway that led around back to the courtyard.

photo borrowed from the Lush website

When we entered there were a few concrete steps to get up to the courtyard level. Barbie hesitated, but I got her to come up the steps, then she was barked at by two small white fluffies under the nearest table. Barbie took it in her stride and we sat as far as possible away from the fluffies.

As per usual I heard a lot of people in the cafe whisper 'it's a greyhound'. It seems to happen whenever we go somewhere new.

The courtyard is enclosed by walls. They have garden beds along each wall, but the one on our side of the courtyard was very narrow and there wasn't anything growing in it but dirt. The rest of the area was paved. There was a big shade sail over the top to keep the area nice and cool.

Barbie did not want to lie down on the pavers. Fair enough, we learned our first lesson, always bring along a blankie or bed. She decided to lie in the dirt garden bed and it took a little bit of manoeuvring on her part as it was so small.  She was very well behaved and I just kept her leash under my chair leg.

From a human perspective the food was great. We ordered the breakfast stack, and I got a coffee. The stack was much better than the one I get sometimes at Milk'd in Maylands as the bread on the bottom was edible. At Maylands it's often toasted to the point that it is hard as a rock. The coffee was good and the service was efficient. Prices were reasonable for Perth. The chairs were comfortable, and surprisingly, because the paving was fairly steeply sloped, the table was not wobbly!

I saved a little bit of bacon for Barbie and gave it to her at the end as a reward for being such a good girl.

Overall human score: 8/10

Barbie says:

The courtyard of this cafe was shady and cool, but the waitress humans tried their best to ignore me and they certainly didn't offer to bring a water bowl or anything like that. As there was no lawn, and the humans forgot to bring my bed, I had to make myself comfortable in a very small patch of sand, but once I was comfortable there it was OK. The humans lose points here for not bringing my bed!

It was a huge positive to be tucked away in a nice quiet courtyard away from traffic and in the shade.

I didn't like the rude little doggies much. I did not react when they said rude things to me, but I wonder what would happen if I carried on like that in public.

Overall dog score: 7/10

Tip for improvement: it would have been nice if the waitresses offered me a water bowl. I couldn't use the communal one as that was too close to the rude doggies.

If any of our local readers has a dog-friendly cafe or pub they would like us to review, let us know! After we have done a few we will make a reviews page so you can find them all in one place when your humans are planning breakfast.

Guildford - Doggie Heaven?

There is a brand new cafe open in Guildford called the 'Pet Lovers Cafe' and so Barbie and I just HAD to go and check it out! They have a website here, and they are also on Facebook.

It's at 151 James Street Guildford, and it's a lovely little shop - they have coffees and muffins for the humans, and so many goodies for the doggies.

When we went there was a gaggle of pugs in attendence. There was also this scaredy-cat Iggie who spent a lot of time hiding behind her mummy.

Barbie had a great look around and then realised there was a young Golden Retriever behind the counter so she kept trying to go behind there.

Everyone made a big fuss over Barbie and I bought a couple of presents. Bender got a floaty rubber tug toy (I almost bought him the lighthouse, but maybe next time), and a big wool stuffy bone for Barbie. They have thundershirts, lifejackets and all kinds of dog stuff that I have only seen online.

Doggie-accessory and snack retail is their primary trade and it's really nice to be able to take the dogs into a place which has coffee and muffins on offer as well. I will take Bender there next weekend perhaps.

After the visit to the shop the pavement was starting to get too hot for doggies to walk on (at 10.30am), so I took Barbie back to the car and we drove a short distance to Fishmarket Reserve, which is a great big park on the other side of the railway line. It runs along the river and is low-lying land which is probably in the 50 year flood zone, so it will always be a park and not developed for housing.

The first thing she did when we got out of the car was to lie down in the water to cool off. She has perfected this lying down in the water trick. The problem is that she was only on a short leash and she wanted to go deeper. She couldn't without making me get my feet wet!

I let Barbie off leash a little bit so that she could take a dip in the water without me ending up with soggy sandals. She was very well behaved, though it was too hot for zoomies. 

We sought out the shady spots, but it was still pretty hot, so we didn't stay for very long. Barbie was very happy to jump into the air conditioned car to go home. She will be looking forward to the end of summer, but we have quite a way to go yet.