We met up with Ann, my bestie from Singapore. She would use to come and help me out on the weekends when we just started the business. We have this special bond and I am really humbled and thankful for her friendship. We may not see each other that often these days due to our busy schedules and kids, but it was a good opportunity to catch up as she was heading to Perth with the family, too.
Anna, Ann and the boys
We wished we could visit all the places that my friend Daphne recommended, but we just had limited time. On the list was Bib and Tucker situated in North Fremantle (18 Leighton Beach Blvd). The reviews were pretty mixed for this place but what a gorgeous view the café/restaurant has. That was enough for us as we wanted a place to hangout and let the kids play.
Bib & Tucker entrance
Clear Blue skies, deep blue waters and white sandy beach! Almost picture perfect! This is the view from Bib & Tucker!
When we sat down, this wait staff brought us some drawing stuff with crayons for the kids. Eli and Isabella started fighting and making a scene as usual over who gets what colour. The wait staff was really cool about it brought us more for the kids to share. He seems to really understand kids as he has a little girl of his own quickly puts us parents more at ease. I must admit I do agree with the reviews thus far in terms of service. It can be difficult to get their attention, seems a little aloof at times and almost distant to the extent. He was probably the only bright spot and kudos for that!
Pretty crowded place. We saw cyclists and runners coming in for breakfast or just to grab a cuppa. Pretty nice interiors. This place serves breakfast, lunch and has dinner service too.
A cuppa before ordering our food
For sharing: Breakfast pizza with charred bacon, 2 eggs, mushrooms, fresh spinach and buffalo mozarella. KIds loved this.
Smashed avo on corn bread with feta, quinoa, rocket, cherry tomatoes and a side of poached egg. Really filling. The corn bread dense and flavourful.
Pancake stack with bananas for the kids
It was great day out and we even had a stroll by the beach too. How could the kids resist?
All smiles!
The subject of kids, catching up on what has been going in our lives, work, our dreams and aspirations of coming back to retire in the future filled our conversations that morning. It had been awesome day for the kids to play together. We loved this so much that we decided that do it again the next day! And to end the great meal with funny faces!
I think we were meant to do scary, or was it angry faces? LOL. We were all just doing our own things.
We headed back to Perth to explore the city to see the lunch crowd, new notable concepts, consumer behaviours. It was what all business owners would do, an incurable disease! Everytime we visited a new place, this is something we absolutely loved to do, benchmarking spending habits, looking at productivity of businesses, designs of stores and their layouts, trends and seeing how we can improve what we do in Singapore. I get really inspired too when you see how some dishes are executed and sets me thinking how I can innovate for my next Souper Inspiration.
We went back to check out Brookfield Place to see the crowd at lunch time
On the first floor of the Print Hall is The Print Hall bar & dining room. Apparently, there is a dress code and can’t enter wearing flip flops. Most of the clientele visiting are probably office people for lunch meetings. The original timber and terrazzo detailing has been restored here creating a sophisticated dining experience.
Part of the multi floor concepts in The Print Hall situated with the Brookfield Place mixed development. This place used to be the newspaper house, hence the names THe Print Hall and The Apple Daily
Bob’s Bar named after Bob Hawke, Australia’s 3rd longest serving Prime Minister, this rooftop bar provides a great view of the talling buildings, a place to relax and lounge around. The only gripe i had was the smoke from the kitchen being released into the environment. I would say it is nice place in the evening but not really during the hot summer days.
The newspaper lined staircase speaks of the history of this place