Jean Pierre Sancho, Hay Street Perth

Pain au chocolat

I used to live down the road from a really good french pâtisserie along Nedlands. Of course, I fell in love with it - and since I now live in Perth city, I figure why not give Jean Pierre Sancho a try? It was after all, recently named Australia's best bakery on Sunrise News. So I took a 1.6km walk there (hey, it was a beautiful Saturday morning). 

Tucked in the corner of Hay Street and Shafto Lane,  I almost missed this unassuming cafe. 

I had to deliberate what to order... everything looked so good! I ended up settling for their famous Pain au chocolat with a soy latte set ($8.00). Since it was somewhat nice and empty, I settled into a sofa chair with my Kindle while waiting for my brunch to arrive. Joy! :D

To the amusement of the table next to me, I spent the next couple of minutes snapping photos of my food when it arrived. But look at that croissant! It deserves to be immortalized in pictures, if not in memory. Cos we all know the ultimate fate of food in one's tummies... anyway.

A minor gripe I had was that I wasn't offered the choice of having it toasted. And I was pretty sure the staff didn't toast it before bringing it to my table.

Buttery pain au chocolat

As you can see, the pastry is circled by a buttery shell that literally 'cracked' off the croissant with a nudge from my fork. In one intact piece too! Reminded me of a snake shedding its' skin. I found the pastry to be rather doughy. Could be quite bit heavy later in the day, in fact. The chocolate wasn't bad at all, but it just lacked a slight 'wow' factor.

Soy Latte

La! The coffee! When I took a sip of the coffee I just... sat there. And quivered. And sat there. And quivered some more. So smooth! So delightful! Just like silk! I can conclusively claim that Jean Pierre Sancho serves possibly the best coffee in Perth that I've had in a long while. The blending of flavors are very subtle as well, and OH YOU JUST HAVE TO GO TASTE THIS YOURSELF. I didn't care very much for the biscuit accompanying the coffee - it tastes like shortbread of some sort but it was much too chewy... I just left it uneaten.

Either way: GO THERE FOR THE COFFEE. Oh, and they sell macarons for $2, which is the cheapest I've seen in Perth so far. Not that I tried the macarons there, but probably worth going there for tea some day!

Recommended for Cozy tête à têtes, Work Lunches, Brunch, Lazy weekends

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Jean Pierre Sancho
878 Hay Street
(Cnr Hay Street & Shafto Lane)
Perth, WA 6000
Tel: (08) 9226 2434

Opening Hours
Monday - Friday: 7 AM - 6 PM
Saturday - Sunday: 8 AM  - 5 PM *** Now open Sundays!

NB. A second branch exists at 111 St George's Terrace and that has a higher rating than the one at Hay Street

Cafe 140, Bunbury

Cafe 140 boasts lovely Eggs Benedict if I may say so (after all, this is only the second time I've had it). Tucked in the corner of Stirling & Victoria Street in Bunbury, this modern and chic cafe is easily missed but an old friend A.L. had recommended it to me as the "best place to have lunch in Bunbury". I ordered the Eggs Benedict ($15.95), which like any traditional Eggs Benedict included english muffin halves crowned with bacon, poached eggs and a creamy Hollandaise sauce. However, the Cafe140 version adds spinach leaves to the dish, giving it a refreshing and unexpected texture and depth. Couple this with the perfect balance of buttery-creamy sauce and my favorite poached eggs? Baby, we have a winner!

Andrew ordered the Omelette ($14.95), which consisted of two cheeses fried with eggs, two thick slices of toast and onion jam. I admit we treated the onion jam with caution (any chef knows that onions make people tear up!). However, the savory-sweet treat wasn't what we had expected at all and we were quite pleasantly surprised at the way that the different flavors combined in this dish.

The only shortcoming was the coffee. I ordered the Flat White ($3.80) - to all you non-aussies, that's pretty much a different version of a Latte. Basically, it tasted like the good old Flat White coffee I get at university... i.e. not worth the money. A little unfortunate, as the food was really delicious! After 3 hours of driving on an empty stomach, the filling portions hit the right spot, believe me. If I were ever to go down Bunbury way again, Cafe 140 would definitely be on my worthwhile-detour list.

Recommended for Cozy tête à têtes, Large gatherings, catch ups with old friends


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Cafe 140
140 Victoria Street
Bunbury, 6230
Tel: (08) 9721 2254

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7 AM - 4.30 PM
Saturday: 8 AM - 3 PM
Sunday: 8.30 AM - 2 PM