The 3 Most Overrated Places in Perth
It's easy to find lists of places you've simply got to visit in Perth. Too easy, in fact. After a certain point the choices grow to an unmanageable number. For those of us who don't want to spend their lives ticking off a list of restaurants and tourist attractions, it can be more useful to know where not to go: those places that don't live up to the hype.
And those places that seem to be stuck in the past.
Here are a few examples, and feel free to share any others in the comment section below. Working together, we can expose Perth's occasional flaws and give visitors a much happier experience – or, alternatively, slander respectable establishments. The options are endless.
The Beaufort Street Merchant
The Beaufort Street Merchant is on 488 Beaufort St, Highgate. The
website proudly boasts of its uniqueness: it's a bar, a fine wine store, a brasserie and a provedore. Each dish comes with a hefty price tag, which is normal for fine dining. Be aware, though, that you're paying a lot of money for a relatively small amount of food – for quality, not quantity.
Such an imaginative logo.
By and large, the food lives up to the price tag (if that sort of thing is what you're into). However, there is one area where the Beaufort Street Merchant doesn't deserve its praise: the coffee. A place that prides itself on serving good breakfasts should really do better than weak, tasteless coffee. Those who enjoy their breakfast with an orange juice have nothing to worry about, but the rest of us ought to give the Beaufort Street Merchant a miss.
Pickled Fig
Pickled Fig, on 9/21 Ocean Drive in North Coogee, is another café-slash-restaurant that focuses on good breakfasts – and like the Beaufort Street Merchant, it mostly fails. The location is ideal: perched on the lip of South Beach, with an expansive view of the waterfront. The menu is broad, including vegetarians and gluten-intolerant people. Unfortunately, the actual food is poor. Expect small, dry pancakes, gritty salad and so on. Pickled Fig seems permanently understaffed – probably due to a shortage of hospitality workers – and patrons often find themselves waiting for a long time just to be served. For some people, prime location covers a host of problems. If you're not one of those people, don't bother with Pickled Fig.
At least the logo looks good.
Perth Tram Tours
It seems like every major Australian city is jumping aboard the
tram-tourism bandwagon. For anyone who's actually ridden a tram before, it's hard to imagine why. Visitors to Perth are invited to pay twenty-four dollars to sit on a wooden replica tram – on wheels – for an hour as it trundles from Kings Park to Burwood Casino and back again. Commentary is dispensed over the speakers as passengers squint at buildings through the windows.
This is what part of a tram looks like.
Honestly, if you're capable of walking around Perth, saving your money and going for a city stroll is a much better option. That way you'll avoid the headache-inducing rattle, the engine fumes, and the occasional rollercoaster effect as the tram turns a tight corner.
Love the Beaufort Street Merchant or Pickled Fig? Think that riding a tram is a spiritual experience? Know a place that's more overrated than any of these? Share your thoughts in the comments – we'd love to hear from you.
