5/01/2012

Daily Planet (Perth WA) - CLOSED

634 Beaufort St
 Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050
(08) 9328 7560
Hours:
    Mon-Thu 6:00 - 22:00
    Fri-Sat 6:00 - 23:00
 
The atmosphere of the place is relaxed. rustic style, with plenty of seats and enough place between tables for you have a private conversation without being heard, and with nice spots by the window if you get there in time. There are two spaces within the café, the one facing Beaufort, which is very luminous, expose, and very charming, and the one from the counter indoors, which is more private and secluded, but also less luminous and charming.

Daily Planet has a decent coffee, and, although they don't have mugs, they will happily serve you a large take-away if you want to have it with your meal. The food was tasty, although the serving of their Mex-Scrambled eggs I ordered was small and had no sides, The gluten-free chocolate mud-cake was OK and nicely-sized.

The service was great - The girls were funky, cool, easy-going, very helpful and smiley. It took me one second to order my food, and it took them a few minutes to bring it on to my table, which was great.

I hate the high counter they have, which I find unwelcoming as puts the waiters and the customers at a different level, and you feel looked down, as if you were Alice in Wonderland after eating the dwarfing cookie and looking at a giant door.

To improve the place, I would start by being more generous with their servings,  get rid of those awful rugs (I get they want a rustic style, but it looks more like granny style), and close the back door!


The Daily Planet doesn't have the vibe, style and special-something that the bookshop to which is attached has, and I felt a bit disappointed after visiting. Still, it is nice place if you want a central location in Mount Lawley to have a meal, a coffee and head to the Planet shops beside.

Not bad, but not good either. 

UPDATE (1-7-2012)
I was there to grab a take-away this afternoon, and I was positively surprised at finding the layout of the place changed and improved. They have removed the high counter they had in the middle of the café and replaced it with a low one, which is now placed along the wall, so you can talk to the funky waitresses face to face, and they have more space to move around, too. The seating area and vibe of the place is much more fluid, less segmented, and the different areas seem to be better connected. I am very sensitive to the energy of the places I visit, and Daily Planet has its energy flowing at the moment. There is also a new über-cool mural on the lateral of the building.  Well done, guys! 



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