The rise of pretty plating at Little Bird Cafe

I am loving this new wave of breakfast places popping up throughout our beautiful Perth that have a focus on delivering both flavour and aesthetically pleasing dishes. While some people might find the whole edible flower and micro herb craze unnecessary, I really find that I eat with all my senses so dishes that present well really excite me. So naturally when I saw multiple images of a place called the Little Bird Cafe in Northbridge, it jumped straight to the top of my wishlist of breakfast spots. 

My chance to try it came one weekend recently when my best friend Carly and I went out on a Saturday morning. Neither of us had been before and had no idea what to expect when we arrived at this place on the corner of Lake St. It's actually quite a big space, with the cafe spanning a couple of rooms, plus an outdoor garden area. There's a menu to order off, plus some already made goods like salads, cakes and cookies.

We place our orders at the counter and take a seat, with Carly getting a chocolate chip cookie for us to snack on while we wait for our food. I love that all my friends love food as much as I do! 

The cookie is really tasty - a little chewy and gooey with my tastebuds tingling from the addition of salt on top. Whenever I bake at home, I always like to add a pinch of salt to bring out the sweetness in a dish, it's such a great counterbalance. Already I was feeling good about what our breakfast would bring. 

Our drinks come out quite quickly which is a nice touch considering how busy they are. Its such a cute place with a kitschy recycled furniture feel and a shabby chic look - but the food is definitely modern and excitingly fresh. They have a really healthy feel to a lot of what they do.

Carly's long black with a side of milk is pound coffee, which from all accounts I'm told is a fantastic coffee producer. I'm not a coffee girl, but I'm really happy when my friends enjoy one they're given - because quite often I'm told they miss the mark.

My drink is the Love Tonic freshly squeezed juice ($7.00) which is up there in the price but is a decent size serving and tastes incredible. You can really get the pops of zingy raspberry in every sip. It was a really delicious drink and just what I needed to kickstart my day.

Carly's dish of the breakfast bruschetta comes out with requested gluten free toast and is topped with bacon, tomato, greens, avocado and goats curd. She also adds a poached egg on top because who doesn't love a good poached egg with breakfast! There's a drizzle of olive oil on the plate.

The dish is simple but tasty, especially thanks to the punchy goats curd. She takes one bite of the gluten free toast and I can see she's apprehensive if it as ordered. I have to admit, when I took a bite I was always doubtful - it was too yummy! But we checked with our waitress and she assured us that it was and that it was often queried by customers. Looks like we know where in Perth now has the best gluten free toast around.

I did feel bad for her when she cut into her poached egg though as it had none of that runny yolky heaven we all look forward to - it was cooked through. What a shame!

My dish was the birds nest ($14.00) which came with poached eggs on a crispy potato nest and a parsley and celery foam. Now talk about aesthetically pleasing dishes! It was as pretty as a picture and so beautifully flavoured. 

The potato nest was crunchy and well seasoned, offering a nice crunchy texture in contrast to the foam underneath. I really enjoyed the vibrancy of the parsley and celery, and just how fresh it tasted. It lifted the dish and was very different to anything I've tried at other brekky spots. 

Thankfully my eggs were both cooked perfectly, with a river of yolk running out onto the other ingredients in my bowl. There is definitely something very satisfying about egg yolk - the richness and the fact that you don't need anything else to have a tasty meal. It's the ideal sauce for any breakfast in my opinion.

What a fantastic brekky and one that lived up to all my hopes. I'm looking forward to returning soon to try more of their pretty little dishes and to sip on some of their fruit flavoured waters which they provide to customers free of charge. What a great idea!

PS I stopped by for another visit, and here's some snaps of the buckwheat pancake and granola we ordered. Everything is so pretty huh!