The Fanciest (And Tastiest) High Teas In Perth

Who doesn’t enjoy the sophistication and sumptuousness of a high tea?

Perth is known for its stunning beaches, but it is also a haven for culinary lovers. The coastal city has plenty of elegant high tea options, from traditional experiences and particularly opulent affairs to quirky high teas with a twist and even ‘high cheese’– a high tea for cheese lovers. Here are nine of the best high teas to enjoy in Perth.

In short

If you only do one high tea in Perth, make it at the Cape Arid Rooms or Hearth. Both offer an unforgettable experience in their aesthetic and refined settings, with premium food and bubbles.

Cape Arid Rooms, Perth

Best for: An opulent experience

Located in the iconic State Buildings, and resting above the official marking of Perth’s Point Zero, the Cape Arid Rooms are the warm and inviting home of one of Perth’s most celebrated high teas.

The space is adorned with intricate paintings by renowned WA artists Alex and Philippa Nikulinsky, whose Cape Arid Collection is what the rooms are proudly named after. The revolving high tea menu itself is inspired by WA’s natural produce, with each edition spotlighting a different area and its local producers and ingredients. You can choose to pair your food with Champagne or beautifully brewed tea.

Address: 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth WA

Opening hours: Thursday – Sunday, 12pm – 5pm

C Restaurant

Best for: High tea with a view

C Restaurant is Western Australia’s only revolving restaurant, more than 30 storeys high in the middle of the CBD and offering sprawling views of the city and Swan River. Its popular high tea, widely regarded as one of the best in Perth, includes a selection of finger sandwiches, petit fours and freshly baked scones, alongside a selection of nine tea blends, coffee and bottomless sparkling and Champagne options.

Address: Level 33, 44 St Georges Terrace, Perth

Opening hours: Monday – Friday, 12.30pm – 2.30pm; Saturday and Sunday, 1pm and 2pm

Haven Lounge at The Westin, Perth

Best for: Traditional high tea

The plush Haven Lounge at The Westin offers a seasonal high tea experience, with each menu edition uniquely crafted with fresh produce and meticulous finesse. The talented chefs change the themes each season, with each running for up to eight weeks. Moët & Chandon Champagne is included with your four sweet treats, four savoury treats, a scone and unlimited tea and coffee – plus you can choose to enhance your experience with a special edition cocktail in the theme of the seasonal menu.

Address: 480 Hay Street, Perth

Opening hours: Friday, Saturday and Sunday – 11am and 2.30pm

Santini at QT, Perth

Best for: High tea with a twist

The uber-hip city QT hotel hosts a memorable high tea in its Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, Santini . Guests enjoy a three-tiered stand of mouth-watering treats, with sweets and savouries that each feature a unique QT twist. Think pancetta, mushroom and thyme tartlets; prosciutto, tomato and basil bruschetta; and whipped ricotta and pistachio cannolis. It’s all topped off with a glass of fizz and Seven Seas Tea.

Address: First Floor, 133 Murray Street, Perth

Opening hours: Saturday 1pm – 3pm

TWR at Crown Towers

Best for: Cocktail lovers

The Waiting Room at Crown Towers offers a unique twist on a traditional high tea with its luxurious Chambord Birdcage High Tea. Three tiers of carefully curated hors d’oeuvres are paired with free-flowing tea and coffee, and an expertly crafted Chambord cocktail – either a Fleur de Celeste or a classic French Martini.

Address: Crown Towers, Great Eastern Hwy, Burswood

Opening hours: Monday – Sunday, 11.30am – 3pm

Hearth Restaurant at The Ritz Carlton, Perth

Best for: A taste of luxury

For those who are keen for an unforgettable high tea, a trip to Hearth at the opulent Ritz Carlton is a must. The venue is right on the riverfront in the glistening Elizabeth Quay, with river views from the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows. The two-course high tea includes savoury and sweet treats featuring the finest local produce. You can choose whichever beverage package suits your style, from coffee and tea from Margaret River’s Seven Seas Tea , to a two-hour Champagne package with Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage.

Address: 1 Barrack Street, Perth

Opening hours: Monday – Friday, 12pm – 3pm; Saturday and Sunday 12pm and 3pm

La Vie Champagne Lounge, Burswood

Best for: Cheese lovers

La Vie’s indulgent High Cheese is a high tea experience that celebrates cheese in all its forms. You start your journey with a four-tier stand featuring decadent cheese combinations – including a dramatic Grand Marnier flambé of Barossa Valley Camembert with caramelised apple, maple-glazed bacon and pecan. You then move on to your sweets, which is the finest selection of cheeses paired with fruits, quince paste and a honey nut medley, to goat cheese-inspired pudding and passionfruit crème brûlée. Pair it with a flute of Moët & Chandon Impérial Champagne, or go all out with a tasting flight featuring four types of Champagne.

Address: Crown Metropol, Great Eastern Hwy, Burswood

Opening hours: Thursday to Sunday, 3pm – 5pm

Bar Amelie, Subiaco

Best for: A boozy high tea

The High(ly) Good Tea at Subiaco’s Bar Amelie is strictly a boozy affair – no tea in sight, just bubbles and a delicious selection of sweet and savoury. Start with the savouries, which include smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers and roquette mini toasted bagel; then move on to your sweets that feature Portuguese tarts, macarons and baked cheesecake. The drinks packages include 90 mins of cocktails, free-flowing Prosecco, sparkling wine or Mumm Champagne.

Address: 118 Rokeby Rd, Subiaco

Opening hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 2pm – 4pm

Bites by D, Mount Hawthorn

Best for: A thrifty high tea

Over a leisurely two hours, you can experience a refined high tea in this quaint patisserie in the leafy suburb of Mount Hawthorn . It includes a selection of savoury and petite desserts with a beverage of your choice, coffee or a pot of tea from our selection of loose leaf teas. Because the team makes all their treats on-site, they can cater for a selection of dietary requirements. But what makes this a unique high tea experience is that you can BYO your own Champagne to accompany your high tea for a mere $5 corkage per bottle.

Address: 147 Scarborough Beach Rd, Mount Hawthorn

Opening hours: Tuesday – Friday, 11.30am and 2pm; Saturday and Sunday 11.30am, 2pm and 4.30pm

Still hungry? Discover the best restaurants with a view in Perth

Discover the perfect road trip stopover between Perth and wine country.

Western Australia punches above its weight when it comes to coastal hot spots, but no other town or city has seen a tourism boom quite like Mandurah. Named Australia’s Top Tourism Town in 2023 , it’s the relaxed, beachside break you’ve been searching for. And it’s perfectly placed, sitting between Margaret River and Perth, as it’s just a 55-minute drive from Perth’s CBD. Which is why we’ve put together your ultimate Mandurah guide.

Aerial view of Mandurah. — Plan your perfect coastal escape to Australia’s Top Tourism Town of 2023.

The best things to do in Mandurah

Wetlands and rivers, ocean and inlet; Mandurah’s laid-back lifestyle centres around the aquatic. Its waterways cover twice the ground of Sydney Harbour – measuring some 134 square kilometres in total – and form a unique environment for oceanic and estuarine flora and fauna to thrive.

In the city’s estuary lives perhaps the region’s most famed inhabitants – a resident pod of 100 bottlenose dolphins – and the inlet’s silty bottom is home to the prized blue manna crab. Spot the former breaching and playing on an hour-long dolphin cruise through the channels, or try your hand at catching the latter by wading through the estuary’s shallows with a scoop net in hand.

While swimming at the circular Kwillena Gabi Pool, chance encounters with the local wildlife aren’t uncommon. The sheltered estuarine pool takes its name from the traditional custodians of the land, the Bindjareb people, and directly translates to ‘dolphin waters’. Jutting out of the eastern foreshore, it’s enclosed by a ring of net-free floating pontoons, which allow the dolphins to swim freely through the attraction.

If that’s a little too close for comfort, book a kayak tour with Down Under Discoveries . The dolphins have been known to cruise beside the paddle-powered crafts, which are a fun, family-friendly way to explore the city’s inner waterways.

Dolphins swimming in Mandurah. — Watch dolphins glide by as you explore Mandurah.

You don’t have to be on the water to appreciate the coastal city’s aquatic beauty, with 600 kilometres of cycleways and scenic walking trails traversing Mandurah’s estuary, inlet and coast.

Follow the 30-kilometre coastal trail and you’ll come face to face with one of Thomas Dambo’s headline-making ‘Giants of Mandurah sculptures, Santi Ikto, along the way. There are five sculptures around Mandurah in total, hidden among gum-filled reserves or sitting sentry over the water.

Head to the Mandurah Visitor Centre to pick up a map to pinpoint their exact location and download the traveller’s companion to learn more about the sights along the way. Or join a three-hour e-bike tour from The Bike Kiosk and you’ll stop by two of the giants – Santi Ikto and Yaburgurt Winjan Cirkelstone – as you sightsee central Mandurah.

The towering Santi Ikto, one of Thomas Dambo’s iconic Giants of Mandurah. — Meet Santi Ikto, one of the legendary Giants of Mandurah.

Where to eat in Mandurah

Mandurah’s culinary scene reflects its laid-back lifestyle, with large, honest meals and locally brewed beer. After visiting Lake Clifton’s 2000-year-old thrombolites, head to the peppermint and gum-shaded beer garden at Thorny Devil Brewery . Tuck into a platter of house-smoked meats and an ale pulled fresh from the tanks. Closer to town and right on the waterfront is Boundary Island Brewery ; here, woodfired pizza, pub-style seafood dishes and easy-drinking brews are centre stage.

On a Murray River Lunch Cruise , the focus is as much on the environment around you as the food you’re filling up on. Help yourself to the colourful salads and freshly cooked meats on the buffet as you meander up the winding, jarrah tree-lined waterway, stopping at the heritage Cooper’s Mill for a quick walking tour along the way.

Keep your eyes trained on the Creery Wetlands as you pass – you’ll spot much of the region’s migratory birdlife, and, as always, might see the playful bottlenose dolphins in the inlet.

The most memorable meals aren’t necessarily always the fanciest, and lunch aboard a self-skippered Mandurah BBQ Boat is a testament to that. All food and beverage prep is left up to you as you cruise through the canals, sausages and steaks sizzling away on the central hot plate.

If seafood is more your kind of fare, board the Wild Seafood Experience , where dolphin cruise meets long table lunch. Eight courses of crab, crayfish and scallops await.

A table filled with plates of crab, crayfish, and scallops. — Dine on the water with eight courses of ocean-fresh fare.

Where to stay in Mandurah

With so many waterways comes abundant waterside stays. Like the self-contained Seashells Mandurah on the shores of Comet Bay. The calm, oceanic outlook from the one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and villas is as close to Maldivian as Mandurah gets. Families especially enjoy the property, bouncing between the protected cove and the beachfront pool for endless hours of fun.

The Sebel Mandurah , just a hop, skip and jump from the Mandurah Ocean Marina, has a different outlook entirely, overlooking the estuary and lively foreshore on the other side. It’s also within walking distance of the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre , cinema and a swathe of waterfront bars and eateries.

But you can’t get any closer to the water than on a vessel from Mandurah Houseboats . You don’t need a skipper’s ticket to hire one, nor do you need comprehensive boating experience; just a full driver’s license and your undivided attention during the pre-departure tuition will do. Then you’re free to take to the estuaries and tributaries for a few nights of peaceful rest, surrounded by the very element that makes Mandurah so special.

A houseboat cruising in Mandurah along the river — Captain a houseboat to explore Mandurah at your own pace.

Plan your next WA getaway in Mandurah.

The fanciest (and tastiest) high teas in Perth