Including options for post-swim coffees, breakfast by the beach, Christmas feasts and Japanese-Italian fusion.
Locally and globally, 2024 has been quite the year, hasn’t it? While there’s still time to get those roast ducks in a row for Christmas lunch or dinner at yours, at this stage of the game, perhaps consider and taking Christmas celebrations off-site and giving yourself the day off.
From fancy lunches and dinners to places serving post-beach coffee and breakfast, the following (saintly) businesses are some of the operators kindly opening their doors on December 25.
From its unexpected location beneath serviced apartments to a recent menu pivot to Itameshi (Japanese-Italian fusion) cooking, this Como cafe is the definition of a surprise package. Open for lunch only.
Happy days: this cheery pop-up kiosk beneath Cottesloe’s Indiana Tea House is back for another summer. In addition to opening daily (6am-3:30pm) during the holiday period, Ol’ Buoy is open from 6am till 1am on Christmas Day slinging coffees and breakfast burgers.
For those heading setting sail for City Beach for Christmas, long-standing Voyage Kitchen will be serving breakfast and lunch on Christmas Day alongside the restaurant’s enviable waterfront views.
Where there’s a Willing Coffee, there’s a way to get coffee on Christmas morning. Both cafes are open on Christmas – and Boxing Day – for coffee and croissants only with the full offering available on other public holidays.
Taking its cues from Aus-talian Christmas traditions, Santini’s Christmas Day lunch ($210 per person) applies the more-is-more approach of QT Perth’s in-house restaurant to December 25 with promising results. Think wood-roasted meats, prosecco to start and pavlova to finish.
Coral trout. Locally raised turkeys. Lamingtons and pavlova reimagined using native ingredients: The six-course Christmas Day feast ($295) at COMO The Treasury’s rooftop fine diner will be, as you’d expect, something special. Not least because lunch also includes terrific views of the city centre.
Meanwhile, Thai stronghold Long Chim is hosting a Christmas Day lunch ($175) filled with spice and all things nice including wagyu beef skewers, spicy som tum (green papaya salad) and other Thai classics. Children aged 11 years and under can dine for $50 per child.
While the post office takes a break over Christmas, it’s all go at State Buildings Italian osteria. (As you know, it’s named after its location next to the former state postal hall). While lunch is sold out, seats at Post’s three-course Christmas dinner ($185 or $65 for children under 11) are still available. For those in the mood for a more contemporary Christmas Day dinner, a similar dinner offer (albeit one built around shared entrees and mains and individual desserts) is available at Petition. (Also $185 or $65 for children under 11.)
The fine-diner at Ritz-Carlton Perth is inviting hotel guests and the general public to “gather round the Hearth” with a five-course menu ($294) available for both lunch and dinner. Expect southwest marron, wagyu oyster blade with mushroom ketchup and the chance to enjoy your Christmas meal with matched wines.
Alternatively, the Ritz-Carlton’s al fresco bar and lounge is celebrating Christmas Day with a range of seafood platters stacked with Western Australia’s finest. Prices start from $344 per couple and include a bottle of fizz with additional wine upgrades also available.
For those heading to Wadjemup on Christmas Day, seats are still available for Hotel Rottnest’s all-in Christmas lunch including charcuterie, local seafood and oysters. Tickets for adults are $220; children from 6 to 13 years of age are $60; and a $90 two-hour beverage package is also available.
Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.
Max Veenhuyzen is a journalist and photographer who has been writing about food, drink and travel for national and international publications for more than 20 years. He reviews restaurants for the Good Food Guide.
