I have lived in Scarborough for my entire life — except for the past couple of years when I met my wife. We decided (mutually) that we would live where she wanted to live. Naturally. My family have lived in the Scarborough area since migrating to Australia from Germany in the 50?s, so our family photo albums wouldn’t be out of place in a ?History of Scarborough? exhibit at the museum. I have lots of fond memories of the beachfront and I love listening to Dad?s stories about the Snake Pit, Luna Park and his surfing days. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much that’s interesting happening in the area for the past 15 years. That is until recently, when the area started to be reinvigorated by some great new businesses!
The Scarborough Beach Bar is a perfect example of what was required to attract people back to the most beautiful stretch of beachfront in WA. The Beach Bar is a café/bar situated upstairs at the Manning street end of the café precinct (just around the corner from the Snake Pit!) It opened at the start of summer last year and easily has the best view of any venue in the beachfront area. Sitting on the balcony, you can see straight over the surf break from Hillarys to Freo — a dream come true for a barista who can stand behind the machine and watch the sun set over the water every day.
Paul Squires is the owner of the venue and I met him during the construction phase of the business. From early in our conversation, he kept saying things that really resonated with me as a (now ex) local. He is passionate about the area and wants this venue to appeal to the local population of Scarborough. He?s priced and pitched the menu at a crowd that he hopes will stop by at least a few times per week. He wants what not many other venues in Scarborough seem to achieve — a local, regular crowd! The fit out is really exceptional; it is modern, warm and inviting. The walls have a gentle ?beach theme? which fits in with the character of the area without becoming kitsch.
As I mentioned earlier, the barista has a pretty sweet gig making coffee at this place! The view is impeccable while preparing coffee on the newly released, pressure profiling La Cimbali M100. They offer a house blend of Crompton Road as well as a rotating Single Origin. I dropped past on the weekend and had a delicious long black of the Colombian Primavaral, whilst my wife had a flat white with a perfect Rosetta poured on top.
We were lucky enough to get a table on the balcony on a Saturday morning and noted that every other seat was taken. It was really relaxing to watch the surf and eat breakfast. After a holiday in Canada over Christmas, I am officially addicted to maple syrup, so I ordered the Canadian pancakes while my wife ordered the Eggs Benedict. The Canadian Pancakes were delicious — a stack of pancakes with bacon which were covered in maple syrup (making it a totally inappropriate breakfast for anyone on a fad diet, but utterly wonderful if you’re not!) Don’t worry, there are vegetarian, gluten free and health conscious things on the menu as well, and they are all well-presented — the Malibu Brekkie in particular looks great!
Scarborough now has a farmer?s/craft market on Saturdays as well, so after breakfast we went for a wander along the beach front which was crowded with young families and fitness fanatics. It’s great to see the life back in Scarborough after so long in the wilderness!
Scarborough Beach Bar
Corner Esplanade and 1 Manning st
Scarborough WA 6019
Opening hours
Monday-Saturday: 7:00am-12:00am (Midnight)
Sunday: 7:00am-10:00pm
instagram.com/scarboroughbeachbar
© Photos provided with permission by Matt O’Donohue from Abstract Gourmet. All rights reserved by photographer
