5 Best Restaurants in Fremantle, Western Australia

It begins as temptation as your senses are teased by the smells wafting from the open kitchen. Rosemary, chili, oregano, olive oil, and tomato scents will drive you crazy until your own meal lands in front of you. And then, bliss. This modern Italian eatery rivals any classic, and there are plenty in Fremantle. Italians have been ruling the roost for decades, so much that there's been a push to dub the port city, Little Italy. La Sosta offers a buzzy atmosphere while serving creative pasta dishes that will leave you wanting more. Start with the focaccia and leave room for dessert---the tiramisu is calling your name.

You'll know this clean-living café by the retro bikes stacked out front next to the potted garden, the eclectic mix of people, and music that often streams from the doorway. The health-conscious food here is as tasty as the vibe is charming, and you can expect organic eggs, nitrate-free bacon with sides of chickpeas or spinach, and coffee alternatives like beetroot lattes and chai tea.

This industrial-chic bakery-cum-restaurant wins the award for hottest interior in town, with dozens of vintage-style globes streaming from the warehouse ceiling or looping in red electrical cord over suspended beams. Herb boxes line the 1890s heritage facade, while out back the wood-fired ovens, affectionately named Hansel and Gretel, pump out organic bread. An open kitchen creates modern Australian meals that go well with, you guessed it, bread.

Waterfront Fremantle is renowned for its seafood restaurants, so going to a harborside venue for steak seems almost irreverent, but meat lovers revel in the juicy steak selection at Char Char. They dropped the "bull" from their name but you'll still get a fine piece of meat, cooked to perfection, here. This lively restaurant, with full table service, specializes in chargrilled prime beef selected from year-old, grass-fed Murray Grey cattle.

No visit to Fremantle is complete without a stop at this locally famous fish-and-chippery that was once featured on a postage stamp. Housed in a boathouse-style building fronting Fremantle's lovely Fishing Boat Harbour, this joint serves the real thing: fresh oysters, mussels, crabs, fish, lobsters, and crispy chips. No wonder they're experts—they've been doing it since 1903.