City Provisions — Local services in Perth

Used to be great. Quality food at a reasonable price. But like all places when they get greedy and start to cut costs and increase profits, it continues to go downhill. Quality of food has dropped, attitude of some of their (new) core staff stinks, and the price continues to creep up bit by bit. Example: Ordered a BBQ Chicken BMT with chilli (same order I make regularly, and have never ordered any other type of BMT). When I get the order and take it away and unwrap, it's a 'tradition BMT' instead. So I take it back and say that it isn't what I ordered. The first girl looks at me like I've grown an extra head. Looks at the code on the paper bag it's wrapped in and informs me that it says it is traditional (like I'm supposed to know what their codes are). I informed her that regardless of what the person who took the order wrote, I ordered a BBQ Chicken BMT. It's what I always order and have never ordered any other kind. She calls over a more senior female staffer, who was the actual person who took the order. She is relatively new and is very surly and doesn't like admitting fault or allowing returns (from previous encounters). Anyway, she discussed it with the first girl and then reluctantly made a new one and dumped it unceremoniously on the counter and walked off. No apology or courtesy or anything. She always has a bad attitude, and they have hired her as a senior person as she seems to open in the mornings. Example: Same surly woman served me a cold egg and bacon roll from their stock one morning without re-heating it. When I unwrapped it, it was cold and all the fat was congealed. It was gross. I had to argue with her to take it back! Example: Bought a take away Rice Paper Roll pack. The small container or Hoisin sauce was only half full, so ran out after the first one. Example: Most times I order a noodle dish to eat in, I have to go up and ask for a napkin, which they seem reluctant to provide. I doubt they're losing lots of money on napkins, but they don't provide one with the meal. Just weird behaviour which seems symptomatic. There are other minor examples too, but I'll stop there. The main woman who seems to own/manage it is great. Friendly, professional and offers good service - but they have had some recent hires who need to take a "Service Industry 101" course, to understand that smiling and being pleasant is not an admission of weakness, and that replacing an order (without treating the customer like they are trying to rip you off) costs you nothing, and builds loyalty and reputation. Reputation take year to build and only a very short time to lose, and City Provisions has pretty much lost it from me at this stage I'm sorry to say. Shame. They were a great option, and I was happy to see them expanding and succeeding because they did a great job. Seems like the greedy bug has hit...

I visited City Provisions Café and Lunch Bar for an early lunch at 10:30 am on a Wednesday. The café is spacious and offers a wide variety of options, including many Vietnamese and Southeast Asian-inspired meals. However, my experience left me feeling underwhelmed.

With only one staff member working, service was understandably slow. Despite this, my Banh Mi was made fresh to order, which was appreciated. It was reasonably priced for Perth CBD, and the meal itself was hot and tasty. The roll was crispy and fresh, but the filling was overly salty for my liking.

What concerned me most were the freshness and cleanliness of the café. While waiting for my meal, I noticed some of the pre-prepared food options in the fridge looked far from appealing. A tray of veggies and dip appeared old, with visible ooze from the vegetable sticks. The overall cleanliness of the space wasn’t reassuring, which made me question my decision to eat there.

While the Banh Mi was decent, the lack of freshness and cleanliness, combined with the abundance of better Vietnamese options in the city, means I likely wouldn’t return. There’s room for improvement, but as it stands, City Provisions doesn’t quite...

Haven't been here for awhile. Used to have really good BMT. I ordered the Crispy Roast Pork roll and was asked if I wanted it with crispy skin. I like the crunch and thought it would be extra crunchiness that I would be getting. If you mention 'Crispy Roast Pork', then I would have expected that without the 'extra crispy skin', the BMT would already have crispiness when you bite into it. I was sadly disappointed as there was no crunch and even with the extra crispy skin (flakes actually), still the crunch was missing. The crispy flakes tasted stale and the only forgiving part to the BMT was the sauce and pickled vegetables (even the bread tasted stale). For $11.45, I did feel a little ripped off when I could get it cheaper from the centre of the city (Barrack Street). Was just on the other side of town and thought I'd give it a go. Not sure about the other meals but one bad experience, won't get me back...