Nogi Lane — Restaurant in Western Australia

Nogi Lane is a small breakfast/brunch/lunch café in Dianella on a small suburban shopping strip on the corner of Nogi Lane and The Strand. Very busy on my first visit on Sunday and steady on Wednesday. It’s a refreshing change to have background music - in the background as it should be (take note, other café/restaurant/bar owners!), but in spite of this, and some serious noise reduction accoutrements such as wooden cladding on the walls, the café was quite loud on both occasions - I can only imagine that patrons have become accustomed to shouting at each other across small tables (more about these later) or have damaged hearing due to high volume ‘background’ music in other eateries and concerts. The patrons, for the most part, were less than half the age of yours truly, as were the staff, but my wife and I (Sunday) and my sister and I (Wednesday) didn’t feel unwelcome. The coffee is from 5 Senses which is usually very good. At Nogi Lane, however, it’s exceptionally good - kudos to the baristas’ skills. Getting back to the tables, they are small 2-person tables which are ideal for this small venue and there are several placed in pairs along the upholstered bench to cater for parties of 4, but the majority are set for 2 people and this is a good idea. On Sunday, I shared a plate of chilli scrambled eggs with toasted coconut and pickled fennel root on sourdough multigrain toast - with the addition of an extra slice of toast - with my beloved, and it was out of this world! We are chilli lovers, so it could have been a little spicier for us, but for most people, it would have been exactly right, so no points off for this. On Wednesday, I had the chilli scrambled eggs again and it's definitely a big enough serve to share - I couldn't finish it. My sister had poached eggs with rye toast instead of sourdough as she finds it a little tough to deal with. Sadly, this came without even a tiny garnish, which is perhaps how most people would serve it at home, but surely a sprig of edible greenery/flowers or micro herbs wouldn't be too difficult to improve the presentation - even a tiny bit of the toasted coconut and/or fennel root pickle that is generously topping the chilli scrambled eggs would do the trick. One café I frequent in Duncraig serves poached eggs on toast with a half tomato briefly shown the grill or frypan to soften it and a generous sprinkle of English spinach leaves - it looks (and tastes) really appetising. Now to my biggest complaint: that café and bar owners in particular and occasionally restaurant owners provide steel or perfectly flat chairs - or worse, stools - without providing cushions. If they can have an upholstered bench, why not comfortable chairs? Steel? In winter? Nahhh. I get that steel chairs are cheap and sturdy and they don't want people to linger too long over one cup of coffee, but even the most generous buttocks will feel uncomfortable after a short time (never mind my bony ones), and it can discourage coffee drinkers from staying for a second cup or a meal. I carry my own cushion in a bag wherever I go because of this, but I can't do without a back to my seat for long. The good bits easily outweigh the ordinary bits and the excellent coffee is sufficient to make the trip to Dianella well worth while - I'm just afraid that it will get so popular that we'll be standing in a queue to...

The food was okay, but the customer service was a letdown. For a moment, I thought I had entered a Chinese restaurant (and I can say that because I’m Chinese). My friend arrived 20 minutes earlier and ordered a coffee first, but I was late. When I arrived, I sat down and placed my order, which took a while to arrive. Around 1 p.m., the blonde-haired kid who had been attending to us came over and asked if we had finished, even though our plates were still full of food. I looked around and saw that there were plenty of seats available, no one was waiting for a table, and their closing time was 2 p.m. I couldn’t understand the rush, given that they had taken 20 minutes to serve our food after I had ordered. It felt very uncomfortable to be rushed out. The blonde-haired kid, who I’m not sure is the boss’s child, needs to improve his attitude. Unless this is your restaurant policy, who instructed him to do so? He is still young and should learn basic manners. You wouldn’t want to clear your parents’ dining table while they’re still eating, would you?

ALERT 🚨 Three 5-star reviews were posted immediately after my review above. DO NOT TRUST...

The Bischoff white chocolate with a shot of coffee was divine! If this was my local I’d be here every day simply ordering this drink, I was so disappointed that I ordered a regular because as soon as I had a sip, I believe that this drink should only be provided in a mug as I couldn’t get enough! Staff were excellent and very accommodating, we had to wait 10 minutes for a table but we were happy to do so as it’s not often a little cafe in the middle of nowhere required a wait… it was a sign of what’s to come. My son had the kids waffle as a birthday treat. Normally he can never finish them due to either being too bland or overly sugary. These waffles were just right and he finished his plate. I ordered the miso glazed mushrooms. It was an interesting twist of a traditional meal but it worked great, the meal felt light but fulfilling and melted deliciously in the mouth. We aren’t local to the area, travelled an hour to get to the area and came by the cafe through a quick google search of local cafes, and we were not disappointed. I raved so much that now my husband is jealous of my experience and wants to take the trip up to the cafe just to...