Perth’s best apple pie, or strudel as it’s properly called, plus a coffee with the flowery mugs, all within a ten minute walk of each other in Northbridge. Close to Chinatown, and easy to do on foot first thing from the city.
Corica is something of a Perth institution, with the famous apple strudel the one thing everyone queues for. It’s at 106 Aberdeen Street, Northbridge, and I’d heard people fly over from Melbourne and Sydney just to eat it. Hours when I went were 8am to 5.30pm, closed Sundays, but check Google before you go. There were several food bloggers filming when I got there.
The strudel
The pastry’s crisp and flaky on the outside, with custard and apple layered through the middle. It’s not very sweet, and the apple isn’t sickly. It’s one of those desserts where the highest compliment is that it isn’t too sweet. A half costs $22 and a whole one is $33. A whole one is enormous. Even the half is more than one person can finish, and I’d say one to three people can share it. If you’re after something smaller, they do a mini version too.
A few tips
If you’re sharing, ask the staff to cut it for you. Otherwise it’s hard to break apart by hand, it crumbles into pieces, and the cream ends up everywhere. There’s no sit-down area in the shop, so take it to a park or a cafe nearby, and bring your own wet wipes or you’ll be left with greasy hands. Parking is easiest in the few 5-minute bays near the shop.
Parkside Coffee
Walk about ten minutes down from Corica, past a small road crossing, and you hit Parkside Coffee at 2 Church Street. It’s a little hole-in-the-wall hatch on the edge of Stuart Street Reserve, with a big grassy lawn out the front, and it’s the kind of place where you sit on the grass, soak up the sun and do nothing. Locals come with friends for coffee and a chat, and plenty bring their dogs. The coffee comes in flowery mugs.
What I’d do differently
I had my coffee first and then went to buy the strudel, and I’d swap the order. Buy the strudel first, then walk to Parkside, and the coffee cuts through the sweetness nicely. Ask the staff for a fork and some cutlery at Parkside so you can share. If it’s rained, the cushions on the ground can be damp, so move them aside and sit on the grass. Under the big tree is lovely, and it’s even better when the sun’s out.
Worth it
Worth it for the pastry alone. Corica is at 106 Aberdeen Street, Northbridge WA 6003, and Parkside Coffee is at 2 Church Street, Perth WA 6000, open daily 7am to 4pm.
More Perth dessert and day-trip ideas in our best mochi donuts in Perth guide, or the cat cafe in Perth if you’re travelling with kids.