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Perth Breakfast & Brunch: Cafe Elixir, Wanneroo

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Kate EmeryThe West Australian
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S’mores pancakes at Elixir Cafe in Wanneroo.
Camera IconS’mores pancakes at Elixir Cafe in Wanneroo. Credit: Simon Santi/The West Australian

When was the last time you got a doggy bag with your pancakes?

Clearly the attentive staff at Cafe Elixir have seen it all play out before: the lengthening pauses between bites, cutlery that spent more time on the plate than in my hands, a facial expression that spoke of an explosion point fast approaching.

Or possibly they have enough good sense to realise that the cafe’s S’mores Pancakes ($22.50) are comically gigantic and not intended to be consumed in one sitting unless you want to end up like the guy in that Monty Python skit who combusts when he’s coaxed to eat just one more “wafer thin” After Dinner Mint.

Truly it is a monster dish: two pancakes, each as thick as a modest vanilla sponge, sandwiched together by marshmallows and chocolate sauce, topped with marshmallows and chocolate sauce and served with a side of cream and, why not, more chocolate sauce.

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Elixir cafe, Wanneroo.
Camera IconElixir cafe, Wanneroo. Credit: Simon Santi/The West Australian

Either way, the casual professionalism with which a passing waitress slides the foil tray onto our table, with a murmured “if you need it” speaks of a restaurant where the staff have seen others stumble beneath the literal weight of too much breakfast.

They aren’t bad pancakes but they are a lot: dense and cake-like, rather than light and fluffy or thin and crepey. Coupled with the marshmallows, chocolate sauce, cream and some biscuit shards I’ve neglected to mention until now, it’s an unrelenting one-note sugar bomb that proves too much, even for this breakfast sugar junkie.

You’ll probably be able to tell from the above description whether this dish is your best dream come to life or your worst nightmare. Either way you’re right.

“Too much” is something of a theme at Cafe Elixir, a Wanneroo cafe with a strong suburban shopping centre vibe, probably because it’s to be found in a suburban shopping centre.

Elixir Cafe’s Benny Burger.
Camera IconElixir Cafe’s Benny Burger. Credit: Simon Santi/The West Australian

A Benny Burger ($19.80), which is more like a good bacon and egg burger with hollandaise, nearly bests my breakfast date — a man who would normally rather risk a crippling bout of indigestion than leave food on his plate.

It’s a big, generous breakfast burger of a meal, with a lovely soft bun, good flavours and hash browns on the side. Are they a packet job? If so it’s a fancy packet because they’re pretty good.

The coffee is also you-could-drown-in-it huge. Unfortunately it’s a disappointment: a long macchiato ($4.10) requested three-quarter-filled comes in a big glass filled to the brim and scalding hot. The milk texture is off and it’s distinctly on the weak side.

The cafe is absolutely heaving on the day of our visit, chock full of happy-looking customers, many of whom are clearly regulars. I can imagine this being a popular local: it’s unpretentious and slick, with pretty good food and lovely service that’s both so on-the-pace and genuinely warm that it makes me wish I’d enjoyed my meal just a little bit more than I did.

A couple of hours after the meal, when I can once again move and the prospect of ever eating again no longer seems ludicrous, I even wish I’d taken up that offer of a doggy bag.

The verdict: 6/10

Wear your elasticised pants to this unpretentious and warm suburban cafe.

Cafe Elixir

3 Rocca Way

Wanneroo

WEB: elixircafe.com.au

PHONE: (08) 9404 5493

OPEN: Tuesday-Friday 7am-5pm. Saturday, Sunday 8am-5pm

BOOKINGS: No

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