X-Wray

Easy, breezy, go to hang out any night of the week. Catch a smooth cocktail and some live music. In the cooler months, cosy up on the couch or by the heater with a hot toddy that will warm the cockles of your heart. As the weather warms up, sit out on the patio with a mojito. Super chilled.

A fab, totally Freo establishment. A great spot to come hang out with friends on a random night, or discover some local musicians. (Though sometimes feel a bit awkward for them when some people totally ignore them and carry on with their own loud conversations indoors and right in front of the stage…) Great drinks and food. Indoor or outdoor seating. A very chill, artistic vibe. It’s a bit tucked away from the main Cappuccino Strip, near Luna Palace, with a slightly more local, community feeling. Servers super friendly. Just a sweet spot.

After going to xwray on numerous occasions and really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and live music I was keen to try the food after reading some promising reviews and I’ve go to say I was slightly dissapointed. I can’t put my finger on what was wrong with it, it just didn’t live up to the reviews and hype.

This place is amazing and has a lot of potential to be a Freo Favourite. It has a tiki bar feel and the cocktails are lovely with quirky names and not too badly priced, around $ 14. I loved my cocktail Lucy’s Face, just the name was funny enough. There was a live band there and indoor seating. It was a bit quiet but that might just be the way it is at 10pm in Freo on a Friday night. You have to pay a $ 5 cover charge if there is a band playing which I thought was a bit steep as there wasn’t a lot of people inside and everyone was seated. The staff were really welcoming though and the clientele laid back and friendly. It has a really laid back local feel. It would be a good place to take a group of people for a few cocktails if you wish to chill and chat as it isn’t overly loud. I loved the look of the venue and you can see the band from outside.

So Freo, sit back amongst locals, enjoy a beer, good music and great food (breakfast, lunch…). Regular life music. A bit of the beaten track helps to keep the crowds down to those in the know.
Service can be a bit slow at times, but is always friendly.

I love this place! it seems most times I pop into Fremantle I end up here.
Gorgeous place mixed with private little areas and more social spaces. Relaxed and pretty — perfect place for most occasions.
The bread plate is lovely — the bread thick and crusty — the balsamic vingar and olive oil perfection! The eggplant dip — not bad, not too fussed with it…
I also gave the roasted veggies with goat cheese a go — normally I don’t like asparagus, but with the goat cheese I devoured it all!
Highly recommended!

Back Street Bar
Finally got around to stopping in for a drink here today. The overall feel of this place is quite laid back and chilled out. We only had one round as we were heading off and opted for a mocha, Espressitini and a lemon infused martini. Prices were around average for bars in Perth.
The mocha was apparently «quite bitter» and my friend then proceeded to pour quite a large amount of sugar into his drink to make it drinkable. My espressitini was okay but didn’t blow me away and the gf’s lemon infused martini was also «okay».
Didn’t have a chance to try any food so I can’t comment on that but off drinks ordered it seems this place whilst priced normally doesn’t really stand out in regards to quality of cocktails.

Awesome food, amazing coffee and they’re dog friendly!

Just the way a late lunch in Freo should be — chilled, funky and great food. At 3pm when everywhere else is closing and ready to give you that ‘look’ when you ask if you can still grab a late lunch, we were greeted with a warm smile and lots of good options. Mixed quinoa salad with chicken and haloumi burger were outstanding. Keep it up guys.

Just had a burger for lunch down at X Wray. Delicious. I had the beef my partner the haloumi burger I couldn’t decide which was better. They forgot our drinks but it was so lovely sitting in the front area enjoying the breeze I didn’t take a star off my rating.

Went on a thursday for dinner before a movie next door, the food was absolutely wonderful and there was a nice band playing inside. So good we went back for drinks after the movie! Excellent vibe to this place, I really love it!

There’s a sweet vibe down at X-​Wray Café that makes me want to quit my normal life, move to Cuba and hire out scooters to tourists for the rest of my life.
I hate myself for saying this; but the place seems hip, but, with a refreshing absence of hard-​core hipsters, at least on the night I went anyway. Clientele seemed down to earth, relaxed and friendly.
Candles, fascinating jars to drink out of, mellow tunes, and a quasi-​European-​intimate-​ambience is a refreshing change from the same ol same ol. Same ol.
Food is wicked, and pretty competitively priced considering it’s made with tender love and care. When the dish I ordered came out I began by taking small bites because I didn’t want the love affair I was having with the slow-​cooked beef cheeks to ever end. The sideline, crumbed carrots were awesome, would work on their own actually I reckon in place of a bowl of wedges/​chips. Maybe they do that, I don’t know. Of course, by the end I was almost like a pig at the trough — do pigs even eat beef? Impossible to know, but if they do, they’d also enjoy the menu at X-​wray.
A mate of mine had the fish, looked amazing — I wanted a taste but he didn’t offer any! This of course was a silent indication of two things: 1. Must have been too good to share, and 2. He’s a selfish bastard! I didn’t offer him any of my beef either though. I guess that’s why we get along so well.
No table service, for ordering anyway — but the Feng Shui (yeh I Googled how to spell that) and general goodtime microclimate within definitely makes you feel like getting involved.
Good people, good times. I’ll be back.

That melt-​in-​your-​mouth gnocchi, those spiced pumpkin seeds, the tempura broccoli and that carrot. Yes, a carrot. The unassuming orange crumbed member of the beef cheek dish was for me, the crowning glory. Not even the silky cauliflower purée, the 6 hour slow-​cooked beef or that decadent truffle oil could outshine this baby. Oh-​em-​gee. I have not been so excited about eating a root vegetable in my life, ever. The food here is superb. The place is jigging with bohemian-​cool too. I will for certain be back for more of Ricky’s kitchen magic.

I felt like I was in someone’s living room. It felt like my house. The couches were really comfortable and the staff is really friendly.
The food was really good. I also liked the food presentation which made me want to eat even more!

Check out X-​Wray for beautiful food and great cocktails. Worth going out of your way to try their gnocchi, even if you think you don’t like gnocchi…

Fremantle has changed a lot in the last fifteen years. Where once a bohemian and heavy Italian influence dominated, now the main parts of town feel a bit gentrified and a lot of the people that made up the bohemian community have moved on. If you are wandering around Fremantle looking for somewhere that has the sense of the house party vibe that used to be omnipresent around town, this is it. On any given night, it’s packed full of Fremantle locals and a smattering of backpackers. X-​Wray often hosts live music, generally local songwriters playing their original music in the blues/​roots and ethnic styles that were inescapable in this town in the ‘90s. They do serve food; while I’m sure it’s delicious, I’ve never had cause to eat here and tend to stop by for chilled out drinks with friends. About ten meters walk from the entrance to the bar lies the Luna On SX cinema, so this is a perfect place to stop by before or after catching a film. If you want a relaxed night out that captures the essence of what Fremantle used to be like, this is a great place to head.

Chill cool spot tucked away near central freo. Pretty tasty coffee, friendly service and just a good overall atmosphere.

X-​Wray is reminiscent of what a great restaurant/​venue in Fremantle should deliver. Delicious food, great service, live music, full bar, funky space and a easy going crowd with and upbeat feel to the place. We attended the Thursday night Jazz night recently and were impressed by the quality of music, the guitar player was shredding all night long* (*not the popular Lionel Ritchie song the duration). One of the great things about X-​Wray is that they don’t take themselves too seriously. They often have movie nights early on in the week where you can come down and watch Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure or Milo and Otis. cocktails are refreshing and the place is open all hours which makes it a hit with the locals. Definitely worth checking out, particularly when they have live music.

It is only recently that I discovered this hidden solice with a little help from my friends. It has the potential to be pretentious with airy jazz music emanating from the artistically decorated verandah. It withholds this element of pretence much to the delight of my thirsty and hungry belly. A café type bar at the back serves up fresh bread and pattiserie type products and sweet smelling coffee. Hot snacks such as the common but obligatory wedges and aioli are available all day and for the hungry among us, tapas is served after 6 7 days a week. Drinks are also available if not a little expensive with a bottle of cider (500ml) coming in at $ 15. Needless to say, on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Fremantle, you cold do much worse than to sit at one of the long wooden tables with your glass of beer and bowl of wedges and sway into the evening with their live jazz.

I have a love/​hate relationships with a few of Perth’s bars. Many drinking holes put maximum effort into appearances, and fail to deliver on service, food, wine selection and ambience. Much like a swim suit super model, you find yourself drawn in by their charming good looks and promise of a good time, but after a while you find the relationship stagnant, lacking in good conversation and way too superficial. Xwray Café is not one of these places. If you’re after a place with an amazing yet somewhat alternative atmosphere, scrumptious cocktails, consistently good coffee, organic breads and other healthy meals, Xwray Café is the place for you.
Slightly hidden down Essex Street just off of the famous café strip (like all of Fremantle’s best cafes are), Xwray Café is what I like to call «Sooo Freo». Walk past there any time of the day and you’ll see a line of utterly adorable vintage bicycles lined up out front, a definite sign that the crowd here is young and down for chillaxing. And with their tropical island/​tiki bar theme, you’ll find it easy to unwind. If you’re after 5 star service, you might find the staff a bit slow, but it’s all part of the relaxed vibe. Be patient if it’s a busy night!
Everyone I’ve been here with has loved the cocktails. I’m not a gigantic cocktail fan, but I can’t go past a Long Island Iced Tea. They’re refreshing, just strong enough and not loaded with soft drink. Customers can either sit inside and listen to some live music, or sit outside in the Al Fresco area. I prefer the outside area, the inside it just a little bit too dark (but would be nice and intimate in the evening).
The only fault I can find with the place is that it could use a bit of a clean. The fans were a little dirty, as other people have pointed out too. I haven’t eaten here because the mains are fairly pricey, but the food definitely smelt good.
Definitely one of my favourite places in Fremantle, and perfect for drinks after a movie at Luna on SX!