Mrs S, Maylands

Mrs S Maylands review

Come, my children, come away,

For the sun shines bright today.

Little children, come with me,

Birds and brooks and posies see.

Get your hats, and come away,

For it is a pleasant day.

- Excerpt taken from Mother Goose children’s book, used as a menu holder at Mrs S - though I could imagine it coming from Mrs S herself as she lures you out of your house, into the sunshine and into her shop of goodies and home-cooked-style meals.  Today is a pleasant day.

So out on Whatley Crescent, around the café part of Maylands and very close to the train station, Mrs S has appeared with its pleasant approach to breakfasts and brunches – and it shows, just by how busy it gets.  The café itself isn’t very big, typical of many similar cafes, but makes good use of the space inside with small (and some joinable) tables surrounding a central communal table that can seat a large group or multiple groups.  Even still, getting a seat can be a tall task during peak times.

Whilst Mrs S is a breakfast/lunch café, what sets Mrs S apart is the décor and food (see below).  Mrs S has an almost quirky yet homely feel, with details such as menus pegged to children’s books and old (nearly country style) bits n bobs [Blue Apocalypse lovingly describes the details in her blog here].  They also sell a small but unique collection of goods such as cool British printed wrapping paper.

On to the food, Mrs S’s menu is quite modest but understandably so given the size of the place.  Quality not quantity?  The breakfast menu goes from light meals through to a “big breakfast”; whilst the lunch menu includes salads, a tart, and sandwiches.  Then during both seatings there is a selection of sweets, as well as juices, tea and coffee.

Granny June’s cornbread - $16 (breakfast)

Two slices of cornbread was the basis for this sweet and savoury breakfast.  The cornbread had a texture a bit like dry banana bread (with bits of corn kernels throughout), a corn-yellow colour, and looked like it was sliced from a loaf.  Being the first time I’ve had cornbread, it seemed well balanced in terms of its sweetness and the level of corn taste.

For its mild sweet taste, the cornbread felt hearty though by itself it did seem a little dry (cue the maple syrup which made this much better).  My only issue with the cornbread was I found eating both slices of sweet corn bread to be a bit much for breakfast but this is most likely because I don’t eat a lot of corn by personal choice.    Bring on the eggs on toast or even the heavy sweet pancakes.

I may have taken too long with photos that the egg yolk cooked a little more than I like it

Completing the cornbread, add some bacon and poached eggs and you get this good mix of sweet and savoury in this dish that strangely works as well as some much desirable protein that made the whole dish seem more filling to me.  However the bacon wasn’t crunchy if you’re into that.

Croque monsieur - $8.50 (breakfast & lunch)

This croque monsieur was a simple sandwich, but a really good one at that.

It was a grilled sandwich of ham, cheese and mustard.  I’ve had various croque monsieurs before, including ones that are very rich and those with multiple layers.  The Mrs S one seems quite simple but well balanced in the way it is compiled and the mustard is great in it.

Manwich - $15 (lunch)

This “manwich” wasn’t filled with huge lashings of meat like a half kilo steak sandwich *grunt*.  But hey, we’re at a cute little café filled with home-made goodness.

The manwich was described as “pulled pork, beetroot pickle, cucumber, rocket in ciabatta bread.”

The crusty ciabatta bread was buttered and lightly toasted till it was even crustier.  This was then filled with seasoned pulled pork that was meltingly tender as well as the very noticeable sweet-and-sour beetroot pickle.

If there is one concern about this manwich, it would be that you have to take care with the grated beetroot.  Even when trying to be careful, the beetroot left marks on the plate that looked like I may have hunted down the pig that went into my sandwich.  Poor pig, happy me.

Poached chicken, pineapple, herb salad with nam jim - $16.50 (lunch)

I wouldn’t typically order just a salad as a meal.  However, this salad was good.

The salad had an Asian theme to it with bean sprouts, Asian herbs like coriander, and a nicely balanced nam jim with noteable sweetness, sourness, saltiness and spiciness all wrapped up neatly into a well matched salad dressing.  The combined flavours of the herbs and the dressing gave it a lot of oomph.  Add the tender and moist poached chicken and this salad was delicious.

Caramelised onion tart - $15

The tart itself was made with caramelised onion, slow roasted tomato and goats curd.

When I read the word “tart”, I thought this would look like a quiche.  What came out was a tart that had a base of layers of light and flaky puff pastry, filled with the caramelised onion, slow roasted tomato and goats curd (a bit like cheese and tomato but more gourmet and with better flavours).  The way the tart was constructed gave it a relatively light feel and the elements of each the pastry, onion tomato, and goats curd each complimented the whole tart whilst each of their flavours and textures were brought out.

The tart was accompanied with a rocket and herb salad that was dressed with olive oil.

Lumberjack cake - $6

I don’t know why this cake was originally called lumberjack cake however the key elements of date, apple and coconut all went together well.

This cake was rich and moist, with a great level of sugar combined with the sweet dates, apple and the coconut infused icing on top.  All up, a delicious cake and the serving size was also generous compared to many other cafes out there.

Cappuccino - $3.50

Not many places around Perth make such a pleasant coffee.  It’s not exactly strong or fancy.  However, it’s very smooth and creamy (using Bannister Downs milk I believe) and a coffee to remember.

Café Latte - $3.50

Another well-made, creamy coffee.

We liked: A simple yet well executed menu for a casual café; the food isn’t boring and some dishes have a hearty feel; food that we (everyone I have been with so far) agree is amongst the best for its type; an almost quirky homely feel to the experience; great and creamy coffees; great service.

We didn’t like: Mrs S possibly didn’t realise they would be so popular – they probably could have easily done with a place twice the size.

Other things to note: Mrs S can get very busy, especially on weekends - if you don’t get there early you may need to wait for a seat, even if it’s at the communal table in the middle.

Mrs S

178 Whatley Crescent

Maylands WA 6051

(08) 9271 6690

Trading Hours

Tuesday to Sunday - Breakfast and Lunch