Cantina Cafe & Restaurant

Poor quality food at slightly-​above average prices. The lamb shank pie is awful — its dry and flavourless. The venue itself is quite nicely presented, but the dinner menu is just awful.

I’m such a fan of Cantina and yet I think when people come to West End, everyone gets trapped on Boundary St and doesn’t get any further. Cantina’s hiding up the top end of Hardgrave Rd, right where it becomes Dornoch Tce. There’re a few great places up this end and I think Cantina gets overlooked (considering Mondo Organics, Caravanserai and Lefkas). They have a lovely dinner menu and a nice lunch menu, but it’s their breakfast menu that really gets my heart racing.
It’s definitely not a «standard» breakfast menu at Cantina — my favourites are the Yucatan Breakfast (potato, cheese, chilli and onion in scrambled egg) and the Trekker’s Omelette (with chicken and shallots, served with rice and sweet chilli sauce). They use Vittoria coffee but they actually manage to make it taste good, so good for them.
They have indoor and outdoor seating, and you can BYO alcohol, so it’s handy that there’s a decent little cellar a couple of doors down. The staff are friendly and helpful. Next time you’re headed to West End for a meal, consider continuing on past Boundary St and making your way up around the corner to Cantina.