The Lane Cafe, Rottnest Island

The Lane Cafe – It was high time Chef and I introduced Little Chef to the little jewel in the Indian Ocean that is Rottnest Island. So close to Perth, but far away enough to feel relaxed and detached from day-to-day life. We headed over there for a family day trip. After we jumped off the ferry, our first port of call was The Lane at Thomson Bay, for a coffee fix. The little café, found opposite Rottnest Bakery, has a gourmet hotdog menu, so I made a mental note to come back for lunch. The coffee is excellent, by the way.

Topped up with caffeine, we grabbed our bikes and set about riding to my favourite beach at Little Parakeet Bay via the Wadjemup Lighthouse and a few other sights. After a few hours of cycling, beach hopping and swimming we moseyed our way back to The Lane for a late lunch. The small café has a decked outdoor seating area.

Chef had worked up quite an appetite and tucked into the spicy Tarantino inspired “Reservoir Dog”, $10. These are not served like traditional hot dogs in a long bun. The curled Portuguese sausage is served burger style. Chef’s organic snag was topped with jalapeno harissa, sliced tomato, mesculin leaves, cheddar mayo and fried onions. He loved it!

There’s options for kids too and Little Chef scoffed his “Pup Dog”, $8.50. The beef sausage, cheddar cheese and onion dawg got two big thumbs up from him and he couldn’t eat it quick enough!

I was tempted with the special of the day the “Sheep Dog”. It was every bit as fresh and tasty as I’d hoped – with tender and juicy slow cooked lamb shoulder, cooked in rosemary, garlic, cayenne pepper and sumac. Topped with creamy coleslaw and served on a fresh roll baked by Lawley’s Bakery.

Little Chef was keen to meet a furry Quokka and we saw loads of them outside The Lane, on the deck. The friendly little guys, only found on Rottnest Island, are so sweet and don’t seem fazed by people at all. I had a feeling they were looking for food, but remember not to feed the quokkas!

Simmos Ice creamery, the Dunsborough favourite, was right next door. We figured it would be rude not to… We’d done a lot of exercise after all! Bubble-gum, choc mint and cookies and cream were the favourite scoops.

We all loved our gourmet hot dogs for lunch. The Lane is top dog for sure! We had a perfect day at Rotto discovering it through Little Chef’s eyes.

Find The Lane at 15 Somerville Avenue, Thomson Bay, Rottnest Island

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About Amanda Carlin

Amanda Carlin has her own food and travel blog. Established in 2013, "The Chef, His Wife and Their Perth-fect Life" will be enjoying an exciting name change in 2021, as "The Chef's Ex-wife" embarks on new adventures. Amanda loves getting out and about in Perth and WA, as well as brunching, tapas or something a little fancy in equal measures. With her son "Little Chef" in tow, Amanda always has plenty of family friendly eating options to recommend too!

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