Mason & Bird

There's a real community feel to the venue and the fit out is warm and welcoming. Heavy use of wood, greenery and the aroma of Little Owl Roasting Company coffee fill the air.

The menu offers all day brunch in the form of burgers, toasties, paleo waffles, housemade cocoa pops and some serious contenders in the pasta department. We were quick to decide on sharing two dishes - pan roasted gnocchi ($22.00) and braised lamb pappardelle ($24.00). I also added on a Simara organic matcha latte ($5.00) with almond milk ($0.60).

The pappardelle was beautiful. Really, that's the most appropriate way to explain our first bites of food at Mason & Bird. Silky smooth sheets of al dente pasta were folded gently over lamb so tender it lived up to the cliche of being melt in your mouth. With a lovely pool of sauce gathering at the bottom and accompanying mushrooms and spinach, and the generous grating of parmesan over the top, it was so hearty and warming - yet refined.

This is the sort of food I love. Executed textbook perfect, with a clear understanding of food and yet not overly complicated. It's approachable, tasty and would stand strong on any menu. Definitely a winner.

However as morish as the lamb dish was, the pan roasted gnocchi with cauliflower, almond and white balsamic made every second in the car worthwhile. I'm a huge gnocchi fan as it is, and this was eye-rollingly good. Buttery little potato pieces were just the thing to swish through the creamy yet light sauce. The white balsamic sauce was sharp and well balanced to counter the fat content of the other ingredients on the plate. Combined with the crunch of the nuts, it was texturally and flavourfully a perfect storm.

We scraped clean every last crumb, every last slick of sauce - it was all so enjoyable. Mason & Bird is a great new small business and I was pleased to see they're sourcing local WA ingredients from Sunnydale Dairy, Artisan Tea Co, Sebastian Butches, New Norcia Bakery and Maida Vale Natural honey. I'm all about supporting small and local businesses, so that was the cherry on what I felt was a wonderful sundae.

Do yourself a favour... get in your car, crank up the tunes and head over to Kalamunda's newest hot spot asap. And order the gnocchi - definitely order that incredible gnocchi.

So worth the travel to kalamunda !! This place is great..the staff are lovely and incredibly knowledgable about their food...I even got to try my first beetroot latte here !

I ordered the shredded chicken salad with tehini and glazed honey carrots. My friend had the savoury waffles with eggs pumpkin spinach and a few other goodies, and our other friend orderes the same as me. Meals were full of flavour, the staff were lovely and the coffeea were on point.

I would definitely recommend this place.

Went to Mason and bird yesterday and we were greeted by the friendly and helpful staff!

There were soo many items to choose from but I finally decided to go with the Paleo waffles and a Beetroot latte, I have never had one before and had asked the owner what milk she recommended, she was so friendly and helped which I appreciated!

Once our food has arrived, my friend was a little disappointed her very small can of coke was $4 but we were very happy with everything else, not only did the food look amazing, tasted amazing!

Glad that a lot of new cafes are opening in the Hills, not just your usual run of the mill franchise cafes anymore.
According to Broadsheet, the owners have some serious credentials. Matt Nguyen and Jaclyn Noel have worked as managers at Rockpool, Brad Johnston was head chef at Print Hall.
Hence my expectation was, understandably, high. We ordered a coffee and a beetroot latte, plus vego on toast and pulled beef. I'm thinkin maybe we ordered the wrong dishes because they were a bit underwhelming. (I'm totally going back to try the gnocchi and pappardelle)
Overall quite a positive experience and I'll update this review after going back for some more.

The cafe scene in the hills has exploded in the last few months. There is something about the area that is attracting some serious hospo talent. This includes chef Brad Johnston (ex head chef Print Hall Bar), his partner Jaclyn Noel and friend Matt Nguyen (both ex managers of Rockpool) who opened Mason & Bird.

A tree change is what they were after, and they found it in the hills community of Kalamunda. The cafe is located at the Zig Zag cultural centre and offers both alfresco and indoor seating. The furniture, handmade by Jaclyn's dad Lloyd, is made from wood such as marri, jarrah, karri and acacia timber. The heavy timber features are not by accident; the cafe is named after Ben Mason and Francis Bird who ran one of the first timber mills in the Darling Ranges.

The small all day menu delivers on originality and flavour. There's dishes such as homemade maple cocoa pops ($9) served in a little bag with a side of milk, paleo savoury waffles ($17) served with poached eggs, spiced nuts and seeds, and mushrooms and then there's the toasties. Triple cheese ($11) with kefalograviera, gruyere and cheddar or if you prefer the simpler things in life - try the OldSkool ($9) - Heinz baked beans and cheese.

Coffee is by a small supplier called Little Owl Roasting Company. The coffee here is super creamy thanks to the use of un-homogenised Sunnydale milk. For those that don't know, unhomegenised milk will still separate so the cream sits on top - like the old days of milk for anyone who remembers! (For the record - I don't).

My friend Cath had the speck and egg burger ($17). The thick cut speck is from local Kalamunda butcher Sebastian's and is served on a brioche bun with gruyere cheese and house made BBQ sauce. It's the little touches such as the speck instead of regular bacon, gruyere instead of cheddar and chef made BBQ sauce that turned a bacon and egg roll into something worth writing home about. I also loved the charcoal branding on top of the bun. It gave a little something to the presentation.

Bromwyn went with the vego on toast ($15) - M&B's take on the classic smashed avocado. Sourdough is topped with avocado, eggs and charred corn salsa. This was a fresh tasting, bright brekky with poached eggs that would win awards in the yolk porn department. The charred corn salsa added a smokey flavour with a lime juice tang complimenting the creamy avocado. Think guacamole.. only better.

I chose the roasted sobrassada ($17) served with fresh tomato and fried eggs on top of sourdough. Like the speck, the sobrassada is also from Sebastian's Butcher. It's a Spanish sausage, similar to chorizo, from the Balearic Islands. The roasting had given a good caramelisation and the fried eggs hit the spot with their runny yolks. The tomato salsa added bright colour and freshness to cut though the strong flavours from the sobrassada. All the elements were balanced and there were no complaints about the serving size - there was plenty of the good stuff!

Mason & Bird is worth a trip up into the hills for. Farmers markets are also held every Sunday and are the perfect place to walk off a delicious breakfast and a couple of great coffees.

I've been to Mason and Bird twice now. The first was not long after they opened. That time I dined solo and enjoyed an absolutely delicious lamb parpadelle and a pretty good coffee. Service was great and I was super happy when leaving.

I went for a second time recently and didn't leave as happy. Though the restaurant seemed to be more quiet than my previous visit, drinks took forever to come out arriving well after our mains. I realise that coffee takes a long time when there's many to be made, but there's no excuse for pre bottled juice to take as long. I ordered the soprassada for breakfast, which was delicious at first. Unfortunately by the time I was half way through eating, the fat from the sausage had been absorbed by the bread. This left it soggy and with a greasy mouth feel. It quickly became unappetising. My eggs were cooked perfect however, when you ask for medium you don't always get it, I'm pleased to say that these were cooked perfectly for me.

My partner ordered the ham and cheese toastie. Whilst it looked great and golden from where I was, she complained of it having too much mustard which overpowered the "not enough there" ham.

Overall I think there is a heap of potential here. This would have been a five star review after my first visit. It was only the second outing that let me down. The coffee is still fantastic, and I'll go back for the lamb parpadelle alone.

A great little find nestled amongst the Cultural Centre and Library.
Coffee was delicious - really smooth blend and WELL made!
I ordered the eggs, avocado & roasted corn on ciabatta - would definitely order again. Great flavours and a decent serving of everything!
Make sure you order a side of chips - hand cut beauties with a generous sprinkling of salt and herbs... moorish to say the least.
Service was also great.
We will definitely be back on our next trip to Kalamunda!

I stumbled upon this cute little cafe near the visitors centre by accident whilst walking around Kalamunda early one Friday morning. I haven't been to Kalamunda for years but happened to be getting new tyres put on my car down the road and was sent off for an hour while I waited. And I'm glad!
Kalamunda itself is gorgeous in early winter being surrounded by beautiful big trees. The streets were so quiet at 9am on a Friday, it almost seemed like a ghost town.
The cafe itself is a quaint little rammed-earth building, with little tables out the front, inside and a couple out the back. I chose to sit out the back in the morning sun with one of their warm rugs over my knees.
I checked out the menu and ordered at the counter. I was impressed by their choice of hot drinks and milks (I don't drink milk or coffee) and their almond milk matcha hit the spot! I ordered the home made cocopops (the lady assured me they weren't just for kids ;) They came out in a cute paper bag and a little bottle of milk/soy/almond (whatever you like)
I enjoyed them, as I wasn't particularly hungry and wanted something light. The other more substantial items on the menu looked great. My only complaint I suppose would be that the cocopops were the only "sweet" item on the menu. There weren't any pancakes (be it the "healthy" kind or not), granola, French toast or the like. There were a few muffins on the counter but as for an actual meal for breakfast, you'd have to stick to savoury.
All in all the service was quick and friendly and the setting was beautiful. I will definitely go back with my husband and try out some of the savoury dishes soon!

Breakfast was very good ! Taste and proportion were perfect. We asked for the Vego on toast and the sobrasada. Both taste delicious!!! Coffe was great too. I highly recommend this place in Kalamunda

Mason & Bird gave me the feeling of something beyond a café! A humble casual venue that serves restaurant standard and great quality foods! This is reflected on the foods menu which varied from paleo savoury waffle, triple cheese toasties to sweet potato brownies and homemade cocoa pops! Locally sourced produce made to the plate and serving the neighbourhood & Perth communities! The deco is minimalistic yet comfortable! Definitely a Perth's gem