Best Restaurants for Solo Dining in Perth 2026
Solo dining · Perth · 7 counters, bars and grills ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 10, 2026 · Updated June 10, 2026
Perth’s best solo seat is a sushi bar at Crown and a wine-bar stool on Beaufort Street, not a white-clothed table for one. The city’s grand rooms run on river views and celebrations, but its counters—Nobu’s sushi bar, Must’s wine list of five hundred labels, Rockpool’s wood-fired grill—put the serious cooking in front of a single chair. These seven are ranked for how good the food is and how easily a party of one pulls up to the bar.
1.Nobu Perth
Japanese-Peruvian · Burswood · black cod miso ~A$58, omakase higher
Nobu Matsuhisa’s Japanese-Peruvian room sits inside Crown Metropol on Great Eastern Highway in Burswood, and the sushi bar is the reason to come alone: a seat at the counter, the black cod miso that made the global Nobu name, and an omakase the itamae builds in front of you. A party of one at a sushi bar is the most natural arrangement in dining, and this is the most polished version of it in Perth.
Reserve a sushi-bar seat online a week out, or walk up for a single counter stool; solo seats at the bar are the last of the room’s inventory to fill.
Sit at the sushi bar for the city’s most polished solo dinner. | Skip it if you want a bargain; the omakase climbs quickly.
2.Must Winebar
Wine bar / bistro · Highgate · steak frites ~A$48, 500+ labels
Must Winebar at 519 Beaufort Street in Highgate is the city’s benchmark wine bar with a bistro soul: steak frites, terrines and charcuterie, and a list of more than five hundred labels with a deep by-the-glass program. The bar is built for a single diner who wants to eat properly and drink well without committing to a table—order a glass, a plate, and watch the room. It has been a neighbourhood institution for two decades and treats solo regulars as the point.
Walk in for a bar seat on a weeknight, or book ahead for the weekend; the bar is where single diners are seated fastest.
Take a bar stool for a steak-frites-and-a-glass solo dinner. | Skip it if you don’t drink wine; the cellar is half the reason to come.
3.Santini Bar & Grill
Italian · CBD · pasta ~A$32–46
Santini Bar & Grill sits inside QT Perth at 133 Murray Street in the CBD, an Italian-Mediterranean kitchen named Restaurant of the Year at the 2022 AHA awards for excellence. The handmade pasta and the wood-grilled mains are the order, and the bar that runs the length of the room gives a solo diner a glossy, hotel-grade seat without a table’s formality—a glass of Italian white, a plate of cacio e pepe, and a front-row view of the pass.
Book a bar seat online, or walk up for the counter; single diners are placed at the bar comfortably even on a full night.
Sit at the bar for a polished solo Italian dinner downtown. | Skip it if you want quiet; the hotel room runs lively and bright.
4.Long Chim
Thai · State Buildings · dishes ~A$26–42
Chef David Thompson brought Bangkok’s market-stall cooking to the converted basement of the State Buildings, on the corner of St Georges Terrace and Barrack Street, and Long Chim hits harder than any Thai room in the city. The spicy chicken larb and the chilli-soaked curries are built to be eaten fast and washed down, and the bar is the solo move: a single diner orders a couple of dishes, a cold beer, and gets the full aromatic punch without needing a table of sharers.
Walk in for a bar seat at lunch or early evening, or book ahead for dinner; the bar takes single diners fastest.
Eat at the bar for a fierce, brilliant solo Thai lunch. | Skip it if you can’t take heat; this kitchen cooks Bangkok-spicy.
5.Rockpool Bar & Grill
Steakhouse · Burswood · steaks ~A$60–130, bar menu lower
Neil Perry’s Rockpool Bar & Grill at Crown in Burswood is the city’s landmark steakhouse, with prime beef charred over a wood-fired grill and a cellar of some 2,500 labels. The long bar is one of the great solo seats in Perth: a dry-aged steak or the famous wagyu burger, a glass of something serious, and the option to eat the full menu or just the bar snacks. Bar dining at Rockpool is a tradition, not an afterthought, which makes a party of one entirely at home.
Walk in for a bar seat, or reserve ahead for the dining room; the bar holds single diners and takes walk-ups all evening.
Take a bar seat for a serious solo steak and a great glass. | Skip it if you want light; this is a big, rich grill menu.
6.Petition Kitchen
Modern Mediterranean · State Buildings · plates ~A$24–40
Petition Kitchen occupies the historic State Buildings on the corner of St Georges Terrace and Barrack Street, where WA Young Chef of the Year Jess Roe cooks Mediterranean-inspired sharing plates with a wood oven at the centre. The counter and the casual, all-day format make it one of the most walk-in-friendly serious seats in the CBD: a solo diner orders three or four plates, a glass of natural wine, and never waits for a table.
Walk in for a counter seat at most hours; single diners are seated quickly and the room turns over all day.
Pull up at the counter for a relaxed, grazing solo lunch in the CBD. | Skip it if you want a single big main; the menu is built to share.
7.Manuka Woodfire Kitchen
Wood-fired · Fremantle · A$85 tasting
Chef Kenny McHardy cooks everything over wood at Manuka Woodfire Kitchen, his small room at 134 High Street in Fremantle, where a thirteen-hour wood-fired lamb shoulder and smoked-garlic flatbread anchor an A$85 tasting. The counter facing the fire is the seat to take alone: the cooking is the entertainment, the menu is short, and a single diner at the bar gets the heat, the smoke and the show. It is the most characterful solo seat outside the CBD.
Book a counter seat online a week or two out; single seats at the fire counter are the easiest to land midweek.
Sit at the fire counter for a smoky, characterful solo dinner in Freo. | Skip it if you want a quick bite; the tasting is a sit-down commitment.
Avoid for solo dining
Skip Wildflower alone: the three-hatted rooftop tasting menu at COMO The Treasury, built around the six Noongar seasons above Cathedral Square, is Perth’s most decorated room and is choreographed for a celebratory two-top with a river view; a single diner sits at a table built for the occasion it is not having, with no counter to fall back on.
And skip Il Lido for eating solo. The beachfront Italian canteen at Cottesloe is Perth’s most festive warm-evening table, all wood-fired sharing plates and Rottnest sunsets; the spread and the setting are made for a group, and a party of one misses the point of the place.
Booking a solo seat in Perth
The structural advantage in Perth is that the best solo seats are bars and counters that take walk-ins. Must Winebar, Rockpool, Long Chim and Petition Kitchen all hold bar or counter seats for single diners on the night, and a party of one is the fastest cover to seat at any of them. Nobu’s sushi bar and Manuka’s fire counter are worth booking ahead, but their single seats clear later than two-tops. The citywide rule: ask for the bar or the counter, eat before 7pm or after 9pm, and the best seats in Perth are yours alone.
Frequently asked
What is the best restaurant for eating alone in Perth?
Nobu Perth, if you want the full experience: Nobu Matsuhisa’s sushi bar at Crown Metropol in Burswood is the city’s most polished solo seat, with the black cod miso at around A$58 and an omakase built in front of you at the counter. For a walk-in alternative the same night, Must Winebar on Beaufort Street seats single diners at the bar with five hundred wines to choose from.
Is it weird to eat at a nice restaurant alone in Perth?
No, not at the bars and counters on this list. Nobu’s sushi bar, Rockpool’s grill bar and Must’s wine bar all treat solo diners as a normal part of the room, and Long Chim and Petition Kitchen are casual enough that a party of one never stands out. The rooms that feel awkward solo are the rooftop tasting menu and the beachfront sharing-plate places, which we list above.
How much does solo dining cost in Perth?
The range is wide. A counter meal at Petition Kitchen or Long Chim runs roughly A$30–60, Must’s steak frites lands near A$48 before wine, and Rockpool’s steaks run A$60–130 (with cheaper bar snacks). At the top, Manuka’s tasting is A$85 and Nobu’s omakase climbs from there. A solo diner can eat well in Perth for under A$60 or splurge at the sushi bar.
Which Perth restaurants take walk-ins for one?
Must Winebar, Rockpool Bar & Grill, Long Chim and Petition Kitchen all seat walk-in single diners at the bar or counter, and a party of one is usually the fastest to place. Nobu’s sushi bar and Manuka’s fire counter are better booked ahead, though single seats are the easiest of their inventory.
Does Perth have sushi bar or counter seating for solo diners?
Yes. Nobu runs a full sushi bar at Crown, Rockpool has a long grill bar built for solo dining, Manuka faces a fire counter, and Must, Santini, Long Chim and Petition Kitchen all seat single diners at bars or counters rather than tables. Perth is a stronger solo-dining city than its grand-room reputation suggests.
Keep planning: Perth dining guide · best restaurants for solo dining · solo dining in Mumbai · solo dining in Tel Aviv · solo dining in Atlanta · the full RFK rankings index
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team. Reader-supported: some reservation links are affiliate links with no cost to you, and a link never buys a place on a ranking. See our ranking methodology.