You’re either a ‘tourist-destination’ traveller who pre plans their holidays by dates with a lonely planet (no judgement) or like me, an ‘off the beaten track’, ad-hoc traveller who prefers to wake up and see what the day brings - in mood, weather and taste.

Whichever your style, we’ve got you covered with our Ask-a-Local series, guides to the best things to do on your trip to Denmark WA.

From the best coffee, small boutique wineries and gourmet eats, to natural attractions that as a local, we are still excited to visit when friends and family come to stay - use these guides to curate your days next time you’re visiting the region.

In this first guide of the series we cover the essentials - coffee, wining and dining in Denmark.

We boast some of the best produce Australia has to offer, from locally roasted coffee, world renowned pinot and chardonnay, paddock to plate dining and all manner in between.

Find out where we locals head to satiate our taste buds, and plan (or don’t, you do you) where to head for the best.

But first - coffee

Mrs Jones is our top pick for both coffee and breakfast. Sit amongst their kitchen garden in the sun whilst enjoying Sam and Justines hospitality, great coffee and delicious food. Serving breakfast and lunch.

The Green Pantry makes a mean coffee using locally roasted Stash coffee beans.

If you’re lucky in season, you may find Bens Place Mobile Cafe at Lights Beach of a morning. Perfect for post surf / swim / run, Bens coffees hit the spot and if like me you’re partial to baked goods alongside, Ben arguably does the best muffins in town.

Full bellies

Trust us when we say - plan your day around a lunch at Pepper + Salt restaurant. Chef Silas is the host with the most, serving up a feast of local produce with a good dose of his signature spice and the best chilli prawns in the biz.

Flame Trees is our pick for intimate wine bar vibes, with a killer local wine list and cosy setting, serving up a small, simple and delicious menu.

The Dam at Raintree is the place to sit of a sunny afternoon, on the deck by the water with a cocktail, crafted using spirits from the onsite Cannabis Botanical distillery. Sam really does make the best espresso martini and blood orange sour, I challenge you to prove me otherwise.

For a quick takeaway bite, Denmark Kebab and Gozleme House does tasty authentic Turkish, DenBurger does a a good gourmet burgers and raw treats worth the drive, Massimos Place does drool-worthy authentic Italian pizza and if you catch Gin Lao at the visitors centre food nights - you’ll be rewarded with mouth watering Lao food you wont soon forget.

Wine not

It wouldn’t be a trip to Denmark without leaning deeply into the regions best export - cherry pinots and oaky chardonnays, crisp rieslings and some of the most surprising and extraordinary experimental wines.

We like to go off the well trodden track here and highly recommend you do the same. Our favourites are smaller batch producers doing BIG things with their wines. Reach out whilst you’re in town and get your hands on some Express Winemakers (we love the chenin, l’orange and la nina), Lonely Shore (Liams Pinot is the only Pinot in our opinion!), Brave New Wine (party pet nats for all occasions), Tivoli Wines (for smooth, minimal intervention goodness) and La Violetta (for a punchy, provocative drop). In fact, we are SO passionate about our local small producers - we may even feature a future journal just to sing their praises…

For a cellar door experience with wines you’ll walk away talking about, visit Singlefile (also the home of Stash coffee) for their Serendipity Cuvee and a picnic with the geese, Harewood to satisfy a diverse range of Chardonnay palettes or wander downstairs from your lunch at Pepper + Salt to the Forrest Hill cellar door for a taste of their exquisite Block series.

At the end of the day though, the very best wining and dining is by the outdoor fire at The ‘Drift - sun setting over Mt Hallowell and nowhere to be but the present.