Friendly staff who listen to what you say and ask enough questions to make sure they understand what you want.

Great cutters, especially for straight hair like mine.The service is quick - no frills, but still careful and they do a very nice job. Prices are very reasonable, and all up a pleasant experience and a hair style you can feel good about.

Health supplements aren't cheap, but thanks to a discount card, I find that it's worth shopping here to get the advice and product knowledge that you really need when shopping for vitamins and supplements. Last time I was there, I was delighted to receive a further 10% discount for making a purchase on the first day of the month!

The staff at Natural Choice Waterford are very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful and always ready to give advice and direction. Several times I have gone in to buy a particular supplement and been told that there is now a more effective product available for a similar price - you don't get that sort of help in a supermarket!

I dropped in to Coffee & Spice recently and enjoyed a pleasant half hour with a friend sitting on their comfy sofas and lunching on tempura fish and crunchy wedges. The food was what you would expect from a shopping centre cafe - nothing special flavour wise, but generous serves, tasty and filling.

Our coffees were great, and the smiling waitresses were just lovely - very helpful and nothing was too much trouble.

Next time I visit, I'll try one of their gourmet rolls - very nice fillings and they look like they'd be delicious toasted.

Approximate cost: $9.00

We bought take away on a cold, wintery night and were quite looking forward to trying out this new Malaysian/Indonesian restaurant that has sprung up recently in the Waterford Plaza shopping centre.

I'm not sure if we caught them on a bad day, or if their food is just not to our taste, but we won't be going back again. We found the spring rolls crunchy but flavourless, the fried rice was also lacking in flavour or interest, and the Kuey Teow was just unpleasant tasting. (To be fair, that was most likely due to ingredients that didn't suit our palate.)

On the upside,portion sizes were generous, the restaurant was clean and fresh and the service was friendly and very helpful.

The Canning River Cafe sits in a beautiful, natural setting on the river bank at the Kent St Weir, just in front of the Canning River Eco Education Centre. We did the river walk first, across the weir and along the pathway into the wetlands. It was windy, cold and a bit rainy but still a great experience and we felt we earned our breakfast!

On arriving back at the cafe, we found that the other customers all had soft grey blankets over their legs or around their shoulders to ward off the chilly morning. The cafe supplies a basket full of blankets for customers to help themselves - and everyone in the cafe had taken advantage of this great idea. Someone very kindly put a blanket on each of our chairs as we were up at the counter ordering. :-)

Another nice touch was a doggy water dish in amongst the tables on the closed-in verandah, to refresh our furry friends after their morning walk.

We enjoyed our quiche lorraine and coffee, and left warmed not only by the food but also by the friendly atmosphere, the pleasant conversation with other diners and the overall beauty of the setting.

We're going back this week for another dose.

We visited Little Creatures on a very busy Friday night intending to see an art exhibition and then stay for dinner. The place was humming, fully seated inside and out. It was extremely loud, and to be honest we were getting a bit fed up with being shoved and jostled by some bolshy and obviously busy waitresses as we viewed the artwork and then looked for a free table.

So we headed next door to the more chilled atmosphere of the The Brewhouse - it looks like a beer bar, set up for sampling the beautiful Little Creatures beers, and decked out with tasting tables, merchandise and comfy chairs and sofas. We thought we'd ask if they serve meals in there and happily the answer was yes - everything on the Little Creatures menu can be delivered to The Brewhouse as well.

We seated ourselves at one of the long tables, and enjoyed the live music while we waited for our meals. My friend's grilled lamb fillets with baba ghanoush ($23) was tender and full of flavour; and my barramundi ($29) had crunchy skin and was perfectly cooked, drizzled with basil oil and sitting on a bed of light, fine textured potato salad.

We shouldn't have even considered dessert, but it was a celebration dinner, so we tried the waffles with apple rhubarb compote (incredible, but a very large serve), and the white chocolate cheesecake with macadamia and raspberry coulis (out of this world).

Not a cheap night when you factor in wine and coffee, but all up it was a great meal and a lovely evening in a truly unique and charming setting.

Greasy fish and chips make us feel a bit sick - so we always get ours from Sweetlips in Leederville. Perfectly cooked, never greasy - the fish is fresh, fresh, fresh, and they will give you your money back if you ever find a bone in your dinner!

Huge variety of fish and seafood, and plenty of extras including a couple of salads, burgers and wraps, plus a few naughty desserts (like crunchy little fried apple bites and cinnamon doughnuts).

Like everyone, we like to wander around Leederville snacking on their famous squid rings in a cup. Our other favourite is the Seafood Basket - battered fish with chips plus two squid rings, two tiger prawns and two sea scallops. Totally yum, we usually find it plenty for two people and good value for $18.50.

Leather and Luggage is a small but jam-packed luggage store on Walcott St, and they also sell their full range of luggage online at very reasonable prices. (Delivery charge is also reasonable - $8 delivery for purchases below $50, free delivery over that.)

They sell the best luggage brands including Samsonite, Antler, Paclite, Tosca etc, as well as brief cases, beauty cases and toiletry bags, a moderate selection of handbags, very cute and unusual luggage tags, backpacks, and most things connected with luggage and travel.

Although I have bought bags there, it is their Luggage Repair Service that I use the most. They can repair pretty much ANYTHING - even the combination lock on my Antler Beauty Case, even though it is no longer on the market and genuine parts are no longer available. They did a top job, and my broken beauty case is now as new. They have also repaired handbags for me and for friends I have referred to them - favourite handbags that would have to be thrown out due to broken zips, broken stitching and torn handle attachments etc are mended perfectly in less than a week. A friend recently needed a black handbag repaired in time for her mother's funeral, and they did the repair same day as an act of kindness.

Leather and Luggage are authorised warranty repairers for most of the large luggage brands.

Opening hours: Monday - Friday 9am to 5.30pm, Saturday 9am to 1pm

I mostly buy my music online, so for me Urban Records is all about the eclectic gift and homewares section at the back. The late opening hours are also a huge plus - I love being able to pop in late at night in after coffee or dinner with friends, and browse the fab retro inspired homewares and gift items, as well as the quirky clothes and jewellery. I've made a few great impulse buys here (they stock my fav Fred kitchenware), and have found some brilliant and unusual gifts for friends and family.

For such a small floor space, this place offers an outstanding range of unusual and gift-worthy books and stationery. I love browsing here for art books for myself or for gifts. And I love their quirky and very different array of greeting cards.

We sometimes arrange to meet here before going down the street for coffee - and after a few minutes browsing, I find myself hoping my friends will be seriously delayed! Always something new to discover here, and a genuine feast for the eyes.