Laian Restaurant

Laian Restaurant served its last meal on 19 January 2025. The team announced the closure on the restaurant's own Facebook page, citing family and health circumstances, and bookings are no longer taken. The restaurant's website is offline and its Google listing now reads permanently closed. We have kept this page up as a record of one of Geraldton's most-loved tables, but do not make the trip to 56 Cathedral Ave expecting service, and this listing has been flagged for removal.

What it was

Laian ran a relaxed, licensed dining room on Cathedral Avenue in central Geraldton, close to St Francis Xavier Cathedral, with a Middle Eastern-inflected menu built around local seafood. Breakfast and lunch ran Tuesday to Sunday with dinner on Friday and Saturday nights. The crayfish pie, local crayfish in rose sauce with mushroom and sweet potato, was the dish regulars came back for, alongside shakshuka with fava beans, chickpeas and feta, a trio of dips, falafel pita and a local squid salad. Persian love cake and baklava cheesecake handled dessert, and the venue carried a 4.8 rating from around 150 reviews, among the best in Geraldton.

The dog setup, when it traded

Dogs were welcome in the outdoor seating, settled on a lead beside the table, and staff had a reputation for accommodating well-behaved dogs, sometimes with a water bowl on the ground. For a dog-owning visitor it was one of the better sit-down options in the CBD. There is no equivalent table at the address today.

Geraldton with the dogs now

For a dog-friendly coffee and breakfast stop in central Geraldton, Remi French Cafe welcomes dogs outdoors, and The Murchison Tavern covers a relaxed pub meal. On the water side, The Foreshore Hangout Lounge sits along the Geraldton foreshore, an easy leash-and-leg-stretch before or after.

Max: I never got the crayfish pie. I will carry that one.

Other places to eat with your dog around Western Australia are on the WA restaurants list, and the local roundup is on the Geraldton destination page.