Whalers Galley Cafe

Whalers Galley Cafe sits inside the Historic Whaling Station complex at 81 Whaling Station Road, Torndirrup, about 20 minutes' drive from Albany's city centre via Frenchman Bay Road. It matters to dog owners for a specific reason: much of the surrounding Torndirrup National Park does not permit dogs at all, so a cafe that takes dogs on its outdoor deck is one of the few sit-down options in the area where your dog is actually welcome.

The dog setup

Well-behaved dogs are welcome on the outdoor deck, which looks over the water at Frenchman Bay. The rules are enforced consistently: dogs stay on a leash at all times, stay off the chairs, tables and other furniture, and owners clean up after them. Indoors is for humans only. The deck is spacious enough that a settled dog is not in anyone's way, but keep the lead short while food is moving around.

The menu

This is casual all-day dining rather than fine dining: coffee, breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, with the menu leaning towards seafood and cafe standards. Visitors name the scones with jam and cream, the seafood basket, calamari and prawns, and there is a falafel roll for non-meat eaters. Morning or afternoon tea on the deck is the classic play, and it fits neatly before or after a drive along the Torndirrup coast.

Getting there and parking

Drive from Albany via Frenchman Bay Road and follow the signs to the Historic Whaling Station. Parking is available in the complex, so there is no street-parking scramble. The cafe runs 9am to 4:30pm daily, which makes it a lunch stop rather than a dinner option.

Close by with the dogs

The Gap, Natural Bridge, the Blowholes and Bald Head are the headline sights nearby, but those are national park ground and no-go zones for dogs, so plan them as a human errand or skip them. Back in Albany, Due South is the big dog-friendly dining room on the foreshore, Gourmandise & Co covers the coffee-and-pastry slot, and Acclaim Albany Holiday Park takes the dogs overnight.

More options are on the Western Australia dog friendly restaurants guide and the Albany destination guide.

Max: Leash on, paws on the deck floor, eyes on the scone. The staff run a tight ship and I respect it.