The Bodhi Tree

Usually… Okay… But we had two of our smoothies come out with plastic in then, like several chunks of plastic wrapping. Meek apology, no offer or compensation. Also the barista was very rude to the customer in front of me.

So I had lunch here with a friend today and admittedly it’s been a place I’ve driven last and always thought «that looks cool I’ll have to check it out sometime» and never did. Until today.
So I assumed from the name that it would be one of those healthy /​raw /​vegan /​natural kinda places and it was. So well done on the naming of the place.
I had lunch with a friend of mine there and yeah, I thought it was somewhat pricey for what I actually had. Which was a glorified ham and cheese toastie really. I had a banana bread slice too (my weakness) and thought it was quite dry and had been in the cabinet for a fair while.
Look, overall the place is alright but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go there. It’s definitely on the pricy scale of things as far as I’m concerned but it’s cool little place if you’re in the vicinity and needed somewhere to chill out.

A bid odd is how I feel about this place.
But maybe that is just that hippy shops weird me out.
There is an interesting mix of books which lean more on the spiritual/​not too sure how academic they are side of things.
It is a tastefully decorated giftshop and delicious coffee shop.
I do like that they seem to do a special coffee deal during the week and also make fresh juices.

LOVE this café!
A good range of gluten free cakes.
Nice teas which come in a ‘tea-​pee’.
Such a cool vibe. There was a set of card on the table we sat at — there were conversation starter cards which had questions like «what are you most proud of?» and «where is your favourite place?» which we ‘played’ for a while before our coffees came out. A bit of fun and something different to get conversation going.

This place has great smoothies and light lunches, not to mention you can find some great little gifts in this place. If they fix their WIFI I would be there all the time.

Acai Berry’s are hard to find but this place has plenty. Relaxed vibe and friendly staff with some tasty gluten free options. One of the best and most consistent coffee’s in Perth

Cute place which blends books and coffee. They have a really interesting diverse range of books which will mean you will spend a lot of time here looking around! Definitely a nice place if you want to chill out and read a book.

I always feel so at peace walking into this place. There’s often ambient music playing, the staff are always quick with a smile (I want to know what they are on), the coffee is very good, and I could spend hours perusing the rows and rows of books, mostly of an esoteric nature.
But don’t think it’s all Louise L Hay, Paulo Coelho and Edward De Bono in here. Sure, there are countless DIY and self-​empowerment tomes, but there’s also a fab section on kids books including Eric Carle classics (eg: The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and lots of Dr Seuss whom I’m a huge fan of!
I must remember to bring my mate Nick here next time he visits from Sydney. That guy is soooo into literature on wellbeing and wisdom, he’ll feel right at home resting on the rustic furnishings here, sipping a soy chai, and delving into De Bono et al…

This is not a bookshop with a café inside, but a bookshop that has formed organically around a café; that’s how it feels anyway. I find that these kind of shop-​come-​cafes can look at bit awkward, but The Bodhi Tree is an inviting and organised place.
From the Eastern style seating, inviting you to sit and read; to the familiar hum of the coffee machine; and the extensive collection of wellbeing books (Mental Health, Psychology, Zen Buddhism, Parenting, Vegan and healthy eating…); The Bodhi Tree just radiates peaceful happiness.
I could quite easily spend hours here set up with a book or my laptop, without losing focus; it’s an especially restful and warm-​hearted place.

As a café, gift shop and general nice place to be, The Bodhi Tree is wonderful. As a book shop, it leaves something to be desired, but only because I don’t want to read books about spirituality and stuff. There are a some nice books on art and natural history, but to be honest I haven’t had a proper look through The Bodhi Tree’s book selection. Whenever I’ve been in here, I’ve become distracted by pretty decorations, gorgeous handmade wrapping paper and beaded purses before I can even make it to the books. Just before Christmas I bought the most beautiful Christmas tree bauble I’ve ever seen from here. The café is also lovely, as are the mismatched chairs and sofas dotted around the shop in which you can enjoy your delicious beverage. My favourite thing on their menu are the lassies, especially the ‘sweet & spicy’ one — infused with honey, lemon zest and cardamom, it tastes exactly like Christmas cake mixture. I absolutely love eating cake mixture, so drinking it in liquid form is obviously a dream come true for me. The ‘conversation starter’ cards on the tables are also entertaining, and kept me and my boyfriend amused for at least ten minutes. So although The Bodhi Tree is first and foremost a bookshop, it gets its four stars from me for its non-​book related aspects — yummy drinks and cakes, pretty gifts and a nice atmosphere.

Unlike the first reviewer of the Bodhi Tree Café, I am the perfect target audience for this place. I’ve been here so many times that I’ve made a nice ‘bum dent’ in my special spot on the coaches at the windows. In fact, I haven’t been back for a while because my usual partner in crime has been unavailable, and more importantly because last time we were there I consumed three triple-​shot soy long machiattos and had to be accompanied out once the shakes began.
Nevertheless, I would buy every book in there if I could. I would spend most lunches sipping those deadly coffees while reading about Oscar Wilde or Plato. I would even peek into sections of the bookstore I haven’t peeked into yet (stuff on animal rights, and baby-​related literature).
Love this place.
Namaste.

I am not this bookstore’s target audience. I should probably state that up front. I tend to avoid the spirituality section like the plague and this store is one big spirituality section.
Actually, that’s not entirely true, though it may as well be. Even the ostensibly non-​spiritual sections – fiction, science, biography – are stocked in such a way as to give the sceptic conniptions. Surveying the store’s selection of novels one could almost be forgiven for thinking that Paulo Coelho was the only author currently writing them. Browsing through the science books one could definitely be forgiven for feeling a sense of unease and growing concern at the fact that quackery on the supposed spiritual power of water crystals is being presented as fact. The contemporary philosophy section contains no contemporary philosophers of note.
Like the time I yelled at the Hare Krishna, I’m probably being unfair. A lot of people love this sort of thing and feel that it has helped them with their lives. But I don’t love this sort of thing, and in fact disagree vehemently with a lot of it, and feel that people like me should be warned that they’re not going to find what they’re looking for in here. Unless what they’re looking for is a certain oneness with the cosmos, of course, and even then I’d be doubtful.