Obi Coffee

Good hospitality is at the heart of everything at Obi Coffee, according to Venue Manager Dennis Kurniawan.

Situated in the middle of the high-rise office blocks of the western Perth suburb of Subiaco, it’s a café that often serves the fast-paced takeaway demands of blue-collar and white-collar workers in the area.

Dennis believes placing the heart of true hospitality at everything Obi Coffee does has been crucial to its success since it opened in 2023.

“I feel like hospitality as a term is something that has been taken too lightly in Australia recently,” says Dennis.

“Yes, we’re a café, but you need to be able to show genuine hospitality to a customer, and I think that’s the key to running a successful business here in Australia.

“When customers are paying $6 of their hard-earned money every single day, the least you can do is give them a warm welcome and thank them with a smile when they walk away.”

That desire to create an environment built on a strong foundation of customer service has led to one critical point of difference Dennis says is well received by Obi’s customers.

“I think 90 per cent of our staff know 80 per cent of our customers’ names,” he says. It’s insane, because we do 600 coffees per day in a fast-paced corporate building.

“We’re really lucky in that all our customers are really nice and down to earth, and they’re always up for a chat, and that’s one of the most pleasant things about this place.”

Dennis says it usually takes three visits for the front-of-house staff to begin to recognise customers and, before long, the order will be in the process of being made before the customer has even opened their mouth.

“It’s always fun to see the surprise on the faces of the customers who have suddenly become known and remembered among the staff,” says Dennis.

“Often, they’ll show up and their name and order are already on the screen and waiting for them.

“It’s one of the most powerful tools we can use, to be personal with customers in such a large setting, and it’s really rare.”

“That’s something we’re really proud of, being that busy café that still remembers the each of our customers and their orders.”

Dennis says there are a few menu highlights worth trying at Obi Coffee – and it won’t take long to add the next face to the list of regulars visiting the venue.

“If you’re looking for something savoury, the breakfast wrap with halloumi, eggs, and sriracha sauce is pretty bang on,” he says.

“If it’s something sweet, I think it has to be the chocolate banana bread we recently started making in-house.

“For coffee, we offer tasters of the batch brews we have on to make sure the customer gets exactly what they want. Otherwise, you can’t go wrong with a long macchiato topped up.”

Obi Coffee

Shop 2, 500 Hay Street
Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia, 6008

Open Monday to Friday 6:30am to 2:30pm, Saturday 7am to 1pm