A splash of Tokyo Pop in Bondi

Rather than braving the crowds at Randwick for Melbourne Cup we decided to stay local and head to a restaurant in Bondi. After debating between The Bucket List, PaperPlanes and Bondi Hardware – who all had Melbourne Cup parties – we ended up choosing PaperPlanes.

For $100 you got a three-course lunch, glass of Chandon on arrival, live music from The Myall High Club and various best-dressed and lucky door prizes.

Billed as a Tokyo Pop style bar and restaurant, it opened in the Beach House near Bondi Hotel in April. The Barge brothers – Matt, Tim and Chris – who also have LL Wine and Dine in Potts Point, and their business partner Phil Capaldi, own it.

You can sit at the purple lit bar and watch the sushi chefs in action or in the main dining room staring up at the collection of 500 hand painted skateboards and origami paper cranes suspended from the ceiling or in the laneway outside.

We were seated inside, handed a glass of champagne, some form guides and settled in for a serious afternoon of gambling, drinking, listening to music, feasting and watching everyone else win the prize draws and pick the winning horses.

There were about 50 people there, which gave the restaurant a lively atmosphere without feeling like you were stuffed in like Japanese businessmen on the Tokyo subway. Staff was attentive and friendly and kept the champagne and wine flowing as we worked our way through the list trying mysterious white wines from Argentine, South America and finally France.

They also kept up a constant flow of food over several hours. Highlights of the entrée included the salmon tartare nachos with wasabi miso dressing, chives and salmon roe (with prawn crackers instead of corn chips) and prawn gyoza with creamy lemon wasabi foam, crushed wasabi peas and fresh prawns. This was followed by a huge Kushiyaki and sushi platter including eggplant and zucchini dressed in butter, red miso sauce and white sesame, shitake mushroom stuffed with prawn, butter and truffle glaze as well as spicy tuna rolls and asparagus rolls.

My main of barramundi with shitaki mushrooms and edamame broth, crispy sage and grilled lemon was delicious and light and came with sides of brocolini, tofu and wakame salad and rice.

I couldn’t eat another thing by this stage, not even a chilli salt sprinkled edamame. Well, that was until I saw dessert. The cheesecake came in a novel ceramic pot, with a pretty mint garnish, which meant it would be a shame not to at least try it after they’d gone to all that effort.

Stuffed and content after a great afternoon, we headed out of the nightclub dark into the bright Bondi sunshine for The Bucket List. For one last drink. As you can see from the photo below Bondi Curmudgeon had a great day as well. Just don't tell him I said so.

Set for a few drinks...

Set, a bar that is tucked away at the top of Westfield at Bondi Junction near the movies has been flying under the radar since it opened without fanfare about four years ago. Owned by Event Cinemas, the bar has gun barrel views over Waverley to the city, with a direct view of the Harbour Bridge.

All decked out in red and chocolate brown, it's a great space, that's just waiting to be discovered.

We've been going there for years for a sneaky wine before and after the movies - Bondi Curmudgeon loves that he can always get his regular seat (below) by the window.

Now there's a new manager in charge (previously of the Civic Hotel) and he's got big plans to turn it into a happening place. We're quite happy with it being undiscovered, but as long as we can still get that window seat, then I guess we can handle the extra people.

He's so serious about this that there's an extended Happy Hour Thursday-Saturday nights where you can get $5 glasses of wine and imported beer ALL NIGHT! Just don't sit in our seats while you're drinking them.

What a view: Sculpture by the Sea 2012

It's on again! Sculpture by the Sea 2012 kicked off last weekend. Hugging the coastal walk from Bondi to Bronte, there's 100 sculptures from Australian and international artists.

There's a mix of the quirky, the beautiful,  the whimsical, the funny, and the clever.

Some of the best ones  have been themed to the setting, and require a double take as it looks like they have always been there. In fact, it's a shame they can't be there all yearlong. (Minus the crowds of course).

Now considered the world's largest outdoor art festival, it's on until Sunday November 4 and is well worth making a festive day of it.

Here's some of my favourites.

Sean's Panorama: an elegant and cosy restaurant that's one of Bondi's best

Nestled into a small space between Aqua Bar and a red brick apartment block is Sean's Panorama. It's a restaurant best saved for special occasions: significant birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and other celebrations.  Or you could - like us - just go because you feel like treating yourself.

The idea was to go for Easter Sunday as a reward for staying in town rather than succumbing to the temptation of a long weekend away, but it was closed so we took the next available booking, which was the following Sunday.

A long lunch on a Sunday is one of the joys of life so we made it for 1pm. The restaurant is small'ish, but every seat gets an ocean view thanks to a mirror reflecting Bondi Beach for those tables facing the wall. There are sea-themed paintings on the walls, making it feel like a beach cottage, white tablecloths and vases filled with rather old-fashioned red, yellow and pink roses like my mother used to grow. There's a mix of families, couples and a small group of friends celebrating a birthday party complete with their own balloons.

Sean's Panorama has been a Bondi stalwart for years, serving consistently good food and staying true to its offering as restaurant fads come and go and restaurants change owners and cuisines. I first went about ten years ago and the meal was as memorable then as it was this time around.

The chef is Sean Moran, who has a farm in the Blue Mountains where he grows a lot of the ingredients that end up on our plates. He's Australia's answer to Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in San Francisco with his belief in the paddock-to-the-plate philosophy.

I've always thought that he's got a pretty good set up, a country estate in the mountains and a place by the sea in the city. And the Blue Mountains happens to be Bondi Curmudgeon's favourite place (maybe because it is so far from Bondi).

We order of bottle of Arneis, most of the wine list is Australian or you can bring your own bottle for a $20 corkage fee. The menu is written on a blackboard daily. I was going to have a main and a dessert but choke on my decision and order the squid ink calamari as an entree instead. It's the most tender calamari I've ever had but it's very rich in flavour so I'd recommend choosing two entrees and sharing it. I would have shared with Curmudgeon but his prawn chowder is gone before I can say, 'do you want to share?'

For the main I have roast chicken, and if I could make roast chicken like this at home I would bring back Sunday roasts.  Cooked in sage and butter to a golden brown, the skin is fried to a heavenly crispiness while the chicken inside remains moist and tender. Curmudgeon had roast beef and Borlotti beans and proclaimed it delicious.

 Unlike many restaurants where you have to order the sides and vegetables separately our meals come with a big bowl of roast potatoes and autumn vegetables: beans, turnips and squash. I would have loved to try the dessert menu, but I was too stuffed to fit in a single morsel of the famous noughart so we called it an afternoon and walked back to Rose Bay.

Three Blue Ducks in Bronte: a foodies' paradise

OK, it is in Bronte, but that’s only a couple of suburbs over from Bondi, so after reading this review in the Sydney Morning Herald of Three Blue Ducks by Terry Durack I jumped online to book. 

Three Blue Ducks first gained a reputation for its breakfast menu and was awarded the Best Breakfast in Sydney in the Good Café Guide. Late last year is started opening for dinner Thursday-Saturday and this is where it gets tricky to get a look-in. The first available booking was three weeks out and we had to be there at kiddies’ hour of 6:15, and out by the time the adults arrived at 8.30pm to take their seats at the big table.

I took it. Lucky I did, as it was the only table available for another month. 

Now, in case you think I’m a slavish follower of restaurant reviews, the clincher in Durack’s review was thus: “I might as well say it up front: for three nights a week, you can eat as well in this cool little cafe as anywhere in Sydney. For $17 a course, for food cooked by former chefs from Tetsuya's. I think I now have your attention.”

He certainly had my attention. The café is on the main drag on Macpherson Street, a short stroll to the beach so no views (except of the main road and the bus stop sign). It looks like a rather funky café rather than a bastion of fine dining and this is part of the appeal:  murals line the walls, the tables are wooden, the waiters are dressed in shorts and t’shirts. 

This could be because the founders are local surfers, Sam and Chris. It was while he was running a hostel for surfers in Morocco that Chris met Mark, who had trained at Tetsuya’s and they decided to come home and start a business together.

The produce is sourced from local suppliers from in and around Sydney where possible, to help reduce the impact of transport. And organic produce is preferred: the bread comes from Iggy’s, which is four doors down the street. 

There are 15 dishes to choose from, each dish costing $17. The menu starts with oysters and ends with cheese and crackers.

oysters

kingfish ceviche

calamari and smoked corn

pot of pork and pickled veg

lobster and soft polenta

mushrooms and grains

mussels, clams and beach spinach

egg, blood cake, apples and beets

mackeral, tomato and eggplant

carrots, pumpkin and nettles

pressed pork shoulder

beef, burnt onion and mustard seeds

strawberries, sea salt meringue and passionfruit

chocolate and fennel

cheese and crackers

We chose seven dishes, which came out two at a time, with the exception of the egg, blood cake, apples and beets, which Bondi Curmudgeon had for his dessert. We started with the calamari and the pot of pork with pickled vegetables, which came out as a terrine on soft, crusty bread.

The mussels, clams and beach spinach make no mention of the amazing coconut sprinkled on top and the coconut sauce – this was the standout dish for me. Apparently it is a family recipe handed down and adapted. The mushrooms and grains and the mackerel, tomato and eggplant rounded out the meal. This with a bottle of wine, a glass of dessert wine (and maybe a couple more glasses of wine) took the bill to $200.

Quite a lot for a café, but reasonable for what we had and we left raving about the flavours, the freshness of the food and the subtle experimentation.

It’s definitely worth getting in line but and waiting your turn. 

Bondi Curmudgeon's review of the Rum Diaries

I was really excited about going to the Rum Diaries on Bondi Road tonight and I was even going to write a review.

However, Bondi Curmudgeon changed our plans at the last minute and said since we've been there hundreds of times, he would write the review.

And here it is: 

Rum Diaries Review

The Rum Diaries is a great place to drink many different types of rum, have a hearty stew and generally pretend you’re a pirate.

The Rum Diaries is not a great place if you need to answer your phone because you’ve locked your husband out of the house and he can’t find you.

.
The End.

From Bondi to Broadbeach with a side trip to Bazaar at QT in Surfers

A few hours after seeing in the bonny New Year, we flew to the Gold Coast for a four day mini-break at Broadbeach (978 km from Bondi Pavilion). “Why aren’t you going to Byron Bay?” asked a friend from the UK. “Schoolies Week is over,” quipped another friend.

Don’t they know the Gold Coast is the hot new destination? Besides, there were a group of us going, and they have kids, which provided a good excuse to go to Wet ‘n’ Wild. And thanks to our trusty Accor card, we got a free night at the Sofitel Broadbeach with an upgrade and 50% off our meals! What’s not to like about that?

The Sofitel was in walking distance to the beach, surf clubs, restaurants and bars of Broadbeach and the beds were so comfortable it was like sleeping on clouds, making it the perfect place to wind down after the hectic lead up to Christmas. On our first afternoon we headed to the very chilled-out Kurrawa Surf Club, which has beautiful views overlooking the beach and were entertained by a local singer who played four of my favourite songs in the first set. The biggest surprise was that Curmudgeon got into the spirit of the place so much that he even changed out of his summer uniform of jeans and long shirt for shorts and t’shirt and agreed to walk on the beach.

News that the restaurant, Bazaar, at the revamped Gold Coast QT in Surfers, had upped the ante on the local dining scene had travelled from Broadbeach to Bondi and I was keen to try it out. So, on Tuesday, while I was busy testing my boundaries at Wet n’ Wild, taking guidance from a 12-year-old on what rides were too scary (the Black Hole is awesome!!) and dodging the kids in the wave pool, Bondi Curmudgeon managed to get us the very last booking they were taking. It was our fifth wedding anniversary so we needed a special destination for ourselves and two friends.

Curmudgeon made us get there half an hour early (at 6pm) to show them we were serious and this is when we met Sam the bartender, who looked after us all night, first at the bar and then at our table. Our cocktails were made to order depending on the flavours we prefer: throughout the night I had a mango Bellini with sorbet, a Cosmopolitan with a twist, and passionate Mojitos. At one stage I noticed Bondi Curmudgeon drinking a glass of ginger flavoured rum with a chaser of Absinthe. When I warned Sam that it would send him crazy, I was assured the evil green stuff was well-diluted.

Although Bazaar is strictly speaking a hotel buffet, it’s not exactly your standard buffet offering, but more like a gourmet extravaganza. Apparently they were going to offer a la carte as well, but the buffet proved such a hit they kept it. At $65 per person (or $21 for kids under 12), it was great value and easy to see why the place was buzzing with every seat taken. Modeled on the traditional marketplaces of Asia, the cooking action is all out in the open and the food is part of the décor with a mix of ready-made meals interspersed with cooking stations where chefs cooks to order. There’s a cool room with hams, salamis, garlic and sun dried tomatoes dangling from the ceiling, glass doored refrigerators, bowls of pumpkins and an Asian wok station dishing up fresh stir frys. Click here for a gallery of images.

Executive chef is American George Francisco, who headed to Australia after marrying an Australian girl. He started out in Sydney, opening Wildfire at Circular Quay, Dish on the Northern Beaches, The Chelsea Tea House before becoming head chef at Jonah’s at Whale Beach. (His favourite Sydney cheap eats is Pompeii’s pizza in Bondi, so he’s clearly got good taste.)

He believes in fresh seasonal ingredients sourced locally and creates the menu each day around the available produce. Some of the things I ate included fresh seafood – crab, mussels, scallops, prawns – a mix of stir frys, figs with Persian feta, lamb ribs on creamy mashed potato, pieces of prosciutto and cheese, a mix of salads. Other dishes that made their way to our table: oysters, pork belly, rabbit, osso bucco and soft shell crab.

Luckily, most of the desserts are bite-sized, from white chocolate and cranberry macaroons to Francisco’s signature Vanilla Panna Cotta of fresh pomegranate and lavender honey and chocolate covered strawberries.

We left after four hours full and happy. From the design of the hotel, to the quality of the food and the exceptional service, it’s worth flying to the Gold Coast just to eat here again.

Bondi is sejuiced by The Bucket List

The weather was so crap during most of December I barely made it to Bondi all month. So, when the sun finally came out on December 30, I convinced Bondi Curmudgeon to go to the Trat for lunch before the sky swallowed the sun again.

We were working our way through tapas – chorizo, meatballs, and a salad of figs, prosciutto and Buffalo milk mozzarella  – when we got the call for an impromptu afternoon drink with a group of Bondi’ites (half of whom now live in Rose Bay) to celebrate pre-New Year’s Eve before Snoop Dogg took over the beach. 

We were to meet at 4pm a pop-up bar called The Bucket List, which had replaced Nick’s Seafood. With a few hours to kill, I headed to the Icebergs to do laps and Bondi Curmudgeon headed home to drop off the car and sit in a dark room for a while.

Last time I was at Nick’s they’d mentioned it had been quiet, but I didn’t realise it had been so quiet they were on the verge of packing it in after what must have been a ten year run.  (I googled Nick’s Bondi for an explanation, but as far as the Internet is concerned it still exists and is a good place for a wedding.)

The Bucket List opened just before Christmas after well-known local, Andy Ruwald, founder of the neighbouring juice bar, Sejuiced, took over the lease. Advertised as a ‘pop-up bar’, Andy originally wanted to call it ‘The Pavilion’ but thinks he’ll keep ‘The Bucket List’. It makes sense considering the bar looks like it has become an instant hit. Dressed in a pink striped shirt and oversized sunnies, he was manning the floor, greeting half the people who came in the door by name, and trying to keep everyone happy. 

We managed to get a prime position outside and asked him a few questions. The first was why we had to stay seated, despite the risk of splinters from the wooden crates that doubled as seats. Licensing laws, apparently. Why The Bucket List? Well, most of the food including the prawns and oysters, and some of the drinks are served in cute yellow buckets. 

The drinks err on the expensive ($120 for a bottle of the cheapest champagne at a time when French champagne is selling like hotcakes for $50 in most bottle shops), which could explain the popularity of the bucket of four Asian beers selling for $20. They were served in ice to make them cold as the demand was so high it almost went from a pop-up bar to the pub with no beer.

If the décor looks temporary that's because it is. Wooden crates, ink drawings on walls, buckets hanging from the ceiling, and French-style deck chairs, will be replaced with the furniture that has been made to order but wasn't ready in time for the holiday rush. They’ll even be palm trees. 

While Nick’s often drew the tourist crowd, the Bucket List has been well and truly embraced by the locals. On the night we were there Bondi royalty included Sneaky Sound System’s Angus McDonald and Channel Nine’s David Gyngell. 

There’s something about The Bucket List that makes it seem like it has always been there. Or maybe it was a case of Bondi had been desperately waiting for someone like Andy to take over the space, and turn it into a funky bar with summer tunes. It reminds me of Potato Head in Bali (without the pool) but don’t ask me to explain why.

It’s in a prime position smack bang in the middle of the beach, which means it can get both the die-hard South Bondi and North Bondi crowds without all the usual posturing that ‘my end of Bondi is better/bigger/more glamorous than your end’. 

Now we can meet in the middle and all have a good time for the rest of summer. Or at least until the furniture and the 'attitude' arrives.


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