Hotel Bondi | Bondi Beach

The ever so popular Bondi Beach is the perfect weekend date. Bustling with locals and tourists, Bondi beach is a completely different type of "busy". While there is a lot of people, they are all very laid back and just enjoying the beautiful weather we have been experiencing this week in Sydney. Whether it is spending time with their family (pets included) watching the waves or even surfing. This is exactly what weekends are about. Relaxing, exploring and most importantly for us, discovering new cafes or restaurants.

Situated across from the beach is Hotel Bondi. The clean white furniture creates an interior which gives it a great "beachy" vide and immediately relaxes you.. We just wanted to stay until sunset. Imagine catching up with friends or family for brunch and heading over to  the beach to take a coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee? Perfect weekend out right?

Hotel Bondi recently relaunched with their fresh new look and feel. The iconic Hotel Bondi was built in 1919 and is a long time favourite for locals and travelers. With history also comes age.. recently Hotel Bondi has been re-building and renovating, finally finishing phase 1 of the activities to create a new airy and light atmosphere which blends in perfectly with the beach. The new relaunch showcases many things to do at Bondi including DJs Friday and Saturday nights, drink specials and a seasonal new menu. 

We began our feast with our all time favourite lemon lime and bitters and a strange combination that worked quite well, Captain Morgans Rum mixed with Green Apple! The drink was sweet and a perfect cocktail to be enjoyed year round, well Pirates drank Rum all year didn't they? You will see below a menu that has been skilfully crafted and you might be surprised with the twist from your usual pub fare. We were treated to an amazing selection of entrees, salad and mains.

Salt and Pepper Calamari with Chilli Aioli

The subtle flavour from the batter was enjoyable but when you dip it in the chilli aioli, it gave it a flavour kick! It was a nice little entree to start the meal with, and the portioning was quite large. The sauce was a great companio to this dish, but until actually writing this post we didn't know it was chilli aioli.. There was a lack of chilli kick with in this sauce. That said, we still did use it as a dipping sauce for our arancini balls below ;)

Arancini with Tomato and Mozzarella

What can we say about arancini balls hat has not yet already been said. We love them! Especially when they are full of flavour and don't need any sauce to make them taste good. That said, the sauce that this dish was served with a tomato sauce but not out of the bottle. It tasted almost like a napolitana sauce. Overall, we decided to experience (like always) and dip the arancini into the chilli aioli and it worked so much better. What is it with us and aoili? Perhaps every dish should just have a side serving of aoili sauce and we would be happy every time!

Pumpkin, Beetroot and Quinoa Salad

Whenever we order a salad, the Simpsons song comes to mind "You don't make friends with salad, you don't make friends with salad"... well in most cases anyway and this was not one of them! Whilst you can't see the pumpkin or beetroot in the beginning, you will discover the thinly sliced vegetables as you dig through the dish. The Bulgarian feta worked well with this salad by giving it an additional creamy texture and salty flavour. Walnuts have so many health benefits and every bite made us feel less guilty about the other four dishes we ordered. The light salad dressing consisted of honey and wholegrain mustard and we were ensuring that all of our cos lettuce was soaking in this dressing before consumption! It's healthy right?

Wagyu Beef Burger

With crispy bacon, tomato, lettuce, swiss cheese, caramelised onion and bbq sauce

What is it about a burger that just looks so damn appealing. It isn't only inviting but almost seductive, making you feel like you are about to cheat on your marriage! HA!
This burger really does present well on the board, when you see the cheese melting out the side of the burger into a pool of the jus and sauces, you are almost certain to be in for a good time. Unfortunately, while there was a lot of flavour and elements working for the burger, the patty was overdone and had left a burnt flavour throughout. It wasn't inedible at all, Matt still finished the burger but feels it could have been better. Especially when dealing with such a delicate piece of Wagyu meat. Perhaps this is the outcome of the new law taking effect, ensuring all beef patties are cooked well done? We sure hope not!

Pan Fried Tassie Salmon Fillet 

Holy cow, Christie was looking forward to this dish all week, and it didn't disappoint! She's very particular with her Salmon and the way it is cooked. If it's slightly overcooked, she would have a very difficult time enjoying her dish. Though as you can probably see, the Salmon was perfectly pink throughout and the dish was devoured gracefully. The salad was left untouched however, and if it was at all possible, she would've licked the cauliflower cream clean! The skin was also super crispy and the clear highlight of the day.

If you are looking traveling to Bondi and are looking at accommodation, think about Hotel Bondi as well. You can wake up to amazing food and enjoy dinner by the sunset before you return to your room. There are gorgeous views on Bondi Beach and complimentary Wi-Fi. 

Thank you again Martine from Maloney Hotel Group for the invitation and Ralph for taking great care of us throughout the afternoon.