01 Dec The Promenade

It is always hard to be in a position where your view is over Bondi Beach, and you want to be a hated restaurant.

Bondi beach demands a casualness, you are looking at one of the most famous beaches in the world, but it is still a beach. The promenade has a perfect view of Bondi beach, this forces casualness and people tend not to get dressed up to go to a beach restaurant.

But then you want the restaurant to be exceptional, so the food and service must be extraordinary, but not in a formal way. So, the staff have to straddle a thin line, professional and casual. Polite, informative, and personable with respect and intelligence. Then you have to have a vibe, the thing that is never able to be pinpointed but is a reflection of the venue, the “je ne say que” taken me years to conquer a few words of French.

Hence you must have casual, formal, personable, and informative and throw in vibe almost impossible but the Promenade has it in spades. The staff are fantastic, nothing is too much trouble. From the moment we walked in it was obvious they cared. Water never had to be asked for, we were waited on but not pestered. Ambiance was great, the service certainly was exceptional, I felt the food offering could not match service, but it did and more.

The menu is perfect, not too extensive so you get lost and not too small, so you feel you are being lead, Entrees were excellent, I tried to find fault but struggled.

Jamon serrano, melon, shaved cheddar, rosemary
Whipped chicken liver parfait, pickles, vincotto, charred bread
Sourdough

Presentation was great, served with flair.

The drinks menu is extensive and refined, I was surprised at the extensiveness of the wine list however, as a one hat restaurant you are expected to have a substantial offering. The offering is a very good balance and well laid out.

The main course,

I had a scotch fillet, as there were five of us, we ordered a variety of main dishes, two of us ordered the steak.
one, Spinach & ricotta mezzaluna,
one, Saffron mafaldine
one rainbow trout.
Sides of potato (amazing) and asparagus.

Main course was delicious and not the small offering you see in the middle of a large plate but more than enough, every mouth full was a delight. We each tried each other’s choice and without a doubt all were delicious, steak done to perfection.

And in an attempt to find fault we had desert

Dark chocolate and mandarin layered cake
Lemon delicious, rhubarb compote, cream chantilly

I am not normally a chocolate person unless the chocolate is exceptionally good – it was exceptionally good. The food is without a doubt superb, delicate, and sophisticated.

Pricing is very good considering location, the obvious culture of service and kitchen and quality of everything we experienced. All in all, a great location, with a fantastic-looking restaurant, these spots normally never live up to expectation. The Bondi Promenade excelled, and the vibe is great. We all enjoyed the Promenade, and it left us wanting to go back – as we will.

https://www.promenadebondibeach.com