Bondi Trattoria

Bondi Trattoria – or The Tratt as locals call it – has gone through a rebirth. After 30 years under the same ownership, two ex-Luke Mangan guns, Joe Pavlovich and Alasdair France have bought the place and given it a much needed refresh.

All that remains of the old Tratt are a selection of the framed photographs that have graced the walls since it opened decades ago, and its old signature dish: angel hair pasta with barely touched tuna – although it’s had a updating too.

Feeling like a provincial home, its mismatched crockery, dark wood finishes and heavy, vintage-esque glassware make it easy to relax into the space, taking in the view all the way down Campbell Parade as you graze on the menu which has a heavy Mediterranean influence.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner this is a massive menu.

Our favourite part of any menu is usually the entrée / tapas / antipasti… we’re a more is more kind of couple when it comes to tasting lots of little dishes. The antipasti list here is long and delicious. We limited ourselves to just 3 selections on the list, but don’t feel that you need to do that! We started with the roasted bugs, garlic & chilli butter, buffalo mozzarella ($30). Large luscious tails, perfectly cooked and tossed in just enough butter to glaze rather than presented swimming in a puddle. The mozzarella took on the garlic chilli beautifully too.

Not a fan of cooked oysters (why mess with an already perfect product?) we were amazed at just how well the crispy battered oysters with tartare sauce and horseradish ($5 ea) were. The thin crispy batter in no way overpowered the oyster inside. It was still soft and creamy and, well… oysterey. The bed of tartare was creamy with a vinegar sharpness and the fresh gratings of horseradish on top completed the dish well. We should have ordered more.

The beef tartare, egg yolk, parmesan and horseradish ($25) looked like a beef pattie with cheese before it’s grilled and flipped into a burger. We took great delight in scooping large mounds onto the accompanying sourdough toast.

Because of the history of the place, we had to try the original signature dish. The angel hair, barely touched tuna, zucchini, rocket, chilli, lemon and capers ($31) was a delightful dish. The pasta is made on site and cooked perfectly. They’re right when they say barely touched tuna too. A simple sear and a quick toss through with the rest of the ingredients is all it gets. Perfect for lunch with a glass of wine.

While there are meat dishes on the menu, our other main was the mulloway poached in olive oil and lemon confit with artichoke, cucumber, shimeji mushrooms, garlic chives and truffle broth ($36). Ordering only seafood mains must have had something to do with the fresh ocean air and beach view.

Buttery soft, the fish has an amazing texture. Again, team this one with a glass of white and you’ve got your perfect ‘lady who lunches’ option.

The side salad of raw broccoli, apple, onion, salted ricotta, tarragon aioli and walnuts ($17/$24) added some crunch to the meal. Now we know raw broccoli can sound daunting, but give it a go - it’s shaved into wafers, not chunky florets.

Long lunches should always finish with something sweet shouldn’t they? A signal to your ‘dessert stomach’ to step up to the plate (yes… pun intended.)

Our choices were the Zeppole (ricotta doughnuts) with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream ($15) and the honey rozata with scorched orange, puffed faro and cocoa nibs ($15).

The ricotta doughnuts were light and fluffy, tossed in cinnamon sugar and served with a small jug of decadent chocolate sauce. One for the kids and for the young at heart (the little ones can’t eat all the icecream!)

A rozata is a Croatian dessert akin to crème caramel. This one was silky smooth with overtones of honey. The cacao nibs added some chocolatey crunch and the bitterness of the scorched orange slices cut through all the richness. It was devine.

Feature by Melanie Pike. Images by Joshua Pike.