Little pops of fluorescent colour from plastic water glasses inject some beachside fun into the burnt sienna colour palette of Easy Tiger Bondi Beach. They set the tone for this not-too-serious Southeast Asian eating house where you can choose your own five-plate adventure ($45/person). Guided by the personality plus floor team, we plot a course through Indonesian-born head chef Andrianto Wirya’s (ex-Queen Chow and Mr Wong) menu.
Reading like a backpacker’s trip across Southeast Asia we bounce from a loosely Indonesian scallop kokonda ($19/2) presented under creamy coconut on betel leaves to Japanese-inspired black rice crackers bearing caramel-heavy yellowfin tuna tartare ($22/2) its sweetness cut by pink grapefruit. The fiery heat of Thai street food is well evidenced in Wirya’s ‘Crying Tiger’ ($30, $8/head banquet surcharge) where strips of wood-fired beef flank are adorned with nahm jim jaew offset by fresh herbs and vermicelli.
More interpretive liberty has been taken with the Pinoy-inspired sizzling lamb sisig ($30, $8/head banquet surcharge) with pulled lamb shoulder marinated in hella-salty soy is cut by egg yolk, charred onion and green chilli. You need to eat this one over the included bowl of white rice. We round out the corners with a Singaporean char kway teow ($23) where thick and chewy fresh rice noodles mingled with puffed tofu, garlic chives and tempeh in laksa curry paste. Five dishes following the staff formula of two snacks, one side, and two larger dishes, provided plenty of food.
Thematic cocktails like the Kaya colada ($22) are all-too-easy to drink. It uses the coconut spread popular across the whole region to mess around the edges of a classic pina colada. Mango, habanero and a Mexican Tajín rim make the ma-muang margarita ($22) very enjoyable to drink, though I struggled to see the Thai connection. No matter, Easy Tiger is meant to be a loose, eclectic and fun space where you can pull up for a meal before or after a visit to the iconic Bondi Beach.
easytigerbondibeach.com/
