North Bondi Fish

The spot that was home to North Bondi Italian has to be one of Australia's most enticing restaurant venues: with million-dollar views, proximity to the waves and a ready-made crowd of surfed-out, ravenous diners.

With Matt Moran, Peter Sullivan and head chef Stefano Mondonico at the helm, the famed eatery continues to draw diners with a regular rotation of collaborations and takeovers (most recently with North Bondi Kepos last winter), and a sunny balcony — just made for people-watching with a spritz in hand as the sun goes down over North Bondi on balmy summer nights.

However, it is a modern seafood menu (with a focus on fresh produce and local suppliers) that remains the star, all year round at North Bondi Fish. With a name that pretty much says it all.

The emphasis is on quality produce, transformed into light, accessible, uncomplicated meals and snacks, with fish cooked on an Inka Grill. Several Matt Moran favourites are on the list, including the NBF fish taco with cabbage, pineapple and jalapeno, prawn spaghetti with chilli, garlic, parsley and pangrattato, grilled WA octopus skewers with padron peppers and smoked almonds and a seared ocean trout with kipfler potatoes and watercress.

Dessert? How about a sticky date and walnut pudding with butterscotch and vanilla ice cream, or a pineapple fritter with coconut sorbet. 

Non-winos can enjoy some tempting and very drinkable alternatives, including passionfruit, lychee or berry mocktails, while the Jungle Negroni with Bombay Saphire, Suze, Brookie's Mac, Martini Bianco and pineapple, lemon myrtle and pardon is a surprising glass of fun.

To suit the coastal location, and the salty, sandy realities of beachside wining and dining, the restaurant has donned a relaxed, casual interior, evocative of what you might find in Mediterranean climes. Communal wooden benches and tables are lit with playful dashes of colour that travel outwards to the verandahs.

In the words of Matt Moran, "North Bondi Fish is for the locals. It's relaxed, it's fun and it's no fuss. It is the kind of place you head to for something good to eat anytime of the day, even while still in your thongs and boardies."