The Best Cafes (and Coffee) in Bondi
These cafes pair exceptional coffee with standout brunch dishes, making them some of the best daytime haunts in the eastern suburbs.
The Best Cafes (and Coffee) in Bondi
These cafes pair exceptional coffee with standout brunch dishes, making them some of the best daytime haunts in the eastern suburbs.
What would Bondi be without its breakfast joints? The suburb seems to have 'em on every corner, with each one better than the next. From the health-conscious to the all-day spots slinging buttermilk pancakes and top-notch cuppas, these beachside institutions serve some of the best breakfasts in all of Sydney. Here are our picks of the best of the bunch.
An honourable mention goes out to Porch and Parlour, which is currently closed due to a fire incident. It deserves a spot on this list and we're hoping for a speedy reopening.
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Since the original Bills opened in Darlinghurst over 20 years ago, celebrity chef Bill Granger has pioneered a menu that perfectly complements a relaxed, extended breakfast ethos. And the trademark Bills style couldn’t be more at home than in Bondi, where Granger’s characteristically fresh and simple fare is set in a location boasting the laidback, beachy vibes that the brand is all about.
Bills Bondi has struck the right balance between a menu that offers ‘classics’ (hey, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it) and novel dishes that still have that healthy simplicity. There’s also good mix of influences from Granger’s world travels — like the Japanese brunch bowls with green tea noodles, sesame-crusted avocado and a boiled egg ($22.50).
Health aside, it’s hard to resist Bills’ much-loved ricotta hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter ($22.5) — a three-layered stack of epic proportions. But the Fresh Aussie has its appeal, too, which sees house-made gravlax paired with poached eggs, kale, avocado and cherry tomatoes ($25).
If you feel like adding a bit of booze, Bills is slinging bloody marys ($18.5) and white peach bellinis ($16.5), too.
Image: Anson Smart
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The name Rocker refers to the nose-to-tail of a surfboard, which ties in with both the style of cooking chef cooking Darren Robertson is known for and with the surf-crazed Bondi community. This local vibe is echoed throughout the 100-seat, all day restaurant.
The precise, seasonal offering starts with the coffee bar, which is open seven days a week, offering up Single O brews and Byron Bay kombucha with takeaway toasties, pastries and cakes. For more substantial breakfast options, look to the spiced porridge with beetroot and ginger jams, topped with burnt honey ($13); house-cured bacon with rocket, egg and tomato on a soft milk bun ($14); and a big brekkie homage of smoked maple bacon, hash browns, pork sausage, and poached eggs, served with gravy and sourdough ($23).
Brunch cocktails are available from 10am, with the star being the bloody mary with chipotle and smoked salt ($19). A two-hour bottomless brunch wine or beer option is also up for grabs ($55–$66).
Images: Katje Ford.
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Buttermilk pancakes and a side of bacon at any time of day — good one. Almond milk (made fresh on-site each day) at no extra cost — good one. And a toast menu that extends well beyond peanut butter, Vegemite or jam — good one. Sensing a clear theme? It’s these thoughtful touches and a willingness to accommodate that help Good One Cafe stand out in Bondi’s already health-conscious cafe crowd.
Eager to please, Good One caters to all dietary requirements, to the point that nearly every item on the menu can be made vegan. While healthy options are its forte, Good One acknowledges that on some mornings you’ll want an overwhelmingly green omelette with courgette, kale, soft herbs and hippie mix ($18), and on others you’ll crave a sizeable stack of buttermilk pancakes with berry compote, cocoa crumb and vanilla mascarpone ($17).
Even the dedicated toast menu is exciting — choose from house-baked sourdough activated, rye and caraway or charcoal and quinoa breads ($5-$9). When it comes to toppings, swap your usual Vegemite and avo combo for the likes of grilled mushrooms, labneh and salsa verde.
Images: Letícia Almeida
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Bondi Hall’s recent(ish) facelift has seen the addition of an impressive lineup of nighttime snacks and funky wines to its repertoire, but the cafe-cum-wine bar hasn’t lost its daytime charm, either. Run by the hospitality masterminds behind Reuben Hills, Paramount Coffee Project and the Paramount House Hotel, it’s still one of our favourite spots for good cups of joe, ginger and turmeric lattes and weekend brunch.
Classics like avo on toast ($14) and bacon egg roll ($13) are accompanied by mustard-braised ham hock with poached eggs ($17.5), lamb ragu toasties ($17) and a dish called Grandma’s Tofu ($15.5) — a Chinese-style brekkie bowl with mapo tofu, water chestnuts, pickled enoki mushrooms, shallots and coriander, all atop a bed of sticky black rice.
Once your coffee is done, don’t forget to look to the rest of the all-day drinks menu, which includes natural wines, along with bloody marys, mimosas and Aperol spritzes ($14–$15).
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The Shop & Wine Bar has nailed the kind of relaxed, Melbourne-esque local wine bar schtick to a T. Catering to the people of Bondi since 2004, it’s is one of the best places to go to if you want a cool, casual place to simply chill with a killer breakfast and maybe even a glass of wine (or two).
For eats, the smoked BLT is a must ($12.5), which comes stuffed with pickles and topped with cheddar cheese on your choice of brown or white bread. The breakfast bowl is another winner ($17.5) — cauliflower rice topped with a poached egg, haloumi, pickled cabbage and avocado, all sprinkled with tamari pepitas and toasted sesame seeds.
Pull up a stool at the takeaway counter for coffees, chai lattes and organic kombucha. If you arrive on the later side for breakfast (which is served until noon), you can also nab a taste of the impressive wine list, which is all organic, biodynamic and preservative-free.
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A visit to the local shuk (Hebrew for marketplace) in the Middle East is a sensory overload of the best variety. This bustling sense of marketplace adventure has been bottled and brought to Bondi with compelling authenticity at Shuk. Its four-year residency along North Bondi’s Mitchell Street has solidified its place as a fixture of the Sydney dining scene.
The all-day menu is jam-packed with Israeli brekkie favourites that capture the imagination and deliver on the plate. The shakshuka ($17), a traditional tomato-based dish whose hero is its sauce-poached eggs, is the star of the menu and comes with plenty of house-baked bread with which to wipe the plate clean. It would be easy to while away the morning here, enjoying the pretty decor, taking in the buzz and noshing on a hazelnut scroll and a punchy coffee.
Shuk will soon expand to a second location in Elizabeth Bay with the hopes to broaden its appeal for locals and out-of-suburb visitors alike.
Images: Natalie Carroll
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Bondi locals don’t muck around when it comes to brunch. You get one chance, maybe two, to hit it out of the park with brekkie bowls, solid coffee and a damn good bloody mary. Not every joint passes the test, but one Bondi mainstay is enjoying lines out the door every Saturday and Sunday without fail, dominating the brunch game lock, stock and barrel.
Lox specialises in breakfast, brunch and lunch, and if you roll with vegans, vegos or enemies of gluten, this is your jam. The food is Jewish in origin, but inspired by Bondi’s local produce and farm-to-plate philosophy. There are some serious homemade goodness afoot here — Lox makes its own almond and cashew milk, its own vegan bloody mary spice mix and its own rye, challah, gluten-free, sprouted quinoa breads and bagels
As the name suggests, come here for the smoked lox — featured in the eatery’s sangas, the Lock ‘n’ Load $6 portion (hash, smoked lox, lime and creme fraiche dill dressing) and brekkie toast situations.
Drinks-wise, there are solid coffees, a cocktail list for the brunch traditionalists, a blackboard selection of wines and Aussie beers on offer.
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Harry’s has had a few incarnations by now. It has evolved from convenience store to coffee bar, swallowing the neighbouring laundromat and emerging as a fully fledged cafe back in 2015. With an emphasis on the best local produce, this Bondi staple is a reminder of how lovely and generous cooking can be — a feat of skill and inventiveness that can brighten a guest’s day.
Open every day from 7am–4pm, the all-day menu takes obvious brekkie items like eggs benedict ($17.5) and changes it up with kale, smoked salmon and béarnaise sauce on charcoal bread. You want a barbecued pulled beef and pastrami reuben ($17) topped with a fried egg first thing in the morning? You got it. What about a prawn and papaya salad ($24.5)? Why not. From savoury to sweet, your taste buds are covered here.
Many of the breakfast dishes are nominally paleo, low-sugar, vegetarian and low-carb (it’s Bondi, after all), but they don’t feel it. The emphasis is just on the best local produce. The team has forged relationships with suppliers of eggs, fruit and veg, dairy, meats and seafoods, and the menu will change depending on what’s around and good. After all, beautiful produce needs little done to it, and the food coming out of this kitchen is a testament to that.
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A cafe by day and bistro by night, it’s an easy to guarantee that Brown Sugar will be packed with people at all times. Sitting on Bondi’s Curlewis Street, it’s the go-to spot for a post-dip bite.
The breakfast (8.30am–noon) and all-day brunch menus offer a bit of everything, from organic and gluten-free granola ($16) and ancient grain porridge ($17) to slow-cooked Moroccan eggs with chorizo and tahini ($21) and sourdough pancakes topped with banana, berries and bacon ($17). The variety and sheer size of the menu options makes it a spot you can come to over and over again without duplicating your order, but chances are you’ll find a favourite and stick with it.
Take the shared breakfast platter ($40 for two), which is a real crowd pleaser — a behemoth of seasonal vegetables, avocado, quinoa, almond and cauliflower tabouli, hash browns and poached or scrambled eggs with fermented cabbage, labne, olives, tahini and zhoug and za’atar toast. Yes, it’s a mouthful and yes, you should absolutely order it.
For drinks, the coffees, smoothies and juices are all spot on and complete the meal, perfectly.
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Famed Aussie chef Sean Moran’s beachside restaurant may have opened back in 1993, but the institution that is Sean’s Panorama hasn’t lost any of its appeal. Primarily a dinner spot, Sean’s small 45-seater only opens for breakfast on weekends from 8–11am — and it’s well worth the wait through the week.
Get in early to grab a table by the window (or out front on a nice day) and take in those early morning ocean views. A beloved spot of Bondi locals, it’s an eclectic crew at Sean’s — from barefoot kids and sandy surfers to suited up professionals. But there’s no pretension at Sean’s, and no shortcuts either.
The ever-changing blackboard menu hits you with home-style comfort basics, with fresh produce sourced from the restaurant’s Blue Mountains farm. Even the freshly baked bread is something to marvel at here. Moran is also experimenting with Portuguese-style brekkie egg tarts, which may make the menu in the upcoming months.
Top image: Shuk, Natalie Carroll
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