Bondi Trattoria — Restaurant in Sydney

Bondi Trattoria has occupied the southern end of Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach for many years. It was starting to look a little tired, until a recent change in ownership and revamp of the dining space and menu. The new owners, both coming with impressive resumes. Joe Pavlovich runs the kitchen and has experience listing the likes of est. and, most recently the executive chef for the Mangan Group. Alasdair France was formerly head of operation for the Hilton and the Mangan Group taking care of the front of house. This wealth of experience is on display through the quality food and impeccable service.

This dynamic Kiwi duo, branched out to do their own thing. Like many Kiwi's before them, Bondi is the location, where they have chosen to start their own venture. The restaurant has a classy upgrade to enhance the stunning outlook over the Iconic Bondi Beach, with alfresco dining, an open dining room and semi open kitchen.

The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with decent portions and, as the name suggests, primarily serving Italian fare. However, with a wealth of experience and travel under their belt, the menu also has a Euro Mediterranean influence with a modern approach. Pavlovich focuses on quality, by using local seasonal ingredients, with each dish oozing flavour.

Our visit at night, dining in a group with great company, was something special. This allowed us to sample much of the menu. We were eased into the evening with some social lubricant. The drinks list was full of quality; some Australian Italian style wine, boutique beer and amazing cocktails. Their version of the Negroni was very enjoyable. They also allow for BYO at $10 per bottle.

Bondi Tratt has a 'specials' board to ensure there is always something exciting and new. The Antipasti(starters) were impressive, with me again salivating whist writing this post. A must was the crispy salmon winglets. Get hands on! Grab a piece, smear it in garlic sauce and have the salmon melt in your mouth. The diamond clams with black pepper vinaigrette, a great seaside option. The roasted bugs with garlic and chilli butter and buffalo mozzarella, this dish earmarked to be the new signature dish. The Bondi Tratt's take on tarama dip was full of flavour with bottarga, lemon oil fennel pollen and served with flat bread, this another favourite.

The salads and vegetables are great for sharing. The pickled pumpkin salad is nicely balanced with flavour and texture. The creamy raw broccoli salad with salted ricotta, tarragon aioli, with walnuts, apple and onion for added texture, a flavoursome way to eat broccoli. Another option for sharing is the pizza, with the restaurant ensuring the toppings are plentiful.

It wouldn't be a trattoria without pasta, and this they have. They even have gluten free options. Staying true to the original menu, Joe has kept the original signature dish of angel hair pasta with fresh tuna. I do a bit of diving and spearfishing and can attest to the local seasonal produce, with the use of blue swimmer crab and cuttlefish spaghetti dish. A tasty pasta, with the seafood nicely prepared. The casarecce pasta with slow cooked beef cheeks was rich with flavour, a good choice for a cold winters night.

We had to channel our reserve stomach for dessert. The tiramisu was full of suprises, each spoonful with a hidden bit of flavour and texture, with toasted hazelnuts, puffed rice or dehydrated berries. The olive oil and lemon cake with candied cumquat is a nice option, if you are looking for a dessert that is not too sweet. The croation style brulee was delicious and silky smooth.

Bondi Beach is usually a summer destination, however I enjoy the beach year round and winter is the perfect time to enjoy Bondi without the crowd. The Bondi Beach winter festival is also running with a ferriswheel lit up at night and an ice skating rink. Why not make it an excuse to visit Bondi Beach and to enjoy a great meal at the rejuvinated...

First time back at The Tratt since the new owners took over. Same friendly, efficient floor staff, great to see some familiar faces. Same magnificent view of the beach. A restaurant where no table has a bad aspect. Menu and wine list both look fresh and interesting.

We started with a glass each of the King Valley Prosecco to accompany the bug tails in garlic butter with buffalo mozzarella. Surprised they don't keep an Italian Prosecco, but the domestic one is very good. The bug tails were stand out. Absolutely delicious, succulent bugs with a nice lick of chilli.

Ordered two glasses of the NZ Pinot Noir with the mains. My partner had the saffron bucatini with spring vegetables, which arrived fresh, tasty and al dente. I wanted to try a before and after comparison (old Tratt to new), so ordered my favourite from the old menu, angel hair with lightly seared tuna. Tuna was perfectly cooked but the dish was way over-seasoned. So much pepper I couldn't eat it. Staff were very attentive and asked how everything was. I explained and they offered to make another in exchange. I declined as I generally don't trust the same chef to get something right if they've already buggered it up once.

The waiter did return and told us the chef agreed that the dish was too seasoned and apologised again. This was a very courteous thing to do and I appreciated it. Our waiter also said there would be no charge for the angel hair without any prompting from me, another example of good service. Bill arrived promptly, paid, tipped and left.

Only two stars because serving an inedible meal is for me a fundamental fail. Will try again, hopefully won't be clobbered with pepper next time!

EDIT IN RESPONSE TO OWNER: Suggest you get your messaging consistent between what is said face to face, and what you state in a public online forum. Our waiter returned to our table and specifically said that the chef tried the dish and agreed it was over-seasoned.

Thanks, I know what wild rocket tastes like, it's one of my favourite salad leaves. I ate one mouthful of the angel hair with a smidge of rocket, and one piece of tuna. It wasn't the rocket which was overpoweringly peppery. I will fall off my chair in amazement if you cook your pasta dishes without adding seasoning.

I didn't mention in my original review, but the angel hair was also a bit overcooked. If you honestly think that the dish "was to standard", then I won't be coming back. I don't like overcooked pasta with an unbalanced flavour profile. Shame, I've been a regular at The...

It was a nice setting. Good location.

The food was the major let down. Well the pizza really.

$26.40 for a pork sausage pizza including basil (which was fresh) eggplant (I opted without), mozzarella, tomato and pork sausage These guys make there own pastas and apparently the pizza dough is only bought in for gluteen free bases. It was a dreadful pizza.. It just fell apart. The tomato sauce they used looked like tinned tomatoes crushed up. Very little tomato paste added. The toppings just slid around the pizza. I managed to take all the toppings of 3 slices of my pizza by holding them by the crust and gravity did the rest.

Revealing a pretty boring piece of pizza dough. (No tomato) the mozzarella hadn't been cooked enough. It was just terrible. If youre charging 26bux for a pizza it best be damn good or the very least enjoyable.

When asking for the bill we noticed 2 bacon cheese burgers being served. It was only then they had a specials blackboard (not mentioned to either of us when sitting down) the burger looked good! Also at 20 bux a lot cheaper than my pizza.

Lucio's pizzeria in darlinghurst. Decent place with a respected name in the city. There most expensive pizza is 24 dollars. (Truffle oil) Having worked in hospitality as a FOH manager for 10 years now (italian restaurants)I was disappointed to see nobody asked why I had a pizza in front of me that had no toppings on and had been left untouched. I could of said something when paying the bill but I dont get paid to keep people happy I feel that's the duty of your paid servers. Plus being sat next to a large table of 8 and another of 4 I didn't want to put people off around me or seemed to be enjoying themselves.

I don't review very often. Only when I feel a patron who may wish to dine with you should be given a heads up. Its a tough world out there for smaller restaurants to stay alive so I can understand the high price may be needed to pay staff, rent, electricity, gas whatever overhead it may be. That doesn't excuse an obviously lack of effort. I wouldn't go back myself but there are a lot of great reviews here on google perhaps the lesson is dont bother with the pizzas!

Sorry but that is just my opinion. Maybe it was just an off day but I was seriously...