Rocker — Restaurant in Sydney

From Thursday to Sunday, Rocker in Bondi hosts an amazing bottomless brunch.

Gather together a group (minimum 2 people) for a 2 hour period and enjoy some delicious food, cocktails and wines in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Rocker is located in North Bondi and the restaurant is easy to find, occupying a corner location, a bright space with its timber dining room, blue table tops, greenery and open windows for a nice breeze. Some long tables also provide the perfect space for a larger celebration.

The menu is fabulous with a great range of food to share. You will receive an abundance of food and you’ll certainly leave very full. For $85, we think it is very reasonable for the quality and quantity of food, let alone the inclusion of 2 hours of alcohol.

Entrees

We start with Mount Zero olives & extra virgin olive oil with Iggys sourdough - our favourite bakery in the area. It is served with a delicious house made roast onion butter.

The local burrata came with an assortment of tomatoes, including ox heart and heirloom & flavoured with some basil, which was lovely. Classic flavours, fresh and nicely seasoned.

Mains

The Bannockburn roast chicken was - huge serving of delectable, the chicken succulent and juicy, roasted to perfection, well seasoned with an assortment of herbs, this hearty meal also served with truffled parsnip puree, greens & jus. Probably some of the best chicken we’ve eaten!

The chicken was accompanied with an assortment of sides. The first, a very on trend and versatile vegetable at the moment, pumpkin. The Rocker version of roast pumpkin was served with almond cream, fennel, apple & herb salad, very tasty and such a generous portion, it could be considered more than a side.

The Rocker potatoes. Where do we even begin? These amazing potatoes, seasoned with black pepper & parmesan, OMG, don't think we have come across crispier potatoes with a nice golden brown crust. We were pleasantly surprised with the soft moist centre too. The potatoes were super amazing and even though we were full, we could not leave them alone or unfinished.

There was also a fresh Spring green salad, with shaved peach & toasted almonds to accompany this.

Dessert

The dessert was very sweet with a light texture and somehow we managed to fit it in. The dessert was a Summer pavlova with berries, creme fraiche, lemon curd, we particularly liked the dehydrated orange which provided good flavour and a crunch to this beautiful dish.

Drinks

Your bottomless brunch comes with 2 hour alcohol service including Mimosas, sparkling, red, white & rose. The venue was even accomodating for non alcoholic drinks including some champagne and cocktails made with Seedlip. These were so on point that they tasted like...

Extremely underwhelmed with my experience at Rocker for their bottomless brunch as a group of 4. The starters were okay in terms of portion sizes but while we were eating I realized we weren’t given any type of pita for the hummus. When we looked over at the table beside us we saw they had pita with their hummus. When I brought this to our servers attention she said “the pita only comes with the hummus on the a la carte menu.” I was a bit confused as to why they would serve one of their dishes incomplete so I asked what we were supposed to use for the hummus? To which she responded “the focaccia.” I replied back that we used that for our burrata and it doesn’t really seem like enough bread to have with the types of dishes they’re serving. We said we’d pay for the pita if they can just bring it out since we wanted to have the hummus. They were hospitable enough to bring us some and not put it on the bill.

When our “mains” came that’s when the real disappointment set in. For 4 people we were given 1 plate of pasta… a small bowl of chips, a salad and the roast pumpkin. It’s not the type of food that was disappointing as we read the menu before we came, it was the small amount we received for 4 people. With the 1 plate of pasta we had to share we only got about 3-4 pieces of pasta each. The fries as well were scarcely shared between the 4 of us too. As we were discussing the disappointing amount of food for 4 people we came to the realization that if we were only 2 people, we’d be receiving the same amount of food as we got as a group of 4.

This bottomless option just kinda felt like a money grab. They offered pretty cheap menu options in the brunch and still some how skimped out on them trying to save on the amount of food served. Pita bread, fries and pasta are some of the cheapest food costs a restaurant has so it’s very annoying when they can’t even give proper portion sizes of that.

If you’re looking for a bottomless option in Sydney please skip this restaurant. As there are so many more better option where you get a real taste of the restaurant with many options and enough food for all the guests...

A classic neighbourhood eatery with a difference.

Having visited on a busy Saturday night, before Valentine’s Day, we opted for the special couple’s menu. Opening with a quality glass of (genuine) champagne, we enjoyed a number of shared dishes each more delicious than the last.

The burrata salad was a moreish take on a classic, while the tuna ceviche was ocean-fresh and herbaceous. However, it was the main dish of lobster and tiger prawn risotto that stole the show.

Many risotto dishes often err on the side of starchy and homogenous - more a feat of endurance to finish rather than of enjoyment alone. Not so, this example. The lobster element was found laced throughout the rice, seemingly on a 1:1 ratio. The rice itself was notably cooked in a umami-rich fish broth and thus a delight to consume. As if this alone would not have satiated even the most devoted pescatarian, the dish was topped with three perfectly grilled tiger prawns which could have been mistaken for lobster on account of their heft.

The meal was rounded off with a lovely, if unnecessary, baked cheesecake and chocolate brownie, and a few drams to wash it all down.

Aside from the excellent fare, the front of house team, headed by Stuart, made us feel incredibly well looked after during our somewhat extended visit. The level of hospitality delivered at Rocker is truly second to none.

Our first time visiting Rocker most certainly won’t...