Dinner
Bondi at night is quieter than the daytime crowds suggest, and better for it. These are the rooms we book for dinner - the special-occasion tables, the reliable neighbourhood standbys and the ones worth the walk up the hill.
Our top pick right now is Icebergs Dining Room and Bar - milestone celebrations and long lunches with a view. Below are 24 places we rate for this, ranked on the food and how well they suit a visit. Prices shown are a rough guide ($–$$$$); always check the venue’s own site for current hours and menus.
Italian · Bondi Beach
The hatted, ocean-front Italian fine-diner perched above the Bondi Icebergs pool, serving hand-rolled pasta and seasonal seafood with the best beach view in Sydney.
Best for: Milestone celebrations and long lunches with a view
Modern Australian · Campbell Parade
A Bondi institution since 1993 where chef-owner Sean Moran serves a daily-changing, produce-driven three-course choice menu above a panoramic sweep of Campbell Parade and the beach.
Best for: A special-occasion long lunch or unhurried dinner with a view
Gelato · Bondi Beach
The Bondi outpost of Sydney's most celebrated gelato maker, tucked into the Hall Street hub a short walk back from the sand.
Best for: A post-beach dessert walk on Hall Street
Spanish · Campbell Parade
An iconic 1914 beachfront hotel on Campbell Parade whose light-filled level-one dining room now houses Alzado, a coastal-Spanish seafood diner, above a classic public bar and late-night club space.
Best for: A long, view-soaked afternoon that turns into a night out
Modern Australian · Bondi Beach
The original bills, the Hall Street cafe where Bill Granger reinvented Sydney brunch, still turning out its ricotta hotcakes and creamy scrambled eggs a couple of minutes back from the sand.
Best for: A landmark Bondi brunch a short walk from the beach
Italian · Bondi Beach
A buzzy Hall Street institution serving wood-fired Neapolitan pizza and rotisserie porchetta, back in its original Bondi home under founder Orazio D'Elia.
Best for: A lively Italian dinner with friends or a couple, a short walk from the beach.
Spanish · Campbell Parade
A Spanish coastal seafood diner upstairs at Hotel Ravesis, trading share plates, sherry and oyster martinis against a wraparound balcony view of the Bondi surf.
Best for: Long boozy lunches and sunset dinners with a view
Japanese · North Bondi
A long-running North Bondi sushi bar known for fresh sashimi and its iconic hand rolls, tucked into a corner shop a short walk from the beach's northern end.
Best for: A fresh sushi fix straight off the beach
Seafood · North Bondi
A Matt Moran seafood restaurant perched at the quiet north end of Bondi Beach, with arguably the best sand-and-ocean outlook of any dining room on the beach.
Best for: Long beachfront lunches, oysters and cocktails with a view
Italian · Campbell Parade
A first-floor Italian restaurant and bar overlooking Bondi Beach from Campbell Parade, now trading the venue's original pan-Mediterranean menu for comfort-led pasta, seafood and a serious drinks list.
Best for: A view-forward Italian lunch or date-night dinner above the beach
Greek · Bondi Beach
A fire-led Greek restaurant inside Bondi Pavilion serving shared meze and chargrilled plates a few steps from the sand.
Best for: Group dinners and celebratory shared feasts by the beach
Italian · Bondi Road
Merivale's buzzy, share-style Italian tucked into the back of The Royal on Bondi Road, built around a wood-fired oven and a leafy, olive-tree-lined courtyard.
Best for: Long, shared Italian lunches and lively group dinners off the beach
Japanese · Campbell Parade
A beachfront sashimi bar and seafood takeaway on Campbell Parade with an eight-metre sashimi cabinet and an 18-seat sushi train, from the team behind Sydney Fish Market's GetFish.
Best for: Fresh sashimi and seafood platters straight off the beach
Modern Australian · North Bondi
A member-and-guest RSL club perched above the northern end of Bondi Beach, serving affordable modern-Australian bistro food with some of the best ocean views in the area.
Best for: Affordable ocean-view lunch or early dinner with kids or a group
Mexican · Bondi Beach
A lively Mexican taqueria and agave bar tucked into the Hub on Hall Street, built around a rotating spread of regional tacos, ceviches and margaritas.
Best for: A tacos-and-margaritas night out with friends
Mexican · Bondi Road
A hacienda-inspired Mexican restaurant on Bondi Road where the whole kitchen orbits a woodfire grill, turning out charcoal-kissed tacos, share plates and wagyu steaks.
Best for: Woodfire Mexican for a lively group dinner or a date night
Cantonese · Campbell Parade
A longstanding modern-Cantonese diner that has swapped its old Hall Street room for a first-floor beachfront space on Campbell Parade, trading in steamed dumplings, XO stir-fries and a serious cocktail and sake list.
Best for: A polished modern-Cantonese dinner or Sunday yum cha near the beach
Italian · Bondi Beach
Authentic Italian gelato made fresh daily on-site, on the busy Campbell Parade corner a short stroll from the sand.
Best for: A post-beach or after-dinner gelato stop with the family
Contemporary Australian · Bondi Beach
A multi-venue beachfront complex inside Bondi Pavilion, pairing an all-day contemporary-coastal Beach Bar with Etheus, a smarter Greek dining room, both looking straight out over the sand.
Best for: Beachfront lunch, sunset drinks, or a Greek dinner with a view
modern-australian · Bondi Beach
A long-running back-street cafe on Curlewis Street that pours coffee and comfort food by day and slides into a cosy organic-leaning wine bar by night.
Best for: A relaxed local wine-and-plates evening away from the beachfront crowds
Bar · Bondi Beach
The ocean-facing, walk-in bar terrace inside the restored Bondi Pavilion, pouring cocktails and an all-day coastal menu straight above the sand.
Best for: Sunset drinks and grazing straight off the beach
Indian · Bondi Beach
A bright, neon-lit "Neo-Indian" restaurant on Hall Street reinventing classic Indian dishes as bold, shareable plates.
Best for: Lively group dinners and celebrations over shared Indian plates
Bistro · Bondi Beach
The rebuilt club bistro inside Bondi Icebergs, serving honest, seasonal Modern-Australian bistro food across two bars with a full-length view over the famous ocean pool and North Bondi headland.
Best for: A big view on a modest budget
Burgers · North Bondi
Long-running North Bondi chicken-burger specialist on Campbell Parade doing grilled and fried chicken burgers, wraps, wings and loaded fries for around $15 a plate.
Best for: A cheap, reliable post-beach chicken-burger feed