Lunch
Lunch in Bondi splits two ways: the long, sit-down kind with a view of the water, and the fast, salty kind you eat on a wall with sand on your feet. These are the places we'd pick for either, and they're all open in the middle of the day.
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
Bagels · North Bondi
A tiny, much-loved North Bondi bagel deli slinging Polish-style bagels stuffed with house-cured lox and Jewish-deli classics.
Best for: A pre- or post-beach bagel run in North Bondi
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
Israeli · North Bondi
A buzzy Israeli-Mediterranean cafe and bakery on a North Bondi corner, built around family-sized shakshuka, house-baked breads and specialty coffee.
Best for: Long, shared Israeli-Mediterranean brunch a few blocks back from the sand
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
Israeli · Campbell Parade
A beachfront outpost of Sydney's SHUK group serving Israeli-inspired falafel, hummus bowls and bakery items grab-and-go style, directly across Campbell Parade from Bondi Beach (it also trades as Shuk Falafel).
Best for: A quick, fresh Israeli bite straight off the beach
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
Caribbean · Bondi Beach
A colourful Hall Street cafe trading specialty coffee alongside Venezuelan arepas and Caribbean pan-tropical plates, a few blocks back from the sand.
Best for: An early, flavour-forward breakfast or brunch with a Caribbean twist
Cafe · Bondi Beach
A tiny, view-blessed coffee window tucked at the pool entrance of Bondi Icebergs, serving strong coffee and simple, well-sourced breakfast and lunch plates.
Best for: A scenic coffee-and-pastry stop by the Icebergs pool
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